Braided Loops

[Diarmuid O Laoghaire]

tried to connect a braided loop onto the end of my 350 grain streamer express at the weekend. I think the sleeve is too big for it or something. At the end of the braided loop Im supposed to use shrink wrap which came with it to seal it against the fly line. It doesnt seem to be able to shrink to the same diameter of the fly line and repeated attempts just melted through the fly line as well.

So what braided loop should I get to suit this line, and what way are you guys sealing the ends where it overlaps onto the fly line?

Dee

[Dave Bailey]

Hi Dee.

I use 50lb gudebrod butt leader (which can be hard to find these days) and make my own braided loops. The running line on a 350 grain Streamer Express is fairly thin, so I usually make the 'tail' of the loop pretty long (~30cms), so that it can get a good grip on the fly line. You could also try 'scuffing' up the back of the fly line slightly to help the loop grip on to it.

I tie a couple of nail knots with 10lb fireline (or similar) around the loop and flyline as added insurance. I tie one quite close to the loop, and the other one close to the end of the gudebrod. Before tightening this knot up, work it down close to the join with the flyline. Then tighten it *hard*, and trim any gudebrod left sticking out on the fly line end with small scissors or clippers. Give both nail knots a light coat of UV knot seal (or similar), and you are done.

Hope this helps.

Dave.

[Gael Bataille]

I do exactly the same as Dave, the 10lb fireline works very well.

I've attached the a photo of how mine looks, 10lb fireline with a very thin layer UV knot seal, the one on the end is to tie down the loose ends to have it nice and clean and the second closer to the loop does all the hard work.

The Gudebrod is hard to find now, though Airflo and Cortland still makes braided mono.

[Hirdy]

I also use the 50lb braided mono, but I make mine a little bit differently to the other guys in the club. It's a bit had to explain, but I'd be happy to show you some time.

For tidying up the end, I nail-knot with 4lb Nanofil and put a dab of UV Knotsense on it.

Cheers,
Graeme

[Diarmuid O Laoghaire]

Hmm...so is the braided loop actually doing anything then or is it just held on with the line wraped round at the end? I take it this will be strong enough to hold decent fish? I had one braided loop come off the line one time while I was fighting a whopper trout. I'll never forget it!

[Dave Bailey]

The loop should not come off the fly line once fitted if you try and pull it off from the loop end, even without adding nail knots. Pulling on it from the loop end should just make it grip down more tightly on the fly line (i.e. the 'chinese finger trap' effect). If you can pull it off this way it probably means the fly line is too thin for the loop, and you need to get a thinner/smaller breaking strain loop (e.g. 35lb gudebrod instead of 50lb gudebrod).

The nail knots are just added insurance, and protection against the loop coming off 'backwards' - without the nail knots you will be able to easily slide the loop off the flyline by pushing from the tail end towards the loop. The nail knots are essentially doing the same job as the heat shrink you were using earlier - I just prefer them to heat shrink.

Just to reiterate, you can not rely on just the nail knots to stop a fish pulling the loop off. The primary means of securing the loop to the flyline must be the 'chinese finger trap' effect mentioned above. Otherwise it will end in tears!

[Tony Ong]

Hi Dee
The club has a spool of 50lb braided mono. Bring your line along to the next meeting and we can get this sorted out for you.

[Diarmuid O Laoghaire]

Cool, I have two that I need doing up.

Thanks for that

[Gael Bataille]

Hmm...so is the braided loop actually doing anything then or is it just held on with the line wraped round at the end? I take it this will be strong enough to hold decent fish? I had one braided loop come off the line one time while I was fighting a whopper trout. I'll never forget it!

Dee, the braided acts like a Chinese finger cuff, as long as the end of the braid is secure the harder you pull the more the braid clamps down onto the fly line, hence why Dave mentioned about 30cm of fly line in the braid to ensure this happens.

I'm sure less would also work as I have some fly lines with only 10cm on a loop for attaching leaders where I've snapped off 20lb tippet with no issues at all. For a fly line to backing connection I would er on the side of caution and make it as per Dave's suggestion at 30cm

I've seen snapped fly lines where braided loops are properly fitted and never failed.

[Stephen Bradbury]

Hey Diarmuid, I have been using braided loops for last 15 years and only had one break and that was the small loop itself at the end wearing through, mainly because it was already frayed and I couldn't be bothered changing it Besides all the good advice the boy's have already given above, I'm sure we can do a demo at the next meeting on a couple of tried and trusted ways of attaching a braided loop and how to make your own from scratch (very easy) everyone has there own
way of doing it but mostly they are simply a variations of the same thing.