Posted by Mike K. (205.188.209.11) on March 23, 2004 at 14:29:56:
In Reply to: Tip of the week posted by Jim E on March 18, 2004 at 14:55:37:
I discovered the "knotless" connection, your example "C", in the December 2003 issue of Fly Fisherman magazine. The article is by Dave Whitlock and starts on page 42, and goes into detail on how connect a tapered leader to a braided core fly line. I tried it, and I am very, very impressed and pleased with its performance. Not only does it provide for an exteremly smooth connection for passing through the guides, but this connection seems to provide a better tranfer of energy from the fly line to the leader. My first experience with the knotless connection occurred on a wade trip to the Brazos River, below the Lake Whitney Dam just before the Christmas holidays. I had gotten word that the stripers were on a bite, and could not resist the temptation. I had just rigged up my six weight with the knotless connection on the weight forward line with a ten foot 13.2 pound test ten foot leader as per the article. I waded downstream to the first deep hole, and realized that I had left all my tippet material back in the truck, so I just tied my clouser to the end of the leader. Three or four casts later, bam! I had hooked into, at least, a stated record striper. Almost got into the backing, twice! The striper ran back and forth in that hole several times. And then, a miracle happened, my state record striped turned into the largest carp I've ever seen. This thing was huge! The monster ran under that under-cut bank and pow! He/she was gone. I was sure that the carp had pulled the knotless connection lose, but had only cut the leader, the knotless connection had held. With only a three foot leader, I had little choice but to return to the truck. Once I got home, I tied the end of my now three foot leader to a boat anchor and was surprised that I could lift the anchor off the garage floor without the connection failing. I now use this type of connection combined with a Duncan loop to attach the backing to the fly line. This connection goes through the guides like a hot knife through butter. Additional information on these types of connections can also be foun in, L.L. Bean's Fly Fishing for Bass Handbook, by Dave Whitlock, as well as Fly Fishing for Smallmouth Bass, by Harry Murray. Be sure to use only Pacer's Zap-A-Gap CA+, because I have had a failure using Duro Super Glue and the brand that Wal-Mart carries. I finish my connections using Loon's Knot Sense smoothed over the entire connection, being sure to cover the hole in the fly line created by the needle, as well as the the junction on the fly line and leader or backing. Give this connection a try, I think you will like it.