Tangled
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- Dec 28, 2015
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This is an an attempt to put everything we know about connecting fly lines and leaders in a single place. If you can add anything to it or feel it needs to be corrected, please reply in the usual way.
Introduction
How to connect a leader to a fly line is a perennial question here and a source of some confusion for beginners. This is an attempt to put all the various methods into one place showing and explaining when the different methods are used and why.
The fly line provides the weight that’s needed to propel the almost weightless fly to where we want it to go. It loads the rod and transfers the energy of the casting stroke down its length to the fly – if we get it right. The taper in the fly line and tapered leader (assuming we use one) causes the line to accelerate as it rolls out allowing the fly line, leader and fly to 'turn over' fully finally coming to a halt only as the cast is completed. This is explained more here:
We want to interfere as little as possible with that transfer of energy. In a perfect world the line that connects to the fly would be a single, un-jointed one that tapers gradually to a fine, translucent point, but this would be impractical to use as we’d soon need to change the entire line, not just its tip. Instead, we need to connect a piece of monofilament to the actual fly line which we can use as a low cost consumable.
This connection needs to balance strength and security with convenience and minimum mechanical interference in energy transfer. It also needs to be a really tight physical connection otherwise we introduce a concept called hinging.
Hinging is were the connection between line and leader is imperfect; if it's loose both parts can move independently of the other. As the energy provided by the casting action travels down the line it meets this 'floppy' joint and its energy can't be transferred, so in an extreme situation of no real connection at all, the leader just drops down in a mess. This is a loop to loop connection that clearly is not making a good mechanical connection
A similar hinging effect is created if a very fine line is connected directly to the very fat fly line.
So you can see that line-leader connections are performing quite an important task.
First off, here's a summary of fly line to leader connections
Fly line Loops
Some fly lines have a manufacturer’s welded loop already built into the line.
The welded loop is almost universal on salmon lines but less so for trout. Where the loop is available, the normal method of connecting a leader to it is loop-to-loop. The big advantage of loop-to-loop is that leaders can easily be changed without cutting the line; the two sides of the knot can be pushed apart.
Perhaps surprisingly, there’s a right and a wrong way to make the loop-to-loop connection:
How to make a leader loop
There are several ways of forming a loop in your leader to make the connection with the flyline loop; by far the simplest is the overhand loop
If you’re concerned about the strength of that simple knot (I’m not) you can double it
Another very popular loop knot is the perfection loop, which, for the OCDs amongst us creates a knot that hangs symmetrically.
Of course you can simply tie directly onto the flyline loop with the knot that you would normally attach your fly, but there’s not really much advantage in that.
There are a couple of important reasons why you wouldn’t want to use a loop-to-loop connection. The first is that your fly line might not have a loop! The second is a bit more technical and will be discussed later – do read it before making a fly line loop, it’s important; so important that some anglers actually cut off fly line loops.
What to do if your line has no loop
There are two possibilities; buy one or make one
Three homemade fly line loops:
1. 3 nail knot loop
2. homemade welded loop
3. homemade braided loop
You can buy braided loops that attach to your fly line. A very popular one is the Moser loop. Here’s how to attach a braided loop - this one is a Rio
There are several methods of making your own loops
You can make your own braided loop
youtu.be
A word of warning though on braided loops. The combination of a stiff plastic sleeve and superglue on the fly line to braid connection can create a stiff section of line which won't flex. Eventually the plastic coating at the joint will crack and hinge. The use of flexible silicon tube and sparing amounts of glue (Aquasure flexes better than superglue) mitigate this.
Weld your own loops
youtu.be
The criticism of homemade welded loops – and also some manufacturers loops – is that they can occasionally fail as they rely on you making a perfect weld. If you’re fishing for large fish you can belt and brace any welded loop by dropping a nail knot onto it. This is the ultimate safety. I drop one knot onto all my salmon loops.
youtu.be
Knot your own fly line loops
Knotted fly line loops are simple but can be ugly - their major advantage is that can be done at the bank side in an emergency.
The nail knot is generally used for this process and the video above shows you one way of doing it.
Whipped Loops
These have to be done at home and it helps if you have flyting equipment
https://www.ginkandgasoline.com/gink-gasoline-fly-patterns/diy-fly-line-loop/
www.youtube.com
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=257&v=fe6rvOTK-2I&feature=emb_logo
Possibly the best method but only for lines with braid centres.
youtu.be
I'm not sure many people do this anymore, it's a fiddly job and it creates quite a stiff section of line.
