braided loops or needle knots????

[joe]

i know its down to personal choice but i'm interested to see other peoples opionions on braided loops and the best way to attach the leader to fly line, personally i prefer the needle knot but have never really given the braided loop a chance

 

[Ribblerod]

A wipped flyline loop anyday for me Better for tips without hinging, easier to put a whole new leader on in the dead of night and last for seasons on end rather than sessions on end
Only do different on lines below 6# now, must have been doing this for over ten years at least

 

[lochbois]

connecting my leader

connecting my leader

I Dont use the Needle knot or the Braided on my floating line or my intermediate Joe.
Only last week i checked my connection on my lines. I use a very small steel barrel swivel doing away with the hinge that a braid loop has when casting.
I dont rely on glues ,i strip the outer plastic coating and use a simple grinner not to tye on my line and leader material. I slide a rubber sleeve over the barrel and knot to finish the job.
Useing a swivel i have far less tangles with my top dropper spinning round my main leader.
Adding a slighltly heavier swivel or a bit of copper wire or lead makes a sink tip out of a floater
I used the swivel because one night while putting a new leader onto my braided loop i snipped through it,now i just tie the leader to the swivel.
I Dont use sinking leaders with a loop to loop conection.
I like to add the weight to the fly to get it deeper.PB

 

[bungle]

Being lazy, its a braided loop for me,but whipped on instead of using that bumpy bit of rubber sleeving...

Ian

 

[silverinvicta]

Braided loop for me, whipped both ends and at least 4-5in on the fly line....Checked every time i go fishing. Without the whippings they're a disaster waiting to happen...
Si.....

 

[DAZ]

Being lazy, its a braided loop for me,but whipped on instead of using that bumpy bit of rubber sleeving...

Ian

Same as him!

DAZ

 

[stig]

Needle or nail knot

Needle or nail knot

for me. Find they cause less disturbance. I always forget how to tie the bloody knots though and find myself having to refer to Falkus and Buller at the start of every season

 

[redfox]

Its braid for me, never had a problem with them.

Redfox

 

[annanangler]

Braided loops for me, I add some aquasure just above and below the sleeve ...never had a problem.

Mike

 

[Beanzy]

Neither

Neither

I make welded loops in the fly line then attach a furled leader, with a 1m to 1.5m length of tippet at the end of that. I've yet to find a smoother transition with better turnover.

 

[Andy R]

Braided loop, but I do use the rubber sleve. However I use Aquasure to glue the whole thing on. Many people use super glue- this is brittle and cracks, it also can cause a crack in the fly line at the point where the supply fly line meets the hard glued braid.

Aquasure is flexible, so you end up with a very strong connection that lasts years (some of mine are eight years plus now). If you work the glue into the loop as well it makes it more robust for the attachment of heavy florocarbon/nylon butt section of the leader.

I take the sleve off, feed the loop onto the line right up to the loop, then using some doubled over nylon, slide the sleve onto the braid/line. Put some glue right along the whole length of the braid, and then slide the sleve on up to the top of the braided section, getting glue beneath the sleve and over the top. Hand a weight on the loop (22lb fishing scales are good) to get a straight set, then in the morning you can free the scales and trim up any excess glue. Make sure you where latex gloves, else the aquasure will get you in a hell of a mess.

This method I find perfect for all seatrout and salmon lines down to a #6. If I go below this I glue only a one inch section of the braid with aquasure, otherwise it gets a bit heavy and clumsy.

I did some lines for a friend to go bonefish and tarpon fishing using this method- others were re-superglueing their connections every day, my connections were still going strong for pacific salmon three years later.

Andy

 

[lochbois]

Super-Glue

Super-Glue

I lost a three fly cast and a large rainbow trout up at Burnhope reservoir with the braided leader kit i got free out of Trout fisherman they said add a drop of super glue .
I had to revert to the knot at the end of my line and a loop connection something i used long before braided loops came on the scene.
Does it not tell you on the super glue label that its not recommended for items carrying water.
I have also been left with the whole cast up a tree because the brided loop came away from the line.
Its just my own personal thing but i have been useing my swivel for many years now and only my 10 pound maxima or the branch breaks.

 

[annanangler]

As Andy says aquasure is a hell of a lot stronger and the conection will last as long as your fly line does, super glue cracks and is a waste of time in my opinion.

Mike

 

[The Otter Startler Simon]

Braided loop for me, whipped both ends and at least 4-5in on the fly line....Checked every time i go fishing. Without the whippings they're a disaster waiting to happen...
Si.....

NEVER whip both ends it defeats all that a braided lop is trying to do, which is compress evenly over a length of fly line. Behind your first whiping all the rest is now pointless and all the load focussed at one point!

 

[sp8]

A wipped flyline loop anyday for me Better for tips without hinging, easier to put a whole new leader on in the dead of night and last for seasons on end rather than sessions on end
Only do different on lines below 6# now, must have been doing this for over ten years at least

Whipped loop also plus I now have welded some loops onto the odd line. I don't bother with braided loops any more. Try whipping the loop with 6lb bs nylon and cover with aquasure ( the nylon whip won't pull loose even without the glue but it just smooths everything out.)

SP8

 

[arian a du]

I've been stripping the plastic coating off of fly lines and making the end loops from the exposed braid core for a long time now - no failures so far.
The core tends to fray a little after a season but the whipping which holds the loop has always outlasted this.
The braid core needs to be sealed above the loop with something like aquasure or you end up with a sink-tip.

I use a needle knotted mono with sinking lines which don't have the braid core as I've had a few problems with braided loops over the years, I don't trust them at all.

 

[silverinvicta]

NEVER whip both ends it defeats all that a braided lop is trying to do, which is compress evenly over a length of fly line. Behind your first whiping all the rest is now pointless and all the load focussed at one point!

I sincerely hope it does focus the power on one point...The second whip is a failsafe..Just in case of damage not seen to the first whip.. Using 30lb braided mono for my loops, i would think the fly rod would snap before putting enough pressure on the loop to bust that...
It's served me well for many years now... More of my fly lines have a simple figure of eight knot on the end, with the leader lassoosed onto the fly line behind the knot... AND THAT...is the only way that has never let me down.........I have had braided loops fail in the past (not since i started to double whip them) .. but i prefer them to a needle knot..which is what the question was.

Si....

 

[SALAR]

Braided for me with a touch of aquasure and a 1.8mm-0.5mm shrink tube gripper over the end,,,

stump...

 

[outside]

Welded loops for me. So convienient to change a leader.