fly line too leader connections

i'm currently fitting some new lines to my new mamba reel & spools and i will be (eventually) fill all four spools
but i find myself posed with the question as to which is the best method of joining the fly line to the leader

1. braided loop & loop-2-loop
2. needle knot
3. bullet connector

If it's use, I use the good old needle knot...attaching 12" of 20lb black Amnesia, looped at the business end and thence onwards to the leader. It works for me...

I like the loop-2-loop because you quickly can change, but if you have four spools, that is probably not necessary?!

For still waters, braided loop and loop to loop.

For rivers, needle knot to the end of the fly line with a knotless tapered leader. Then 3 turn water knot to a tippet of fluorocarbon.

well my thinking is that i have two 10' rods one is a #6~7 and the other #7~9 so i want the cover all situations and may buy a second reel ? later,but i was thinking of having
1xfloating line wf#7
1xfloating line wf#8 or wf#9 for carp/coarse floater fishing ect
1xintermediate line wf#7
1xsinking line wf#7

and i'm thinking i'd like to have leaders of different lengths/sink rates that were quick to change mainly on the floating & intermediate lines to alter the speed the fly's sink or switch to a leader with droppers ect.i have used the needle knot and loops before just thought i might try something a little different on a couple of my lines this time.

Hi Ron, could you help me out on the following, I want to use some fluorocarbon hook links for carping, how the heck do you get the stuff to straighten out? It seems to have the ability to coil back up to its original spool shape no matter what I?ve tried.
Could you also recommend the best knots for forming a loop ( for joining to swivels ), and the best hook knot for tying with the fluorocarbon.
Many thanks.

Paul,

What make of fluorocarbon are you using?

Some of it is rubbish and does exactly as you say.

At this stage, all I can say is to avoid all fluorocarbon marketed for carp fishing and use the stuff sold for fly fishing. "Sightfree" isn't bad. Grand Max Riverge is also OK.

I have been field testing a new fluorocarbon which hopefully might be on the market later this year. For fly leaders the stuff is excellent and keeps dead straight. The heavier breaking strains will be suberb for carp and barbel hooklengths. The incredible this about this line is that it is stronger at the knots - no kidding.

I have tried various knots with this stuff. Palomar knots are good as are the double loop Trilene knot. Whilst Grinner knots are excellent for nylon, they are not good for fluorocarbon.

The standard knotless knot for hooks is good. For flies I use an ordinary 5 turn half blood knot without the tuck. It doesn't shift. I have bullied in hard fighting rainbows up to just short of 5 lbs this year on size 14 kamasan hooks with no problems whatsoever.

I will have samples of this new fluoro at the Press Manor trout fish in by the way.

The Orvis Mirage fluorocarbon is excellent!

Ron, you are a fishing Guru! ))))
Many thanks for your reply and concise information, I shall chase up the brand of fluorocarbon that you have mentioned, (also I shall also mail you the name of the brand I bought later this evening when I unpack from last evenings session).
What percentage of the time do you use fluro as hook link Ron, and a daft question coming up!?do you use it for presenting a floating fly or sinking fly, or both?
If you use it as a floating hook link, what would you use as a line treatment.
After returning to ?the fold?, after a seven year absence Ron, this next season I am putting most of my time into the rivers and lake fishing, in 2007 I will be taking up the fly again. As a teenager I used to fly fish for trout and grayling on the Yorkshire rivers. For learning watercraft, unbeatable, learning how to stalk, learning how to make things happen, unbeatable, to watch the fly or lure being fished is amazing.
Regards, Paul.

For dry flies I like the leader, especially at last 2 or 3 feet next to the fly to sink. Otherwise, especially in a flat calm the leader looks like a snake below the water and the trout won't touch the fly.

Fluorocarbon is much heavier than nylon and tends to sink much faster. If the leader is too long it will drown the fly. Keep the fluorocarbon leader fairly short, say not much more than 9 feet and apply mud or a mixture of Fullers Earth, glycerine and washing up liquid to the leader. You can buy little tubs of leader sinkant from most fly fishing outlets.

For river dry fly fishing a clear nylon knotless tapered leader with a short 18 inch or thereabouts fluorocarbon tippet is ideal. Attatch the fluorocarbon with a 3 turn water or Cove knot.

For coarse fishing, the whole hook length is fluorocarbon of course.

To join the leader to a fly line, I use a simple overhand knot which is snugged down into a loop tied in the thick end of the leader. Most tapered leaders come with a ready prepared loop. I have posted a couple of diagrams in the gallery (Fly line to leader knot) to show how the knot is constructed. It is so elegantly simple it is ridiculous!

(A) is the one I use, (B) is more bulky and although the extra tuck gives you confidence, it is totally unnecessary ? I know, as I've tried both for evaluation purposes.
In action, the knot (A) has NEVER failed me and I have used it for 40 years or more. This February in New Zealand it was tested plenty of times. I had hooks that straightened out on fighting brown and rainbow trout, but this knot always held.

A minor drawback is that you loose a centimetre of fly line when you completely replace the leader. In practice, the thick end of a tapered nylon leader where it joins the fly line hardly ever gets replaced. It will see me through a whole season (perhaps more) as it is only the tippet and perhaps a middle section that get replaced regularly.

One more possible problem is leaving too much of a "tail" on the fly line which can catch and hang-up the rest of the leader in casting. However, if the fly line is trimmed very close to the nylon loop, this problem is avoided. It is surprising how close the fly line can be trimmed as the nylon loop beds into the plastic coating on the fly line and becomes completely immovable.

No glue, no foreign objects, no bulk, takes just seconds to tie. When I was shown this method, I reckon it was the best fly fishing tip I ever received and I am pleased to pass it on.
I have also posted a picture of an actual knot in a 6 weight forward taper line.