Wednesday, October 13, 2010

Attaching the fly to leader material

This spring I lost my record pike as the leader snapped. Partly it was my own fault as I managed to get the free running line tangled around my fingers. The fish pulled hard, almost took my fingers with her and then the leader snapped. This incident made me to change my leader material to solid titanium wire. Well the titanium was reliable to be honest, but it was way too stiff for my liking and now I like to use Strike Wire's stainless steel braid.

Before this titanium era I always used a snap of some kind between the leader and the fly. My first candidate for a snap was a Duo-Lock-type Rosco. It had its good things, it was easy to handle and it gave the fly a nice, free movement. However, it was not very reliable as I broke many of them while casting. It could also be opened by biting so it was not my top choice.

The second candidate was a sturdy no-name cross-lock snap. It happened to be quite reliable as it still held the fly even if it was open. This was because you needed to twist the eye of the hook through many tight curves before pressing it shut. And when it was open, it still held its shape as there was another wire to support the hooking end to. This was also its worst feature and the reason why I abondoned it in the first place. It was so god damn difficult trying to put those pike hooks on. Loud "PERKELE!!" was heard many times before my rig was ready for fishing.
Rosco duo-locks
So the latest few months I have fished with no snap at all, always tying a new knot to leader material. Now I'd like to find a new snap suitable for fly fishing, as I'm using way too much leader material now. Well, I just need to keep searching for new solutions.

2 comments:

  1. Moi.
    Tiedän ettet hyväksy näitä mutta itse olen käyttänyt Berkleyn Snap lockeja koossa 5 ja 7.
    kertaakaan ei ole perho lukon takia hävinnyt ja myös kaikki lukot pysynyt ehjänä.
    Pisteenä ii:n päälle sillä rykäisin omn enkkahaukenikin veneeseen.
    Suosittelen kokeilemaan :)

    -Djuza-

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  2. Joo, tarkottanet niitä missä ne hakaset menee ikäänkuin ristiin eli eivät vahingossa kovin helpolla aukea?

    Vastaavia mulla oli käytössä ja muuten on kyllä hyviä mutta helvetín vaikee pujottaa koukkua niihin. Mutta tarvii mennä kattelemaan jos löytys tarpeeks avoimella silmällä olevia.

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