The No-Loop Option
Often a new fly line does not have a loop at all and sometimes you might want to cut it off! Why would anyone cut a loop off their brand new leader?
The answer is because they want a smaller, neater solution and often the reason for this is that they are using tapered leaders. The big advantage of a tapered leader over a flat, same diameter all the way through piece of mono, is that it’s, well, tapered - fatter at one end than the other. This taper transfers casting energy uniformly to the fly aiding turnover and presentation.
Being fat at the end joining the fly line means that a bulky knot is inevitable. This isn’t just cosmetically unpleasant; it can be positively dangerous. That large knot can get jammed in your top ring when you’re playing a fish and can easily cause a break.
There's a simple rule of thumb that you can use to determine the butt diameter of the leader to use when making no-loop connections to the fly line. It goes: 0.3mm for a #3 weight line, 0.4mm for a #4, 0.5mm for a #5 etc.
Permanent line/leader connections
These kind of connections are ways of whipping or gluing your leader to the line. Perhaps the simplest is the nail knot as used in the fly line loop video above, but this time there’s no loop. This guy uses a bodkin to create the knot but it’s called a nail knot because anything round and thin can be used – even a twig if you’re stuck.
www.youtube.com
You can also get nail knot tools, I’ve got one that’s part of my nippers so I’ve always got it handy if I need it.
www.youtube.com
The prettiest and most pleasing knot is where the leader is sent through the centre of the line
youtu.be
Both work well but the nail knot has the advantage of being easier, particularly as a running repair at the bankside, while the needle knot produces a neater connection.
nb There are two basic forms of fly line; the one shown in the video is a plastic coated braid used for floating and sinking lines. But other lines are solid with no core, often intermediate lines called 'slime lines' are like this. You can't use the needle knot method with solid lines.
Tippet ring connections
Stephan Jones, a Welsh trout and sea trout guide, welds a tippet ring onto his flyline. This is a neat solution but you still have the issue of the fat tapered leader knot attached to it. You'll see in the video, Stephan's leader is quite slim and it looks like he uses a blood knot. An alternative is to needle knot tapered leader to the flyline, then attach a a ring to the leader after about 3' of taper when it has become thin enough.
youtu.be
Get out of jail, bank side knot
If you need a really simple emergency knot just so you can carry on fishing, the quickest way of tying your line to leader is to tie an overhand knot in the fly line. This acts as a stop knot and you can use the loop on your leader to make the connection. Here's how - I love this video!
www.youtube.com
It looks like he's tying the wedge knot
Look, no knots!
A version of the needle knot uses superglue instead a knot to form the connection. This one is for the brave, but apparently it does work. It produces the perfect transition between line and leader, hopefully resulting in perfect turnover. Personally, I like the security of a mechanical connection; if you use the glued connection I suggest you check it regularly.
nb It's important to use a superglue that's stable in water, otherwise you'll see your leader head off with the fish after a few casts. Zap-a-Gap seems to be the most popular brand.
www.youtube.com
With these forms of semi-permanent connections it’s useful to also create a means of connecting a tippet so that the leader itself isn’t getting shorter and shorter as you change flies. The simplest method is to cut down your tapered leader to a suitable point and add a length of consumable mono using a tippet ring
youtu.be
Furled leaders
Thanks to Mr Trout for this.
Furled leaders are constructed using a jig with various pegs at certain distances which determine the overall taper.
Most are constructed from fine strong thread, in my case I use either Guttermans or Benichi or Uni thread, this provides a very strong but supple leader that lies dead straight unlike mono it has no memory.
You can, and I do also make them in mono, exactly the same method, but being mono they are a little stiffer and help to turn over larger flies or nymphs etc on Stillwater when you are casting at distance.
A Furlie is constructed from many wraps of thread that are brought together on the jig by spinning them with in my case a Dremmel tool. They are then hung with a weight on the bottom and furl naturally.
Once furled You create a short loop in the thick end, this is formed so you can loop to loop on your fly line, either welded loop or braided loop.
On the tapered end either a small short loop is made or as some prefer a Riverge mini ring, in my case a 2mm one.
To that you simply attach your tippet I use a turned blood knot, I’m confident in that but the choice is yours.
