Fly lines, DT, WF, bellies, tapers, materials - All about the lines used for fly fishing - Leaders, tippet, monofilament, knotted, furled, braided, twined - The connection from the fly line to the fly - Keywords - The words we use - Words, tags, taxonomy - Fly fishing tag cloud - Global FlyFisher

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Fly lines or Leaders

Tom's Line Winder

DIY: Build your own line winder for maintaining your fly lines and getting them on and off the reel. Tom Biesot considers the line cleaning process and use and construction of your own line winder.
Follow the detailed instructions here.

How to fish with more than one fly

Teaming up: Having more than one fly on your leader actually makes pretty good sense in the very simple way that presenting more than one temptation to the fish increases the chance of a bite. But there are many other reasons.
Read about it here.
Directly to "The only knot"

The only knot
Go to the article "Capt. Mel's Tube Knot"

Capt. Mel's Tube Knot
Jump to "Sea Trout Gear"

Sea Trout Gear
See "Fly fishing knots" by clicking here

Fly fishing knots
Proceed to "How to act right" here

How to act right
Find "How to look good" on this page

How to look good
Directly to "Shooting lines"

Shooting lines
Click to see "Fly Line Blues"

Fly Line Blues
Directly to "Balance beam"

Balance beam
Click to see "LeaderCalc2007"

LeaderCalc2007
Proceed to "Chuck and Duck" here

Chuck-n-Duck
This link takes you to "The measure tape II"

Measure tape II

About "Fly lines or Leaders " from Blog Creek – GFF's weblog
· Old fly lines come alive - Flyvines turn old and worn out fly lines into something different: bracelets, lanyards and sunglass retainers
· Shooting head fisher? - If you're a shooting head fisher, GFF might need your help
· 50$ fly rod/reel/line - I bought a complete brand new fly rod kit at 50 US$ in my local supermarket - and it's a nice rod

  
 Go to The measure tape
The measure tape
10-20-30-40 meters? 30-60-90-120 feet? How long can you cast with a one hand rod? And how long does and average fly-angler actually cast? GFF partner Martin Joergensen has done some research and talked to some experts.
  
 Go to Shooting head talk
Shooting head talk
Shooting heads give a couple of advantages, which GFF partner Martin Joergensen will try to explain in this podcast episode. You can join him on the Danish coast in his usual pursuit for sea trout while he introduces you to the world of shooting heads.
  
 Go to ZipCast
ZipCast
When the bottle came in the mail, I got out an old hankie and wet a small bit and ran the line through the hankie a few times. Out to the yard to see how it cast. Hmm ... it was noticeably slicker and flowed through the guides with ease. Nice.
  
 Go to First setup
First setup
Most of us know how, but this article is for the ones who never set up a fly reel from scratch. See which knots will work where and what type and amount of backing you most probably want. Start with this simple trout setup, and you can expand to other types.
  
 Go to Line care
Line care
Third and last part of fishing guide Roland Henrion's article on fly fishing equipment care and maintenance. This time on the proper treatment and storage of fly lines. Tired of stiff, coiling lines that makes bird's nests?
  
 Go to A smart spooler
A smart spooler
The Smart Spooler is one of those gadgets that you didn't know you needed before you got it. The Smart Spooler is aimed primarily at aiding fly anglers in cleaning their lines, but the neatly designed and sturdy tool has several other purposes.
  
 Go to Leaders&Tippets
Leaders&Tippets
This small article is a selection of questions and answers about leaders and tippets accumulated over the years. Martin Joergensen has harvested the most popular questions with the assistance of his fellow GFF partner Steve Schweitzer.
  
 Go to Little Devil
Little Devil
An article on the Welsh classic The Diawl Bach and on the intriguing and intimidating concept of fishing a team of three flies on a very long leader. GFF partner Martin Joergensen has been to Wales and this is the first article from that trip.
  
 Go to Strike Indicator Scientology
Strike Indicator Scientology
This article is the premier in a new series: "Nymphing From Top-to-Bottom: The Untold Secrets". Starting on top, strike indicators aren't just flyfishing bobbers; they do much more, if you know the secrets! Learn an exclusive trick from GFF partner Steve Schweitzer along with
  
 Go to Flyline Maintenance 101
Flyline Maintenance 101
Maintaining that expensive string coated with plastics and polymers is the best medicine for adding years of life your flyline. Consider cleaning flylines after every 3-5 uses or when the water is particularly dirty.
  
 Go to Monic Light Green
Monic Light Green
Cold weather lines are slowly becoming as common as the special lines for tropical fishing. GFF partner Martin Joergensen has fished one from Monic and liked it very much.
  
 Go to Advanced Kreh
Advanced Kreh
I wouldn't expect to see the definition of double taper or weight forward lines in an "advanced techniques" book. That is pretty basic stuff. Would I expect to see a discussion of the merits of a large arbor reel vs standard arbor? Yeah. In this book, however, we got the former but not the latter.
  
