[DAVY WOTTON]

OK, YOU GOT THE FLY LINE CLEANED AND READY TO GO. OUT ON THE WATER IT GOES AND IS ALL WELL, TAKE A FURTHER LOOK. IS THAT LINE ON OR IN THE SURFACE ?
IF IT IS NOT ON THE SURFACE THEN YOU NEED TO CORRECT THAT.
WHY, YOU MAY ASK. THE ANSWER IS THIS. A DRY LINE SHOULD LIFT OFF THE SURFACE OF THE WATER AND NOT HAVE TO BE DRAGGED THROUGH THE TENSION.
A HIGH FLOAT LINE WILL LESSON THE AGGRO OF MAXIMISING A GOOD DRAG FREE DRIFT. IT IS EASIER TO LIFT A LINE OFF TO MAKE MENDS. IT WILL ALSO FACILITATE A FASTER HOOK SET AND A FAST LIFT OFF AND ROD LOAD FOR GOOD CASTING TECHNIQUE.
IF THE TIP OF THE FLY LINE SINKS IT IS A DETREMENT IN MANY WAYS.
THAT VISIBLE LINE TIP SUBSURFACE WILL SPOOK FISH. THE SUNKEN TIP SECTION IS MORE SUBJECT TO CAUSING BOTH LEADER/INDICATOR AND SURFACE FISHED FLIES TO BE PULLED UNDER.
TO CORRECT THAT PROBLEM MY CHOICE IS A UK PRODUCT OF OLD STANDING CALLED MUCILIN, WHICH IS AVAILABLE HERE. SOME OF THE OLDER GENERATION OF FLY FISHERS I KNEW WAY BACK WOULD USE COBBLERS WAX, NOT SURE IF YOU AN GET THAT TO DAY.
CHECK YOU LINE THE NEXT TIME YOU FISH.!!

[Fish Bones]

Hello Davy:

The fly line info is great. Thanks for the post. I know that you offer world class fly fishing classes so I wanted to let you know that I'm also Director of Fly Fishing at Tyler Junior College in Tyler, Texas. We offer fly fishing and fly tying courses. You can view our web site at http://rtdc.tjc.edu/fishing/

Keep up the good work.

Thanks,
Steve

[DAVY WOTTON]

Steve,
Yes, l will certainly check you site out. Pleased you are educating the next generation of fly fishers, l have seen a great decline in the number of young persons entering the field. I guess there are just too many other things of interest out there, time for learning other educational needs, parent non interest in fly fishing and so on.

If you need any help, advice let me know ok.

Keep up the good work Davy :P

[DAVY WOTTON]

I should have included in my last post.

Braided loops

Braided loops are great for sunk lines, they are for dry lines worthless. They are one major reason why the tip end ofyour fly line will sink, for a number of reasons such as they add weight and have no inherent float ability.
The best leader to line attachment is the no knot, one my friend Dave Whitlock showed me years ago. If you do not go with that then a nail/needle knot.

Or you form a whipped loop to the fly line by stripping back the coating to expose the core, turn that back to form a small loop and whip a thread junction, after which use Zap a Gap to secure the whipping.

www.davywotton.com

[Fish Bones]

Davy:

Can you explaine the No Knot? Or give us a site to go to in order see one?

Also... do you think you can get Dave to post on our forum?

Thanks,
Steve

[DAVY WOTTON]

Dave is my near neighbor, and close friend of course. I will ask him if he is interested to post with us. But l can tell you he is a busy guy, he does have a backlog of art work he is at this time taking care of.

To do the no knot.

You will need a size 10 or 11 needle and a pin vise to hold the needle.

The needle eye end is inserted into the end of the fly line for about 1/2 ins and then pushed through the side of the outer.
The fine end of the leader is then placed in the eye of the needle, about 1/2ins is good.

Draw the leader tip back through the line with the needle. When you have enough to grip, pull the entire leader through, leave about 1ins of the leader butt outside of the fly line coating.

At a point in front of the fly line tip, using some sandpaper give the leader
a rough up to take the shine of the surface, about 1 ins is good.

Apply some Zap A gap onto this leader at that point and pull the leader by the butt end so as the glued section is within the fly line.
You must do this right away and not let the glue dry !!!

In a few seconds the glue will have fixed. Cut off now close to the fly line coating the excess leader butt, and add a small dab of ZAG at that point.

Thats it. Zap A Gap is a water resistant product, some crazy glues are
not.

If you do this correctly it will not pull out. I am not suggesting that this is ideal for big saltwater game fish, l intend to try that one day, but l have used this for many species of fish both fresh and saltwater and in the many kilo's also.

[Fish Bones]

OK... I got it. I think that same technique is outlined in Dave's book "L.L. Bean Fly Fishing Handbook". That’s the same book we use in our fly fishing classes at TJC. I just didn’t remember the name “No Knot�.

I will respectfully and cordially disagree with you that the braided leader loop is “Useless� for dry fly fishing. I agree with you that it does create problems with the line tip sinking. However, the loop-to-loop connection is so convenient that I can live with the sinking issues. Cortland now makes a “Floating Braided Loop� that works very well for me. Also, when my line tip does starts sinking I just grease the braided loop with a little Loon fly floatant and it floats well for quite a good while.

Also, I’ve occasionally used a short section of mono and tied it to the end of the fly line using a nail knott. Then tie a loop at the other end of the mono. There is my loop connection.

I agree that the techniques you described are very good and even perhaps the best overall way to do it. I prefer a loop-to-loop connection for convenience. I can tie any knot but I don’t like to take the time to do it when I’m fishing unless I must. I get good leaders pretty cheap so when one becomes too short or damaged I just quickly put on a new one using the loop-to-loop and get right back to fishing. The fishing gods seem to make sure that whenever I need to tie a time consuming knot is when the fish are biting the most. So, I’m OK with braided loops and dry fly fishing.

One thing that I’ve learned in fly fishing is that they’re usually a couple of different ways to do the same thing. What works well for some does not always work well for others. Everyone has their own techniques that make them feel comfortable. If it feel good do it.

Respectfully,
Steve

[DAVY WOTTON]

Steve,
Thanks for you input. Yes, correct there is more than one way to skin a cat, and l aggree that if you use the no knot and screw your leader system up and need to sort it at the time, you would have to cut the NK off and re- attach a new leader with a nail knot or some other.

I do not use this means for sunk lines only floaters.

I used to form my loops by the process of stripping back a inch of the fly line coating, double that back and whip with thread a small loop. From that of course you can go loop to loop ar tie the leader directly to it.

I of course see very many clients with all sorts of means of connections, fly/line to leader. Some are beyond belief l can tell you , how they manage to get the line through the guides is miracle. I also see a great many fish lost when the junction causes it to become logged in the tip ring, and l have seen rods break because of that cause.

My personal view is that. I want a smooth transsision through the tip ring, a means that does not reguire constant attention to maintain line tip float, one that when fishing flat calm water does not cause undue surface disturbance, which as you know will spook fish at times.

Any further thought will be of course most welcome.