Air Time

[rols]

Hey Roland, what weight rod do you fish with? What leader setup do you use? How often do you replace your tippet... please dont say 'only when it breaks'!

yirre you guys are undressing me here 5 x leader 6x tippet. i do however tend to tie on a tippet section of 500mm to 700mm. just to give the fly a knotless section the fish won't see. my idea. listening to you guys though, i think my strike is the problem.

[FishWhisperer]

yirre you guys are undressing me here 5 x leader 6x tippet. i do however tend to tie on a tippet section of 500mm to 700mm. just to give the fly a knotless section the fish won't see. my idea. listening to you guys though, i think my strike is the problem.

By 5x leader I assume your referring to a tapered shop bought leader? Have you tried a boiled leader? The stretch it affords you as well as changing your tippet whenever it gets frayed/opaque/damaged will stand you in much better stead. Im very guilty of striking to hard but my terminal tackle affords me a lot of leniency.

Oh and what loop knot do you use?

[rols]

By 5x leader I assume your referring to a tapered shop bought leader? Have you tried a boiled leader? The stretch it affords you as well as changing your tippet whenever it gets frayed/opaque/damaged will stand you in much better stead. Im very guilty of striking to hard but my terminal tackle affords me a lot of leniency.

Oh and what loop knot do you use?

matt i must admit i hav'nt tried the boiled leader part yet. i have read about it. i am using the single loop....double over and once through. not ideal. i will do the perfection loop when i fish again, is this an ok one?

[FishWhisperer]

Try a triple surgeons. We've done a few informal tests and it came out tops every time.
I only use a perfection loop at the end of my leader as its still quite thick there(2.7kg) and I want a small knot, but for thinner diameters its not good. I then attach 2x to that by means of a surgeon's loop and then attach all the subsequent sections with a surgeon's knot (not loop-loop) down to 6/7x. Its very strong and my flies turn over well.
But definitely try a boiled leader, they help a lot. You will be impressed.

[chris williams]

I echo triple surgeons for quick run-of-the-mill stuff and Biminis for heavy-duty
macho use

On another tack I find it quite interesting some dudes like non-stretch tippet so they can 'feel' the takes better, and others like boiled/stretchy/powergum-assisted tippets so there's a bit of leeway and lighter tippets may be used?
Each probably has it's ads and disads, but IMHO I think a lot depends on how one reacts to the initial take, be it subtle or savage - too much of a knee-jerk reaction is often to lead to tears?

[chris williams]

PS - or double surgeons on tippets in between light and heavy duty stuff, where triple may be too bulky and not contribute to any knot strength

[Gerrit Viljoen]

Try a triple surgeons. We've done a few informal tests and it came out tops every time.
I only use a perfection loop at the end of my leader as its still quite thick there(2.7kg) and I want a small knot, but for thinner diameters its not good. I then attach 2x to that by means of a surgeon's loop and then attach all the subsequent sections with a surgeon's knot (not loop-loop) down to 6/7x. Its very strong and my flies turn over well.
But definitely try a boiled leader, they help a lot. You will be impressed.

Morning Matt,

Sorry I don't quite follow. U attach 2X to the 2.7kg part or 2X to the flyline?

[Chris Shelton]

I've been toying with a few ideas in my mind, and one of them is this airtime thing. I started thinking about the rectangular ram-air canopies from my parachuting days, and the effectiveness of this particular style of chute. Unlike the leg breaking round chutes of old, effectively deployed, one can literally land on your toes with these chutes.

The following extract from Wikipedia refers;

The rectangular parachute designs tend to look like square, inflatable air mattresses with open front ends. They are generally safer to operate because they are less prone to dive rapidly with relatively small control inputs, they are usually flown with lower wing loadings per square foot of area, and they glide more slowly. They typically have a less-efficient glide ratio.

Anyway, back to my thinking, I've been toying with the idea of a double halo hackle, one tied a small distance above the other around the post to create a bit of a high pressure cell between the two layers, which should get the fly to 'glide' and effectively giving it more airtime. What do you guys think?

I personally don't have time to experiment, but look forward to seeing what you guys come up with...and if it does indeed work.