A newbie question. What are the pros & cons of using a no-knot at the end of the fly line? One of those barbed inserts. When I was a kid I had a screw in instead of the barbs. All responses appreciated…
May all your catch be lunkers.
When you were a kid lines were hollow too. 
Redhook
A braided loop connecter works well if you plan to change leaders often. The orange ones make a good strike indicatior too.
The down side is they tend to get hung up in the guides.
There is also a Snap Clip for attaching fly’s to the tippit too. I don’t use them either!
Don’t forget the Michigan Fish-In August 14th to the 20th. The Holy Water’s of the Au Sable await you!!
Cactus
I use the corland thingys lol, but as jack said, they do tend to get hung up in the guides especially when you get a fish close to net and it decides it wants to be free and trys to take off, though I havent loss any fish because of it (yet) I am considering getting away from using them and just use a castwell knot or something and see how it works. Also if one should come off when your fishing and you dont know how to put a leader on any other way well your lets just say you cant print those words on here.
Good Luck
wireguy
Actually Redhook, I think those little barbed things are still made and suppose you could force it up into today’s fly lines. They worked in the past and would work as well today. It’s just that there are lot of other ways to get the job done that most prefer.
Redhook,
At one point in time I used those little barbed thingees. They work and you will not get them out. The only complaint I can see is that any knot used to attach the leader is bulky. Personally, I use a Crazy Glue splice to attach the leader to the line. There is no knot and you have a perfectly smooth transition, leader to line.
Allan
Over the years I’ve used about anything I ever heard of or came across. Those barb inserts you asked about have been around awhile. I tried them and did’nt think that much of them. First off, they were a bear to install on the end of the flyline and even after you did manage to get the thing installed, I just never trusted the thing - had visions of seeing my leader disappear with “something” unknown attached to the hooked end! (LOL)
A simple device that’s been around for quite awhile, that I still use for small trout and pan fish and trust a lot more, is the Eagle Claw Leader-Link. Simple to use, install (just make sure there’s an ample sized knot in your leader) and they will last quite awhile; plus the costs are still reasonable. You can do a Google Search for information on them and a lot of fly shops will offer them.
For larger fish I get into some more serious knots and for short, HD leader situations, have even been known to tie a perfection loop on the end of the fly line and do the loop to loop connection with a heavy leader. Have even used the castwell knot here, too. Some of my lines (6 & 7 weight) I use the nail knot, where I tie on a short piece of HD mono (20 or 25lb) with a loop tied on the very end and can connect again doing the loop to loop thing. Since I’m nail-knot challenged, need one of those doohickey tools in order to tie a decent knot … my tool came from Cabelas, called a “nip-N-knot”, made by the Creek Company.
Learning the different methods and techniques of attaching a leader to a flyline is an adenture all in itself! (LOL)
Dale
[This message has been edited by DaleW (edited 15 July 2006).]
In a thread on this some time ago someone said they had trouble with the barbed eyelet hinging in the fly line at the pointed end and weakening the line.
Anyone else dislike the fact that the length of the finger grip loops tends to cause a stiff section in your setup???
I always keep dry fly line with the braided loops on one of my reels, and I made a 20 ft sinking tip by cutting a piece off of my wet line reel and putting loops on both ends. So, when I’m out in a lake on my float tube fishing streamers I can quickly remove the sink tip, re-attach the leader to the dry line, and start fishing dry flies quickly if the rise starts. With smaller fly line (like 3 wt) I use a dab of Loon UV Knot glue on the braided loops, just in case.
DANBOB
J. Hise, I tried to use one of those no-knot clips on the end of my tippet until a guy gave me a nbr 22 ant to put on. The clip would not go through the eye. One of the first things I learned so I got rid of those. I then had to buy a magnifier to tie on the little flies. Learning is fun but sometimes expensive. Those little ants did catch fish and I was pleased. Now I have to read some more out of the book “Flyfishing for Dummies” before I ask some more questions. Thanks for the responses.
May all your catch be lunkers.
Redhook, DaleW pegged it for me. I have used the Eagle Claw Leader-link for several years with great success, to the point that I am hording the few I have left. Thanks DaleW for the goolge idea, hadn’t thought of that.
Wyo-blizzard aka Bloody Tom Bonney
As with a couple of the others here I also use the Eagle Claw Leader-link when fishing for trout and have never had a problem with them. In fact the one on the end of my line has been there for about six years now with no failure. But when fishing for larger fish as with steelhead I use a loop connection.
Rocky