The length of tippet you put on is normally the same length as the Furlie, but some prefer to add quite a lot more, if you can turn over your fly well with a longer piece then go for it, I put approx 6 ft of tippet on a 5ft Furlie.
To make a Furlie float I use and recommend Mucilin paste it’s what I’ve used for the last 12 years and it works fine. Otter butter is another item that’s highly thought of, but it’s quite expensive in comparison and IMO not needed.
If you’re fishing nymphs or sub surface then leave your Furlie untreated and it will sink.
Make your own tapered leader
If you want to make up your own tapered leaders using differing thicknesses of mono, here's a calculator for designing them.
Polyleaders
Polyleaders are manufactured tapered leaders that attach to the end of your fly line. They differ from traditional manufactured tapered leaders in that they come in several forms from floating through intermediate to fast sinking. So, for example, they can turn a standard floating line into a sink tip simply by adding an extra section of line.
They are very commonly used in salmon fishing less so for trout, but can be useful.
They universally have a loop to loop connection to join them to the fly line and most also have a loop to attach your mono tippet. Where a loop is not provided at the tippet end you have to attach it either by creating your own detachable loop with a knot or by a semi-permanent knot such as a 3 turn water knot (surgeon's knot). A ring connector could also be used.
The tippets that you attach are flat/level lengths of mono.
For example, I'm looking at an Airflo polyleader for trout. It's 10' long, clear floating and has a welded loop at the thick butt end (so won't jamb in your top ring). It advises:
"This 10' polyleader will turn over a level tippet of between 2lb and 12lb breaking strain and of between 4' and 12' in length."
It doesn't have a loop at the tippet end - none of the Airflow trout polyleaders seem to. All Airflo salmon polyleaders have loops at both ends.
So which connection to use?
Fishing is a hobby; a pastime. For some it’s also a sport and a profession and for many of us it’s an obsession. As a result there’s a wide range of approaches to it; it can be as simple or as complicated as we want to make it. Fishing circumstances will normally determine the best connection to choose.
One of the best anglers I’ve ever met uses loop connections and a non-tapered 9’, 3 fly leader made of 4lb Maxima Ultragreen. He's spider fishing for wild trout in a rough Northern river, usually making casts of no more than 30'. The fish are usually something over a pound but because “there’s some big bastards in here” he uses thicker line than many would. But hell could he cast and catch. His only attempt at ‘over-complicating’ things is the use of a perfection knot for the leader loop.
There’s obviously nothing wrong with any of this, his methods create good strong connections, and in the circumstances he's fishing in any reasonable caster will turn that leader over easily and present the flies well without the connection interfering in it at all.
Similar situations exist in short-line, boat drift fishing; the wind is behind and you're not straining for distance so everything turns over nicely and you don't need everything to be perfectly efficient.
In different circumstances where you're casting a long line with a big fly into the wind you need all the efficient energy transfer you can get out of a clean connection and a correctly tapered leader.
Real fishing circumstances vary enormously and some of the concepts developed to achieve casting perfection may offer only marginal benefits or be unnecessary in many situations. So what we need to do with all these different techniques is to balance presentation with security of connection and convenience according to the circumstances we find ourselves in.
So long as welded fly line loops are done properly – keep the loops small, connect them the correct way and pull them tight and remember that if big fish are expected they can be protected with a nail knot if you’re paranoid - the loop-to-loop connection is the most secure and practical (because the strain on the joint is shared between two connection points instead of just one.)
On the other hand it’s comparatively large and bulky and the most likely to hinge – everything is more than doubled in size and it can be several centimetres long, all of which creates air resistance which can potentially decrease accuracy and increase splash and noise on landing. The bulk and construction will almost certainly have some negative effect on energy transfer down the leader. Whether this matters at all depends what type of fishing you do and how good a caster you are. I think that most anglers would say that all this is not often very important in real fishing circumstances.
But don't forget the size of the knot made in the leader loop; it must be tidy enough to pass through your rod rings when under tension with a fish. Salmon fishing excepted, loop to loop connections are best kept for fishing situations where a flat, untapered leader can be used. The thick butt section of a tapered leader inevitably requires a large knot.
At the other extreme we have the superglue connection that is super-neat, does not add to the diameter of the line and interferes with its mechanics as little as possible; but is intrinsically weaker. I can imagine that set-up being used for casting tiny single dry flies at very nervous wild trout in still conditions. But obviously it could be used in many other situations too.
