Earlier this month we had the pleasure of fishing the flats with Andros South guest Harrison Perrin. While rigging up, he offered this simple tip when making the loop to loop connection between your fly line and leader to prolong the life of the coating on your factory loop. Check it out – we think you’ll like it.
Doubled Loop to Loop Connection
Step 1: Make the same loop to loop connection you normally would between your leader and fly line loops, but do not draw it down completely tight.
Step 2: Slide your leader loop back and roll the remainder of the leader loop up over the factory loop of your fly line.
Step 3: Insert the standing end of your leader through the factory loop and draw tight. Make sure on this step to insert the leader on the same side of the loop that your leader loop knot is on.
Look back up top for the finished product!
Over time, the leader on a standard loop to loop connection will eventually wear and most likely cut through the coating of the factory loop on your fly line. If you target strong fighting fish that put a lot of stress on tackle, you have most likely seen this. However, by doubling-up your loop to loop connections, you distribute the stress on your factory loop over a greater area, thus prolonging the coating on your fly line.
By doubling up your loop to loop connections, you are also able to eliminate the possibility of your loops slipping over one another causing a far weaker connection. This is especially important when dealing with stiffer materials like those used in salt water.
Double Up!
Try doubling up on your loop to loop connections on both your backing to fly line and fly line to leader connections. That little added security should give you a little more peace of mind when Mr. Big makes that third unexpected run into the backing.
Hey, I think this is a very good idea, I am going to try it !!
Great idea!
I’d like to hear more about, “Backing used as leader for visibility,” which is something I do. I use a long, 20 foot, 20 lb, dacron backing leader when tight line nymphing because it is dead soft and has absolutely no memory. It conveys every bounce and vibration from my nymph to the finger holding my line. The bright backing also functions as a sighter. The only down side I’ve discovered is that it has a tendancy to wrap around the rod requiring me to stop fishing and release it, but I’m working on a solution to that.
Can this be done with backing to fly line?