Fly line & Backing, how do you tie yours???

TimMac

Just wondering what ye think is the best type of knot to connect these two?

ironbluedun

TimMac wrote: »

Just wondering what ye think is the best type of knot to connect these two?

nail knot

coolwings

Needle-nail knot where the flyline is full length, and use the spare spool system for line changes.
Basically that's the big salmon outfits where the long DT is necessary for spey casting and line mending at distance.

For trout I gave up using full length lines, and cut DTs in half before joining directly to running backing.
Two large (6" long) loops where the flyline is 15 metres shooting head of 1/2 a DT, and being shorter is easier to change. In this case I use a single spool with alternative shooting heads on line winders until required.

Daroxtar

ironbluedun wrote: »

nail knot

The only answer

coolwings

I have had nail knots fail.
The outer coating of the line can come off like a tube, after that happens it is possible for a nail knot to slide off.
It won't be a small fish that does it, it will be either a snag or the fish of a lifetime.
At least with a needle version of the same knot, the backing is threaded through the core of the line.

I have to admit that after doing many tests, I am concerned about any flyline connection knot. I am always retesting the needle knots every time I set up.

Nail knots are streamlined and very strong, but they are like atomic power plants: safe, very safe, right up until the moment they aren't.

stevenmu

I've been using Albright Knots as recommended by AnimatedKnots.com (which I highly recommend looking over. I've used it for connecting fly line to store bought backing, and more recently I've used 30lb mono as backing (not really sure if this is ok but hasn't been an issue yet). I find it holds really really well, pulling on it just seems to strenghten the knot. It might fail catastrophically like Coolwings describes for the nail knot, it looks less likely to to me, but I'm just basing that on looks not experience, hopefully someone else can confirm or deny. It's also compact and smooth enough to slide out the rod eyes easily, though I'm not lucky enough for that to happen very often

coolwings

I like the Albright knot and it's variant the Improved Albright.
Downside is it is not as streamlined as a nail or needle-nail knot, and it rattles through the rod rings somewhat.
Upside, the line is folded over making a bulge over which the whipping must slide for it to fail. This makes the Albright stronger imo.

For knots which rest against a bulge of the thicker line, there is also the Tournament knot:

The terms are for surfcasting shockleaders. For our purpose, obviously in the drawing the thick one is the flyline.

Whatever knot you use, a drop of thin superglue fixes it better, but only apply it after the knot has been pulled tight.

Is anybody using the commercial push-on braided connector loops?
I do, but only after whipping the end of the push-on sleeve with a whipping of finer line.
Many anglers recommend using superglue for that part, I admire their faith.

Down the years I have lost 4 truly monstrous fish due to tackle failure. (Angler's error is a separate list!)
It depends whether I can be sure they could have been enticed to take at all if more robust tackle had been used, but in those particular cases the gear had a design flaw, or a strength inadequacy, or unable to deal with some local feature or snag, that made the fight end up with a win for the other side.
After losing a couple of 1 in a thousand fish, (and landing some too!) now I fish always thinking have I got adequate gear to deal with the 1 in a million fish. There are always a few lingering doubts !

stevenmu

coolwings wrote: »

Is anybody using the commercial push-on braided connector loops?
I do, but only after whipping the end of the push-on sleeve with a whipping of finer line.
Many anglers recommend using superglue for that part, I admire their faith.

I use them and think they're great. I've heard of people using superglue but haven't found it nessecary myself. I've found that if I take a bit of time getting them on properly and neatly that they hold really well, stronger than any leader I'd be using anyway. (one tip I saw for putting them on is the put them in warm water for a while to make them expand, put them on, then put them in cold water to make them 'set' but haven't tried this myself) In fact with the first one I had the braid at non-loop end started to unravel after a while and it did slide off the line a little, but when I decided to get rid of it I actually had to cut it off. That's with a #7 floating line, I have a #7 sinker which is a bit thinner and seems to hold as well, but I wonder if a much thinner line wouldn't hold as strongly.

A whipping of fine line seems like a good idea, the one little concern I'd have is that it might impact how the braid works. It seems to get a lot of it's grip from the way the braiding contracts when pulled on. The whipping could prevent the braiding from tightening along it's length, or even maybe damage the braiding?

BoarHunter

Yes i use this connector and am satisfied with it. Hard to find around Limerick though. I stock them anytime i go back to France. I admit i didn't look around very hard :rolleyes: as i don't have problems using the braided loop if needed.