Another Darwin Award for Me

I've been having a terrible time tying a fly on anything smaller than 4X especially when it starts to get dark. My dexterity has been getting progressively worse as I advance into my 70s. The first time I asked for help
from a friend was a week or so ago. Ol' Ed had a tough time too...but he finally got it tied on. He said "Now don't clip the leader instead of the (snip) tag...oh you dumb ***"!


Ol' Bill

[Rusty Rat]

Hey Ol'Bill, Like the old song goes "Old age won't kill you but it slows you down...". There are a few knot tying tools on the market but I have no experience with any of them. I would like to suggest to you another option. You could pre-tie some snelled evening favorites at home where light and temperature are better. Then just tie a perfection loop when fishing in the late afternoon and use loop connections for the rest of the day. Orvis carries a fly-box that has removable inserts that hold dropper rigs but it could be used to hold your dry & wet fly snells in addition to hopper/dropper rigs. I do not personally own this box yet but maybe our readership can tell us how they work. Tight Lines, RR

[SilverMallard]

Heck, I'm only 38 and I clipped my tippet the other day instead of the tag end when I was adding tippet to the leader.

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Fishing the Ozarks

[ny angler]

Dang your way to hard on your self Bill did it 3 times one night and im 37.But i must admit i have since gone to a light and 1.5 power flip ups this year ....

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Mike

Rusty,
Yup, I've already tried it on my soft hackles and wets and it works fine. I put the snell in right after tying with a double strand of 6x to 8x. I use about 18 inch snells which serve as tippets too. I don't use loop to loop but tie the snell on to a thin fine nylon with a regular improved cinch knot...(also hard for me to tie now a days). How something that was so simple a few yars ago can become such a pain in the butt now beats me.

Thanks for the confirmation that I'm on the right track. I'll let you know if I come up with anything better.

Bill

I'm a fraid you all have it wrong. It's not age it's mileage. I'm getting a little on me, so don't feel bad. LOL.

Oldman

Now you guys who continue to talk about "old age aliments".....list your birth year on your profile.....we'll then determine if you have a real excuse for dribbling on the knot instead of spiting on it when you pull it tight.


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Snow on the roof but with fire still in the hearth

[actdonn]

Reuel
I sure like your style.

Donn

[ozarkflyflinger57]

Oldman,

You hit the nail on the head, it isn't age that counts it's how many miles and the road traveled that counts. I'll be 48 next month and feel worse than my Dad did when he was 70.

All you young ones head Oldman's words and watch the milage and take smooth roads.

Dan

[spinner1]

i don't add tippet..........

my knots suck...........

I clip wrong lines also.......

But most of ALL.....If you have a BIG fish on......the line will fail at that EXTRA knot........

Use that leader until its too short and change the THING!