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Leaders
The first thing I do when I put on a new a new fly line is tie on a on a needle knot of the heaivest mono that I can get in the tip of the fly line with a perfection loop on the other end end of the mono. This usually lasts for the life of the fly line. I use loop to loop connections for my leaders. I have never been aware of any hinging.I have tried all kinds of leaders including Harvey, Borger and furled. In my humble opinion the Borger.is the easiest to tie and adjust on the stream but tends to land harder on the water. The Harvey is a great leader but not easy to adjust (I don't tie tie blood knots on the stream).
Furled leaders take more time to tie by far But land lightest and are great dry fly leaders. I don't like them for nymphs. Right now I tend to use Borger leaders most of the time for the ease of changing from nymph to dry and tippet size and length. I would like your thoughts. Pat
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Lots of options and this tends to be a matter of personal preference. I use a similar but somewhat different system.
I use a loop to loop system to attach line to leader. I use the welded loop that comes on most fly lines these days. If the welded loop is not available or worn out, I whip my own loop in the fly line with light monofilament thread and Plibond.
I tend to change, rather than adjust, leaders on stream. For nymphing, I use a simple hand-tied leader with a short butt section, a bright mono sighter, and a long level tippet. For dry fly fishing, I like the Airflo floating poly leaders. For streamers, I use a fairly short, stout conventional leader (7.5' 0x or 2x). I use tippet rings with most of my leaders. Tippet rings eliminate the need for blood knots (hard to tie on-stream with light tippet) and surgeon's knots (weaker than clinch knots) and make tippet modifications easier.
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i use the same set up for trout, needle knot to 5 inch heavy fluorescent mono with a perfection loop then loop to loop to leaders. for leaders i use furled mono because they turn over nice and are so cheap to make. Also by greasing up the last 18 inches or so of the mono furled leader butt section it helps keep the tip of my fly line floating for ease in mending on those long days or multiple long days on the river
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I use much the same methods as johnstoeckel. I've used furled leaders exclusively now for the past 8-10 years and really like them. I just replace the tippet when needed and the furled leaders tend to last me at least two seasons.
Jim Smith
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For several years I used the permanent leader butt with Perfection loop as described above and used loop to loop connection with my leader. A few years ago I switched to using furled leaders. Most of my fly lines come with a welded loop, and for a while, on those that didn't come with a loop, I would whip finish or nail knot a loop on the end of the line. One day a friend wanted to try out a new rod. The line on the reel was also new, with no leader in place. As we were rather spoiled by use of the Tie Fast knot tool, none of us could easily apply a nail knot to the loopless fly line. I then remembered the Castwell knot that I learned on this forum many years ago. I had to look it up on my phone to be sure I remembered it correctly. When I showed my friends they were very skeptical. I have had some very experienced flyfishermen tell me that knot can't hold, but they are wrong. It will hold firmly to a thread furled leader, a monofilament furled leader, or just to a loop on a monofilament leader. Over the past two years I have been using the Castwell or lap knot whenever my fly line comes without a loop, and so far it has never failed me. It is far smaller than a nail knot and passes through guides and tiptops easily.
Larry
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I tied my own leaders the first few years I fly fished. I was introduced to furled leaders 18 or 19 years ago and have been using them ever since. I even use them for nymph fishing. I treat my thread ones with a liquid floatant and they act like a strike indicator for me.