I have a very heavy hand when setting the hook, and I am intrigued by the notion of having a stretchy leader butt that might act as a shock absorber to keep me from breaking off fish on the take. Seems to me that I remember a “bungee butt” that was designed to do this, but I cant find such a device in any of my catalogues or online.
I know that in the UK there are “pole elastics” that are stretchy and are used by coarse fishermen on rigid poles. Does anyone have any experience using such elastics on a fly rod? I wonder if one could use a nail knot to tie this material to the fly line, then tie a loop in the free end, and use a loop-to-loop connection to attach the leader. Would this section be too much of a hinge?
I fish mostly for trout, so the very heavy elastic butt leaders that are used for large fish (e.g., tarpon) would not really serve my purpose.
Thank you for the very helpful comments. I use the furled leaders from feather craft–the ones with the tiny metal ring on the end. I wonder if one could just tie a length of shock gum to the ring (using what knot?) and then tie the tippet to the shock gum using the double-jam knot?
Since no one has mentioned it yet, I will suggest the use of a “slip strike” to protect thin leaders from breaking on the strike. No special shock gum needed.
Take some heavy leader material, and put it in boiling water for a minute or two. This will shorten it’s length, and make it very stretchy for a shock butt.
Second the slip strike suggestion. Also consider a rod with a “softer” tip. You will be doing yourself a big favor if you work on your technique rather than rely on gadgets.
At one time they made Shock Gum Leaders
and
Shock Gum material spools
for sale through their dealers.
I have not looked for these items in several years.
When I first read your original post, I thought I had an easy answer for you. I was going to suggest you try a furled leader. Many furled leaders have a built in stretch that helps protect tippets. As I continued to read the reply stream, I saw you were already using a furled leader, so I guess that suggestion won’t help.
I tried the bungee material a long time back, and never liked it. Shortly there after I started using furled leaders and can’t remember the last time I broke off a fish on the strike.
Are you using a fairly stiff rod with very light tippets? You might want to try to lengthen your leader and up your tippet a size or two. If that doesn’t overly hamper your presentation, that could be an easy fix.
Back in the 70’s, Creative Sports Enterprises out of Walnut Creek, CA offered Shock Gum Loops…they no longer exist. I have been using them for a very long time and, for me, they certainly come in handy when fishing 7x, 8x and 9X tippets with very small midge patterns…These are the ones I now use:
In my humble opinion the best advise you are getting is to develop a technique that works, learn to hook your fish. A slip strike with help you and certain leader and tippet materials have some shock and strike value, I use them myself but nothing works better than learned a technique. You fish for trout, I have guided on trout for many years. You are not alone. Your problem is in my work the number one reason for breaking fish off and missing takes. Your fishing pleasure will greatly improve with improved technique, you will hook and land more fish. I am against adding stuff to the line leader and tippet in an effort to solve a problem. I find it tends to create more problems such as more difficult casting and sloppy presentation. When it comes down to it that it wear it all starts. Find a setup from line to fly that does a great job and learn a good hooking technique, have fun.
Many thanks to Steve Molcsan, Normand, Mato Kuwapi, Max, pszy22 and planettrout. Based on their helpful suggestions, I purchased some RIO Trout Shock Gum online. This comes in 25 foot spools and has a nominal breaking strength of 9 lb. It is fairly large in diameter and very “gummy” so that it does not knot easily. I have tied about 8 inches of it to the end of a Feathercraft furled leader (with a tiny ring at the end) using a 4 turn improved clinch knot. At the other end I tied a loop, and I applied Krazy Glue (cyanoacrylate) to both knots before tightening. Then I attached a length of 2x tippet using a loop-to-loop connection, followed by sections of 3x, 4x, and 5x. When I cast this leader, it turns over well, without any hinging at the shock gum section.
I can’t yet tell if this makes any difference for me in my break-offs, but I’m eager to try it this spring! It looks like it should help.
Just a brief follow-up: I have fished the set-up described above (furled leader/Shock Gum/2x/3x/4x/5x) using both nymphs and dry flies last week. It casts just fine, and I didn’t break off any fish. I am encouraged that this will help me with my heavy hand when fish strike.
I use Beartooth’s Shocker Butts for steelhead fishing. Got lazy once and used that steelhead leader with the Shocker Butt for spring creek trout fishing. That was three years ago. I rarely fish without one now. They work wonders with light tippets. You will rarely lose a fish. One of the best adjustments I have ever made. The Butts have looped braided ends. I just trim one loop off and fix it onto my fly line if it doesn’t have a loop.
At the urging of Molcsan, I dropped down to 6x last week during a heavy baetis hatch, and landed over 70 rainbows (up to 16.5 inches) on a tiny spring creek in Wyoming while only breaking off 1 fish. This is unprecedented for me. I am convinced of the merits of this approach.
Just a brief follow-up: I fished the Shock gum rig all season and had a dramatic reduction in break-offs on the take. I recommend this rig to anyone who has a problem with heavy-handedness.