The needle and nail knots are somewhere between those two extremes, though you can imagine that they are nearer to superglue than loop-to-loop in efficiency and to loops for strength.
Logically therefore, we'd use the heavy-duty, loop-to-loop, connection when fishing for big fish and/or where presentation is not a big issue. Loop-to-loop connections are almost universally used for all forms of salmon fishing.
As an aside, years ago I turned up to my first salmon river with a needle knotted 15lb connection on my fly line. I’d just bumped up my usual trout leader (this was on a small river and we were using single handed rods). The Argentinian guide looked at it, said ‘que mierda,’ wrapped the line around one hand and leader around his other and just wrenched it straight off. Lesson learned.
But loop-to-loop is not just for large fish, it’s for any size fish where the larger knots do not impinge on the fish or the fishing – deep fished nymphs, fast moving rippled waters and so on.
Convenience comes into it too. If you’re going to be changing leaders a lot you’ll probably choose a loop because, after all, it’s rarely that big a deal. Most fishing circumstances don’t demand absolutely perfect presentation and most casts aren’t made by perfect casters.
Even so, it’s nice to get things set up the best way we can, to get the best advantage we can. Most of us need all the help we can get.
Introduction
How to connect a leader to a fly line is a perennial question here and a source of some confusion for beginners. This is an attempt to put all the various methods into one place showing and explaining when the different methods are used and why.
The fly line provides the weight that’s needed to propel the almost weightless fly to where we want it to go. It loads the rod and transfers the energy of the casting stroke down its length to the fly – if we get it right. The taper in the fly line and tapered leader (assuming we use one) causes the line to accelerate as it rolls out allowing the fly line, leader and fly to 'turn over' fully finally coming to a halt only as the cast is completed. This is explained more here:
Drag-Free Drift
• Design, materials, knots, castingFly fishermen often pay too little attention to the eight or nine feet of monafilament that connects their hundred dollars of gear to their fly. But this least expensive component-the leader-is the one most directly connected to fishing success. To fool a...
books.google.co.uk
We want to interfere as little as possible with that transfer of energy. In a perfect world the line that connects to the fly would be a single, un-jointed one that tapers gradually to a fine, translucent point, but this would be impractical to use as we’d soon need to change the entire line, not just its tip. Instead, we need to connect a piece of monofilament to the actual fly line which we can use as a low cost consumable.
This connection needs to balance strength and security with convenience and minimum mechanical interference in energy transfer. It also needs to be a really tight physical connection otherwise we introduce a concept called hinging.
Hinging is were the connection between line and leader is imperfect; if it's loose both parts can move independently of the other. As the energy provided by the casting action travels down the line it meets this 'floppy' joint and its energy can't be transferred, so in an extreme situation of no real connection at all, the leader just drops down in a mess. This is a loop to loop connection that clearly is not making a good mechanical connection
A similar hinging effect is created if a very fine line is connected directly to the very fat fly line.
So you can see that line-leader connections are performing quite an important task.
First off, here's a summary of fly line to leader connections
Fly line Loops
Some fly lines have a manufacturer’s welded loop already built into the line.
The welded loop is almost universal on salmon lines but less so for trout. Where the loop is available, the normal method of connecting a leader to it is loop-to-loop. The big advantage of loop-to-loop is that leaders can easily be changed without cutting the line; the two sides of the knot can be pushed apart.
Perhaps surprisingly, there’s a right and a wrong way to make the loop-to-loop connection:
How to make a leader loop
There are several ways of forming a loop in your leader to make the connection with the flyline loop; by far the simplest is the overhand loop
If you’re concerned about the strength of that simple knot (I’m not) you can double it
Another very popular loop knot is the perfection loop, which, for the OCDs amongst us creates a knot that hangs symmetrically.
Of course you can simply tie directly onto the flyline loop with the knot that you would normally attach your fly, but there’s not really much advantage in that.
There are a couple of important reasons why you wouldn’t want to use a loop-to-loop connection. The first is that your fly line might not have a loop! The second is a bit more technical and will be discussed later – do read it before making a fly line loop, it’s important; so important that some anglers actually cut off fly line loops.
