I can’t seem to tie one when trying to change leaders.
I only tie a nail knot once in the lifetime of a flyline. I use amnesia, but any heavy Mono should work.
then I tie a loop on the end of the amnesia, thus making a loop to loop connection for my leader.
If this isnt what you want or like, go to youtube and do a search for what others like, and do.
I always use a nail knot, but I don’t use a nail. I use a piece of the red tube from a can of WD-40. Works great.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WLyVtgNGQkM
About the only thing of this guy that I ever found useful. In my opinion.
Whipped loop in the end of the flyline works for me; coat with UV Knotsense and it slides through the guides.
Regards,
Scott
Put a mono loop on you line. Loop to loop you leader the put a perfection loop in your leader then loop to loop your tippet.
I’ve caught some awfully large fish with the Castwell Knot.
So simple most folks don’t believe it can hold…
Hooked,
Don’t use the end of your line when you are tying on a new leader, you will use up too much of your line after a few leaders. Do as suggested, put a very short, 3 to 4 inch really thick butt mono leader on the end of your line, yes, using a nail knot, and form the perfection loop on the other end then loop your leaders onto that butt section.
But, you do need to have a tool on your lanyard that will save you hours of grief over a period of time. Buy yourself a Tie-Fast Nail Knot Tool, trust me, that is one of the most important tools you can have with you.
Check out the You-Tube video at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=611JWRtkjOc
Here is the company that sells them, but if you are close to any fly shop they should have them:
http://sierrastreamflyshop.com/
I never leave home with out this tool when I go fishing or casting. Never!!
Larry —sagefisher—
Buddy,
That sure is the truth. Been showing folks at the fly fishing shows that I attend how to tie it, and they look at me like I have a third eye! After I let them pull and tug on it awhile, they slowly change their minds. They usually ask, can you show me that again, but slower?
Brad
The Castwell Knot is simple and effective. And it uses a very small piece of your fly line to tie, which means if you change your leader, you will sacrifice only a quarter inch or so of fly line doing so.
Follow the link for instructions on how to tie it.
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/begin/knots/castwell.php
John
P.S. And it’s cheaper than buying a Tie-Fast tool. Which are cool, by the way. And useful for a lot of things.
Another vote for the Castwell knot. Not only have I never had a failure, I have never HEARD of a failure.
It just couldn’t be better or simpler!
Mike
I never had the castwell knot fail while casting or playing a fish. I did have it come apart twice while on the reel between fishing trips. I went to thread my leader through the guides of the rod and somehow it had become unfastened. That planted a seed of doubt in my mind and I gave it up for the nailess nail knot. No tools needed and uses very little of your fly line. Just my experience.
The castwell knot was used on a 5 wt floating SA plain jane line, and Rio 9 or 7 1/2 foot 3X leader, Mono.
I don’t use any ‘knot’ to attach the leader to the flyline. I use the ‘Krazy Glue’ splice, shown to me years ago by Al Caucci. I believe Dave Whitlock uses a very similar splice for the conection he uses between the same two lines.
Also, I recall J. Castwell and Lady Flyfisher did/do not like the nail knot for a specific reason and I’ll leave it for someone else to specify that reason.
Anyway, when done right, and I hope I do it right, the Krazy Glue splice will not fail. It has yet to fail me. Maybe others can or will chime in about this conection. Oh, another thing: This connection is perfectly smooth. There’s no bump at all so your line will not get hung up at the tip top or any eye along the length of the rod.
Allan
I’ve had a Tie-Fast Knot Tool for about 10 years. Now I finally know how to use it.
As Allen said, I also use the Crazy Glue splice, especially when fishing weeds are involved. Smoooth and slick! I also have, looking around my room here, rods rigged with needle knots, whipped loops and braided loops. All have their purpose and work great. I will admit to using an old trick that was mentioned above where you nail, or needle knot a short piece of butt section (six inches) to your line and tie a very small Perfection Loop in the end of it to loop to loop leaders on when needed. I’ve known about the Lap knot for years but seldom use it as I also had one failure (untieing itself)
Would the Castwell knot also work to attach the leader tippet to the fly? Wouldn’t the eye of the fly be analogous to the loop in the end of the fly line?
Dave
Dave,
I suspect two similar tippets materials like that would just slip thru each other. I think I would stick with a double surgeons knot or whatever you use now.
Larry —sagefisher—
Explain the Krazy Glue splice please.
No. Look closely at the Castwell knot and the way the flyline forms around the thinner leader and then bites into its soft coating and locks in place. This won’t work with the hard metal hook eye. The mono will slip right out.