 Go to Fly line anatomy
Fly line anatomy
My fly line doesn't understand me! And I don't understand it... This article tries to put things straight: tapers, densities, coatings, memory and all the other terms that manufacturers use for these expensive pieces of string.
  
 Go to Kreh on casting
Kreh on casting
If, while fishing, you have to deal with wind coming from various directions, you have to make a quick cast to a specific target, change direction, or cast for a bit of distance, this book by Lefty Kreh will teach you a thing or two.
  
 Go to Drag-Free Drift
Drag-Free Drift
"I must say - I was surprised to encounter a pretty wide ranging set of topics in a book about drifting flies, and more gory detail than I thought possible" GFF partner Bob Petti reviews a book entirely about leaders.
  
 Go to Production leaders
Production leaders
What is production leader tying? Tying more than 2 leaders at a time! But, if you are like me, you find out that tomorrow you may go fishing, so you scramble to tie just enough leaders (usually 2) to handle the day and go on with life.
  
 Go to Shooting heads
Shooting heads
In this article I will try to cover some advantages and disadvantages of the shooting head over the WF line, and I will thoroughly describe the way you can configure a good shooting head system for your rod. The article will teach you how to calculate, make and trim a shooting head. It will also tell you how to cast it - just on the introductory level.
  
 Go to QwikCalc
QwikCalc
Want to use LeaderCalc but don't have access to MS-Excel? No problem! We at GFF recognize that many of you have been missing out on the extensive capabilities of LeaderCalc in helping you design your own tapered mono leaders.
  
 Go to On bite tippets for pike flies - Global FlyFisher
On bite tippets for pike flies - Global FlyFisher
Stiff piano wire has definite advantages over other sorts of pike shock and bite tippets.
  
 Go to Pike streamer
Pike streamer
This colorful fly is an almost neutral density pike pattern that fishes in, or just below the surface. It is excellent for summer pike fishing in shallow waters.
  
 Go to Fly fishing leaders and tippets
Fly fishing leaders and tippets
Leaders fall in several categories. These all serve the same purpose: transmitting the energy fra the fly line to the fly in a gentle, yet firm way. The different types each have their advantages and disadvantages, and selecting one is often a question of compromises.
Furled leaders DIY
The following description on how to make your own twined leaders was given to me by Henk Verhaar from Holland. Henks description fascinated me so much, that I made the first set of three leaders already the first night after having recieved the description.
  
 Go to Knots for the fly fisherman
Knots for the fly fisherman
The discussion of knots seems endless. We probably never will know exactly which knot is the best, and the ultimate knot has not yet been tied. We list the following knots in a knot table and show how to tie them one by one -- with a little comment attached.
Loops
For attaching your fly line and backing -
  
 Go to Braided sleeve and silicone tubing
Braided sleeve and silicone tubing
There's an easy way to attatch the leader or backing to the fly line, and that's by using a piece of silicone tubing.
  
 Go to Illustrated knot table
Illustrated knot table
A test in the print magazine Fly Fisherman showed the Trilene and the Orvis knot to be equally strong and on top of that said that they were able to maintain 100% of the line strength. I really have my doubt if that will hold for all types and thicknesses of line, but still it does prove that these could be the knots of choice for the concerned fly fisher.
  
 Go to Joining loops
Joining loops
The loop system has the advantage of being very flexible. You can easily join two sections of the fly rig, when you have loops on each section
  
 Go to Large loop connection
Large loop connection
For convenience you might want to use a very simple large loop connection between the fly line and the backing. This is consists of two loops - a large one on the backing and a small one on the fly line.
  
 Go to Making a loop directly on a fly line
Making a loop directly on a fly line
This is a way of making a loop on a fly line that will give you a very neat and tiny loop and a smooth transition between the different parts of a rig.
  
 Go to Making loops
Making loops
These loops are often refered to as Orvis loops. I don't know if Orvis invented them, but they do sell them -- and at high prices too.
  
 Go to Using the loop system
Using the loop system
When I first started fishing with a fly rod, I spent a lot of time tying compex knots to join the different part of the rig. I wish someone had told me about loops when I started, because they would have saved me a lot af work.
Spring preparation
This time of year is usually accompanied by a boost in personal energy level. Though sometimes difficult to describe, we can "smell" spring in the air. As our semi-hibernation comes to a close we notice an increased desire to plan for upcoming outdoor events. By Roman Scharabun
  
 Go to Juro Mukai's shooting head setup
Juro Mukai's shooting head setup
Juro Mukai is a old aquaintant from the Flyfish@ mailing list. I had the pleasure of fishing with him in the Seattle area, and was intrigued by the 'modular' line setup that he uses on his two hand spey rod for steelhead.
Twined or furled leaders
Great leaders made by the ancient method of ropemaking.