SHIMAZAKI "LEADER SPLICER KIT

[Fly Goddess]

[Steven]

If you tie your own leaders it will not work.

[Ralph The Janitor]

If you tie your own leaders it will not work.

True. But, it's a great way to put your butt section onto your fly line. One less knot to go thru the guides.

RTJ

[Steven]

If you tie your own leaders it will not work.

True. But, it's a great way to put your butt section onto your fly line. One less knot to go thru the guides.

RTJ

So, what do you do? I don't think you can run a 0.022 butt of Maxima Chameleon through the needle provided with the splicer kit (I know, I tried).

Do you run an extruded leader through the line and then just cut if off and tie a loop?

[Ralph The Janitor]

If you tie your own leaders it will not work.

True. But, it's a great way to put your butt section onto your fly line. One less knot to go thru the guides.

RTJ

So, what do you do? I don't think you can run a 0.022 butt of Maxima Chameleon through the needle provided with the splicer kit (I know, I tried).

Do you run an extruded leader through the line and then just cut if off and tie a loop?

Steven, what I've done in the past is use the Shimi and taken a 7' knotless tapered leader, and cut it the length I needed for the butt section and tied a perfection loop in the end. I use furled leaders 99.9% of the time and just do a handshake connection. Now mostly I've gotten away from a butt section altogether. I have a couple new lines (floating) that have the welded loop in the end and just connect my leader to it.
Most of my stillwater lines I use the Shimmy setup except for, (like Flygoddess said), the Clear camo.

[Steven]

Steven, what I've done in the past is use the Shimi and taken a 7' knotless tapered leader, and cut it the length I needed for the butt section and tied a perfection loop in the end. I use furled leaders 99.9% of the time and just do a handshake connection.

That's kind of what I thought, but I always figured that this defeats the purpose of trying to create a knotless connection.

[Fly Goddess]

[ducksterman]

"That's kind of what I thought, but I always figured that this defeats the purpose of trying to create a knotless connection."

Steven,
To make that less of an issue...here's what I've been thinking of doing...to make it fairly bulkless.

I am using on one of my lines some Stren Super Braid as the butt section.... line to the Super Braid with a double uniknot..[this has some bulk].. and then a loop on the end of the Super Braid to attach the rest of the leader... whatever type....it turns out a loop formed with SB has almost no bulk....

So I'm thinking that using a Line /SB splice would be almost without bulk...if it will hold.

I'm messing around with not only the Super Braid but also Power Pro and Spiderwire Fusion...I think any will work but I'm not sure if this kind of material will hold up glued in the splice????

[jgestar]

Steven,
It can be done. Take your length of Maxima and shave it to a long, thin point with a razor blade or Exacto knife. Aim for a taper an inch or more long. Put the thin tip of the Maxima into the eye of the needle and pull it through. Now make the rest of the knot as Fly Goddess suggested. This isn't my invention, I got it from Sosin and Kreh's "Practical Fishing Knots".

I do these knots with needle and sandpaper and I always feel like I'm going to impale myself. A small jig to align everything would save a lot of time and maybe a trip to the emergency room. A shopping I will go, now that I know what to look for. Thanks!

Oh, I have a Cortland WF6 with this exact connection that I made up with 0.018" Maxima. I made the splice in 1989 (give or take a couple years). The line spends a lot of time on the shelf, but the connection is still strong enough to bust a tippet.


Tom