It’s inevitable. If you do any sort of casting your leader or tippet will eventually fall victim to a wind knot that will weaken your line. If you’ve ever lost a fish because your leader snapped at a wind knot, we know the feeling. Now, if you’re lucky enough to find a wind knot near the fly, it’s easy to snip it and re-tie your fly back on. But Murphy tells us it will always be in the center of your leader, where it is most inconvenient. Depending on the section of the leader, you may have to replace the entire leader. Here is a quick tip to remove a line weakening wind knot without having to replace a leader.
Step 1. Center the wind knot.
Step 2. Create a downward facing loop with the wind knot remaining in the center.
Step 3. Create another loop by pinching the both tag ends at “11 and 1 o’clock” of the loop.
Step 4. Wrap the center line around the top end of the loop 4 -5 times.
Step 5. Pull the wind knot through the center loop between the wraps.
Step 6. Moisten the line and pull both ends to tighten.
Step 7. Nip the wind tag knot out.
Voila! you’ve got a stronger connection, sans the wind knot without having to remove your tippet or replace your leader. Now you can get back to fishing.
This is such a great tip, that we are working on a “how to video, so stay tuned!
I’ll be dog gone!