What to do if your line has no loop
There are two possibilities; buy one or make one
Three homemade fly line loops:
1. 3 nail knot loop
2. homemade welded loop
3. homemade braided loop
You can buy braided loops that attach to your fly line. A very popular one is the Moser loop. Here’s how to attach a braided loop - this one is a Rio
There are several methods of making your own loops
You can make your own braided loop
How to make a Braided Loop for a Fly Line
Buy RIO braided loops: http://www.avidmax.com/rio-braided-loops-for-fly-lines/
youtu.be
A word of warning though on braided loops. The combination of a stiff plastic sleeve and superglue on the fly line to braid connection can create a stiff section of line which won't flex. Eventually the plastic coating at the joint will crack and hinge. The use of flexible silicon tube and sparing amounts of glue (Aquasure flexes better than superglue) mitigate this.
Weld your own loops
Welding loops in fly line
http://www.hooked4life.caHere's a short clip on how to weld a loop in the tip of a fly linehttp://www.hooked4life.ca
youtu.be
The criticism of homemade welded loops – and also some manufacturers loops – is that they can occasionally fail as they rely on you making a perfect weld. If you’re fishing for large fish you can belt and brace any welded loop by dropping a nail knot onto it. This is the ultimate safety. I drop one knot onto all my salmon loops.
Bomb Proof Your Fly Line Loop - Tarpon Loop on Fly Line
http://www.intheriffle.com/ | The connections on your fly line are so important when fishing for large fish and saltwater species. The standard welded loop o...
youtu.be
Knot your own fly line loops
Knotted fly line loops are simple but can be ugly - their major advantage is that can be done at the bank side in an emergency.
The nail knot is generally used for this process and the video above shows you one way of doing it.
Whipped Loops
These have to be done at home and it helps if you have flyting equipment
https://www.ginkandgasoline.com/gink-gasoline-fly-patterns/diy-fly-line-loop/
Adding A Whip Finish Loop In The End of Your Fly Line
http://www.flycarpin.com - This is how you add an indestructible loop to the end of your fly line. This will allow you to add a tapered leader with a loop to...
www.youtube.com
Possibly the best method but only for lines with braid centres.
River fishing : Leader connections Pt 1 Whipped fly line micro loop
How to form a micro core loop to attach a leader .
youtu.be
I'm not sure many people do this anymore, it's a fiddly job and it creates quite a stiff section of line.
The No-Loop Option
Often a new fly line does not have a loop at all and sometimes you might want to cut it off! Why would anyone cut a loop off their brand new leader?
The answer is because they want a smaller, neater solution and often the reason for this is that they are using tapered leaders. The big advantage of a tapered leader over a flat, same diameter all the way through piece of mono, is that it’s, well, tapered - fatter at one end than the other. This taper transfers casting energy uniformly to the fly aiding turnover and presentation.
Being fat at the end joining the fly line means that a bulky knot is inevitable. This isn’t just cosmetically unpleasant; it can be positively dangerous. That large knot can get jammed in your top ring when you’re playing a fish and can easily cause a break.
There's a simple rule of thumb that you can use to determine the butt diameter of the leader to use when making no-loop connections to the fly line. It goes: 0.3mm for a #3 weight line, 0.4mm for a #4, 0.5mm for a #5 etc.
Permanent line/leader connections
These kind of connections are ways of whipping or gluing your leader to the line. Perhaps the simplest is the nail knot as used in the fly line loop video above, but this time there’s no loop. This guy uses a bodkin to create the knot but it’s called a nail knot because anything round and thin can be used – even a twig if you’re stuck.
How to Tie the Nail Knot
This video explains the easiest way to tie perfect nail knots every time. The nail knot is a very intimidating knot for many fly fishermen but after learning...
www.youtube.com
You can also get nail knot tools, I’ve got one that’s part of my nippers so I’ve always got it handy if I need it.
How To Use a Tie Fast Nail Knot Tool
Get a tie-fast tool here: http://www.avidmax.com/sierra-stream-mountain-tie-fast-knot-tyer/Get RIO products here: http://www.avidmax.com/brands/RIO/
www.youtube.com
The prettiest and most pleasing knot is where the leader is sent through the centre of the line
A short film showing how to tie a Needle Knot
This film shows how to tie the "Needle Knot" knot - a very strong, super neat knot for attaching a leader to a fly line with no loop in. Clear, concise and ...
youtu.be
Both work well but the nail knot has the advantage of being easier, particularly as a running repair at the bankside, while the needle knot produces a neater connection.
nb There are two basic forms of fly line; the one shown in the video is a plastic coated braid used for floating and sinking lines. But other lines are solid with no core, often intermediate lines called 'slime lines' are like this. You can't use the needle knot method with solid lines.
