Somehow I feel this is a stupid question, but here goes...
I have started tying my own leaders and have two questions:
1. It would be better to seal the knots with some adhesive (UV?), right? It would reduce the tendency to clog up with alga etc from the water...
2. If I tie a leader that ends with 20 inches of tippet, then should I just tie a fly directly onto the end and work my way down until it's short enough that I should tie on more, or tie on a new length of (identical) tippet the first time I use the leader?
Maybe tie a tippet ring on the end of my new leader then add about 20 inches of new tippet and then replace it when it gets too short?
I'm probably being overly anal about this...
Thanks for the fantastic site!
Mike Smith
Mike,
Your questions are not stupid at all. It's my experience - from myself and others - that leaders and tippets are complex and quite intimidating and can be difficult to understand and master.
1) Sealing the knots in some way makes very good sense. I know the problem with the knots picking up weed. I don't know whether the UV glues would work, but they probably would. Loon has its UV Knot Sense, which I personally use for flies, but judging from its name, it should work well for knots.
2) I usually tie my leaders with the intent of adding a tippet to the last piece of the leader. I then work my way into the tippet as I change flies, and finally cut off the last bit and tie on a new one. This slowly eats into the leader itself, but it takes quite some time before the leader is "worn down". I can always replace the last bit of the leader before I tie on the new piece of tippet. The tippet ring will enable you to almost endlessly replace the tippet without eating into the leader itself. I have actually bought a handful of rings that I want to use on my leaders for the exact same reason.
Martin
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Not stupid at all
Mike,
Your questions are not stupid at all. It's my experience - from myself and others - that leaders and tippets are complex and quite intimidating and can be difficult to understand and master.
1) Sealing the knots in some way makes very good sense. I know the problem with the knots picking up weed. I don't know whether the UV glues would work, but they probably would. Loon has its UV Knot Sense, which I personally use for flies, but judging from its name, it should work well for knots.
2) I usually tie my leaders with the intent of adding a tippet to the last piece of the leader. I then work my way into the tippet as I change flies, and finally cut off the last bit and tie on a new one. This slowly eats into the leader itself, but it takes quite some time before the leader is "worn down". I can always replace the last bit of the leader before I tie on the new piece of tippet. The tippet ring will enable you to almost endlessly replace the tippet without eating into the leader itself. I have actually bought a handful of rings that I want to use on my leaders for the exact same reason.
Martin