President's Newsletter.
January 2008
IT’S WHAT’S UP FRONT THAT COUNTS
Just ask Dagmar (ouch! really dating myself) or Dolly Parton (that’s a little closer). In any case, this statement does not only apply to buxom beauties but also to what’s on the front of your fly line. In this case I am not referring to the fly but to the leader that connects the fly to the end of your fly line. I like things simple so I was in the habit of just attaching six or eight feet of 15 or 20 pound mono to the end of my line using a loop-to-loop connection. In my last letter I told you about my trip with David Blinken in October. Well, at the beginning of the trip David watched me shoot out a couple of casts and then asked to see my leader. “Do you mind if I change this leader” he said. “Be my guest” was my response. He then reached under the boat’s console and pulled out four spools of flouro- carbon. He proceeded to tie a length of 40 pound test to the end of my fly line using an Albright knot which works very well with the mono core of my “forty plus” line. He progressively tied in lengths of 30 then 25 and finally 20 pound flouro, using blood knots, to complete the job. David called this his Fall Montauk leader to be used with 10 wt rods.
I noticed the difference immediately, as my fly now lay out gently on the water instead of collapsing at the end of the cast. The smooth transition from the 50 pound fly line to the 20 pound tippet allowed the energy to transfer proportionally right to the end of the tippet instead of almost all of it dissipating at the end of the fly line thus allowing the collapse.
The use of fluorocarbon has some added benefits. It is much more durable than mono so it will last a lot longer. It may last an entire season depending on how much you fish. Just the tippet will need to be changed as it gets shorter from changing flys and the added abuse. Fluorocarbon is denser than mono so when fishing an intermediate line it will tend to sink at the same rate as the line but not so fast that it can’t be used when fishing the surface. Most importantly, fluorocarbon has the same (or very close) index of refraction as water so it is virtually invisible in the water. One disadvantage is that it is more expensive than mono.
Those of you who were at our January meeting saw David’s demonstration on how to tie the leader. At our next meeting on February 4th we are going to tie some ourselves. So bring a reel with line that needs a new leader and also some flourocarbon or mono material as you wish.
David, thanks for the demo, for the great presentation and for sharing your new video with us. Good luck with your new venture.
Also on February 4th our featured guest will be Frank Crescitelli, local guide, president of the Fisherman’s Conservation Association and long time friend of the Salty’s.
Keep ‘em tight - see you at Somerset,
Bill