Floating fly line loop

[ditz2 0]

I did the same as Mike when I first started. I used the little barbed thingies. I lost a nice bass with one of those because it had rusted right inside the fly line tip. I suppose the core had absorbed water and allowed the oxidation to go to work. The thingie broke off right at the line tip. Needless to say that was the last time I used one of those. I know the nail knot is very popular and I have used it as well but I was always concerned the coating would pull off of the core as someone stated above. My fresh water system is the fly line loop and then a loop to loop connection. Simple and safe.

[oldtrout58 0]

I attached Roman Moser minicom braided loops to each end of my Phoenix double tapered flylines at least six years ago. These have stood up very well, I recommend them.

That being said, when the loop cracked on my piece of crap SA Sharkskin line, I just nail-knotted a piece of mono and added a perfection loop.

[Spanky29ca 0]

I didn't expect to get this many responses, thank you very much everyone, some very helpful advise

[JSzymczyk 0]

Why is it SOOO critical that the very last centimeter of your line remain floating? I read this all the time "Oh the tip of my line sank, Oh my God, I should have just stayed home or taken up golf!" I fish all the time, and I can't remember a single floating fly line of any make which floated perfectly down to the last tiny bit all day long... and I also can not remember that factor making any difference AT ALL in the overall performance of the system ? What have I been doing wrong all these years?

 

I've been using the Whitlock method on a few fly lines for several years now, and have had nothing but good results.

 

We get SO caught up in the minutiae of our tackle that we miss the big picture all the time. Structural integrity and functionality....

 

Whip a loop corrrectly and be done with it then.

[SilverCreek 0]

Why is it SOOO critical that the very last centimeter of your line remain floating? I read this all the time "Oh the tip of my line sank, Oh my God, I should have just stayed home or taken up golf!" I fish all the time, and I can't remember a single floating fly line of any make which floated perfectly down to the last tiny bit all day long... and I also can not remember that factor making any difference AT ALL in the overall performance of the system

 

I also don't care if the tip of the line sinks a bit. It creates a bit more of a disturbance when picked up for the next cast on spring creeks but for the average situation, it makes no difference to me.

[flytire 0]

A little sink in the tip doesn't bother me either

[mikechell 0]

I usually only get about 5 minutes a trip in, since I have to leave as soon as any part of my line gets wet.

[saltydancindave 0]

If a drop of Zap-A-Gap is applied to the very end of the fly line where it was cut at an angle for a whipped loop or straight for the braided loop connector, the very end of the fly line won't absorb water & sink as fast. Usually the inside of the braided leader gets dirty & starts to sink from that if the fly line end was waterproofed.

[SilverCreek 0]

Leon Chandler of Cortland Line Company, once wrote that Cortland did an experiment to see if water actually did get absorbed into the core of fly lines from the cut end. Cortland found out that water only entered a cm or so into the core.

 

I was surprised that the water did not travel further into the core, but I clearly remember what Chandler wrote because it did not agree with what I thought would happen.

 

 

 

 

 

Secondly, water has a specific gravity of 1.00. So it CANNOT change whether a fly line floats or sinks. It can raise the average specific gravity that is under 1.00 to closer to 1.00 but it CANNOT raise it ABOVE 1.00.

 

A fly line not like a boat whose frame is heavier than water so it sink when filled with water. A fly line tip that has a specific gravity that is lower than 1.00 will still be lower than 1.00 when a bit of water enters the core. It will float lower but it should still float.

 

The problem with the tips of floating lines is that as the line tapers, there is less room between the fly line and the core for the hollow glass beads that actually float the line. Fewer hollow beads and the fly line tip relies less on specific gravity and more on the hydrophobic water repellant coating.

 

I think the coating gets dirty and the fly line tip sinks. When you treat the line end it floats.

 

As far as coating the tip, when I coat the nail knot with Pliobond it does coat and smoothens the junction between the end of the fly line and the mono.

 

[McGnat 0]

If there is air trapped in the braided core to help float the tip and water displaces or fills that space, would that not cause the tip to sink given there are less micro spheres available to float the line?

[mikechell 0]

If a floating line's SG is, say, 0.98 ... without water in it, then with water in it, it could be well be above 1.00 and would then sink. I believe fly line IS like a boat. By your own definition, it's the glass beads (air bubbles) that make it float, not the material of the line itself. If you get enough water in it ... like any boat, it can sink.

I know water in a floating line makes it sink, because my line will float when I first start fishing, and sinks after I've been fishing for a while.

Some of the lines I had on were cracked, and they would sink where the cracks were, but not up or down the line from there.

[Chase Creek 0]

utyer - "Cortland also makes braided loop connectors you can slip on the end of a fly line."

I've used these for years with absolutely no problems. I HATE having to tie knots, and I'm a Scout Leader!

[hairwing 0]

I like my fly line tip to float. I don't find any benefit from a sinking floating line tip.

When I nymph I use the short line technique and do it without a cheater, bobber, strike indicator. Whatever the circumstances are I will also grease the leader which allows me more visual information as to what's going on with the underwater fly and the closer I can get to the point where the leader enters the water the better my results. English nympher Frank Sawyer used this method, greasing the butt of his leader to use as a tell and detect subtle takes.

Fishing dry fly style, a lot of my casts are to the far bank 30-40-50 feet. I need a line that helps me pick the fly up for the next cast. A high floater and a roll pick up will lift my leader and fly clear of the water at a distance and prevent the dry fly being stripped sodden by the fly being dragged underwater by a sunk fly line.

Wets and streamers need action, the most responsive twitch from the rod tip will travel best to the fly if the line sits as high as possible all the way to the fly.

The perfect floating fly line will sit right on top, that's what the fly line manufacturers have been after ever since the modern floating fly line was marketed. Same goes for me and I will go so far as to say that how it floats is more important to me than the taper of the line.

.....and just a thought, the heavier the line the more micro bubbles can be put in the makeup of the line, i.e. a 6 wt vs a 3 wt.

[captkenroy 0]

I use the Snell Knot almost 100% of the time, whether snelling an end loop or simply snelling on a leader.

 

[sandflyx 0]

I cut the tip back 6"(thicker) before doing a whitlock setup, leader inserted into fly line and I use ca glue+ a waterproof coating such as pliobond or goop thinned. I only do this on my lighter lines and add a nail knot behind the tip on heavier lines 6wt and up