Tippet ring connections
Stephan Jones, a Welsh trout and sea trout guide, welds a tippet ring onto his flyline. This is a neat solution but you still have the issue of the fat tapered leader knot attached to it. You'll see in the video, Stephan's leader is quite slim and it looks like he uses a blood knot. An alternative is to needle knot tapered leader to the flyline, then attach a a ring to the leader after about 3' of taper when it has become thin enough.
Fly Line Tippet Ring - Dry Fly Fishing Streamline Presentation
A really streamlined method of attaching your leader to your fly line. This allows very little diameter change at the end of the line when connecting with a ...
youtu.be
Get out of jail, bank side knot
If you need a really simple emergency knot just so you can carry on fishing, the quickest way of tying your line to leader is to tie an overhand knot in the fly line. This acts as a stop knot and you can use the loop on your leader to make the connection. Here's how - I love this video!
Old school: how to put a leader without a loop on your fly line
www.youtube.com
It looks like he's tying the wedge knot
Look, no knots!
A version of the needle knot uses superglue instead a knot to form the connection. This one is for the brave, but apparently it does work. It produces the perfect transition between line and leader, hopefully resulting in perfect turnover. Personally, I like the security of a mechanical connection; if you use the glued connection I suggest you check it regularly.
nb It's important to use a superglue that's stable in water, otherwise you'll see your leader head off with the fish after a few casts. Zap-a-Gap seems to be the most popular brand.
SuperGlueLeaderConnection.wmv
I have been asked about this method of leader connection frequently and it is featured in my eBook. "100 Fly Fishing Tips, Tricks and Techniques" which conta...
www.youtube.com
With these forms of semi-permanent connections it’s useful to also create a means of connecting a tippet so that the leader itself isn’t getting shorter and shorter as you change flies. The simplest method is to cut down your tapered leader to a suitable point and add a length of consumable mono using a tippet ring
Tippet Rings - Explained + Tutorial
In this video, Brian Flechsig at Mad River Outfitters breaks down the usefulness of tippet rings, how to use them correctly and explains common misconception...
youtu.be
Furled leaders
Thanks to Mr Trout for this.
Furled leaders are constructed using a jig with various pegs at certain distances which determine the overall taper.
Most are constructed from fine strong thread, in my case I use either Guttermans or Benichi or Uni thread, this provides a very strong but supple leader that lies dead straight unlike mono it has no memory.
You can, and I do also make them in mono, exactly the same method, but being mono they are a little stiffer and help to turn over larger flies or nymphs etc on Stillwater when you are casting at distance.
A Furlie is constructed from many wraps of thread that are brought together on the jig by spinning them with in my case a Dremmel tool. They are then hung with a weight on the bottom and furl naturally.
Once furled You create a short loop in the thick end, this is formed so you can loop to loop on your fly line, either welded loop or braided loop.
On the tapered end either a small short loop is made or as some prefer a Riverge mini ring, in my case a 2mm one.
To that you simply attach your tippet I use a turned blood knot, I’m confident in that but the choice is yours.
The length of tippet you put on is normally the same length as the Furlie, but some prefer to add quite a lot more, if you can turn over your fly well with a longer piece then go for it, I put approx 6 ft of tippet on a 5ft Furlie.
To make a Furlie float I use and recommend Mucilin paste it’s what I’ve used for the last 12 years and it works fine. Otter butter is another item that’s highly thought of, but it’s quite expensive in comparison and IMO not needed.
If you’re fishing nymphs or sub surface then leave your Furlie untreated and it will sink.
Make your own tapered leader
If you want to make up your own tapered leaders using differing thicknesses of mono, here's a calculator for designing them.
Polyleaders
Polyleaders are manufactured tapered leaders that attach to the end of your fly line. They differ from traditional manufactured tapered leaders in that they come in several forms from floating through intermediate to fast sinking. So, for example, they can turn a standard floating line into a sink tip simply by adding an extra section of line.
They are very commonly used in salmon fishing less so for trout, but can be useful.
They universally have a loop to loop connection to join them to the fly line and most also have a loop to attach your mono tippet. Where a loop is not provided at the tippet end you have to attach it either by creating your own detachable loop with a knot or by a semi-permanent knot such as a 3 turn water knot (surgeon's knot). A ring connector could also be used.
The tippets that you attach are flat/level lengths of mono.
For example, I'm looking at an Airflo polyleader for trout. It's 10' long, clear floating and has a welded loop at the thick butt end (so won't jamb in your top ring). It advises:
"This 10' polyleader will turn over a level tippet of between 2lb and 12lb breaking strain and of between 4' and 12' in length."
It doesn't have a loop at the tippet end - none of the Airflow trout polyleaders seem to. All Airflo salmon polyleaders have loops at both ends.
So which connection to use?
Fishing is a hobby; a pastime. For some it’s also a sport and a profession and for many of us it’s an obsession. As a result there’s a wide range of approaches to it; it can be as simple or as complicated as we want to make it. Fishing circumstances will normally determine the best connection to choose.
One of the best anglers I’ve ever met uses loop connections and a non-tapered 9’, 3 fly leader made of 4lb Maxima Ultragreen. He's spider fishing for wild trout in a rough Northern river, usually making casts of no more than 30'. The fish are usually something over a pound but because “there’s some big bastards in here” he uses thicker line than many would. But hell could he cast and catch. His only attempt at ‘over-complicating’ things is the use of a perfection knot for the leader loop.
There’s obviously nothing wrong with any of this, his methods create good strong connections, and in the circumstances he's fishing in any reasonable caster will turn that leader over easily and present the flies well without the connection interfering in it at all.
Similar situations exist in short-line, boat drift fishing; the wind is behind and you're not straining for distance so everything turns over nicely and you don't need everything to be perfectly efficient.
In different circumstances where you're casting a long line with a big fly into the wind you need all the efficient energy transfer you can get out of a clean connection and a correctly tapered leader.
Real fishing circumstances vary enormously and some of the concepts developed to achieve casting perfection may offer only marginal benefits or be unnecessary in many situations. So what we need to do with all these different techniques is to balance presentation with security of connection and convenience according to the circumstances we find ourselves in.
So long as welded fly line loops are done properly – keep the loops small, connect them the correct way and pull them tight and remember that if big fish are expected they can be protected with a nail knot if you’re paranoid - the loop-to-loop connection is the most secure and practical (because the strain on the joint is shared between two connection points instead of just one.)
On the other hand it’s comparatively large and bulky and the most likely to hinge – everything is more than doubled in size and it can be several centimetres long, all of which creates air resistance which can potentially decrease accuracy and increase splash and noise on landing. The bulk and construction will almost certainly have some negative effect on energy transfer down the leader. Whether this matters at all depends what type of fishing you do and how good a caster you are. I think that most anglers would say that all this is not often very important in real fishing circumstances.
But don't forget the size of the knot made in the leader loop; it must be tidy enough to pass through your rod rings when under tension with a fish. Salmon fishing excepted, loop to loop connections are best kept for fishing situations where a flat, untapered leader can be used. The thick butt section of a tapered leader inevitably requires a large knot.
At the other extreme we have the superglue connection that is super-neat, does not add to the diameter of the line and interferes with its mechanics as little as possible; but is intrinsically weaker. I can imagine that set-up being used for casting tiny single dry flies at very nervous wild trout in still conditions. But obviously it could be used in many other situations too.
The needle and nail knots are somewhere between those two extremes, though you can imagine that they are nearer to superglue than loop-to-loop in efficiency and to loops for strength.
Logically therefore, we'd use the heavy-duty, loop-to-loop, connection when fishing for big fish and/or where presentation is not a big issue. Loop-to-loop connections are almost universally used for all forms of salmon fishing.
As an aside, years ago I turned up to my first salmon river with a needle knotted 15lb connection on my fly line. I’d just bumped up my usual trout leader (this was on a small river and we were using single handed rods). The Argentinian guide looked at it, said ‘que mierda,’ wrapped the line around one hand and leader around his other and just wrenched it straight off. Lesson learned.
But loop-to-loop is not just for large fish, it’s for any size fish where the larger knots do not impinge on the fish or the fishing – deep fished nymphs, fast moving rippled waters and so on.
Convenience comes into it too. If you’re going to be changing leaders a lot you’ll probably choose a loop because, after all, it’s rarely that big a deal. Most fishing circumstances don’t demand absolutely perfect presentation and most casts aren’t made by perfect casters.
Even so, it’s nice to get things set up the best way we can, to get the best advantage we can. Most of us need all the help we can get.
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Have done for many years.
