Changing flies quickly

[Urban Nightmare]

I was looking around at some fly fishing sites and a question popped up. Once you have the leader on the fly line and tippet tied to the leader. Then you tie the fly on to the tippet. With all of these knots how do you change your fly. If you have to cut off the old one and retie a new on, one would go through a tippet fairly quickly wouldn't they? Is there any "quick change" tackle for this?

Thanks everyone.

[Spidey]

Yep, they work well for wet flies but not really recommended for dry. I use them all the time. They come in small, med and large. Bass Pro has them but so would most fly shops, WSS or fishin hole.

http://www.bigtentackle.com/bt/snaphook.htm

[Cal]

Just get quick at tying knots is all, its kinda tough admittedly. With most lures I spin the hook to get my twists while tying the knot, with many flys if you this it will be all squashed and gimpy looking. I use about 18" of tippet which will usualy last a fishing trip or two.

[BigRackLover]

I was looking around at some fly fishing sites and a question popped up. Once you have the leader on the fly line and tippet tied to the leader. Then you tie the fly on to the tippet. With all of these knots how do you change your fly. If you have to cut off the old one and retie a new on, one would go through a tippet fairly quickly wouldn't they? Is there any "quick change" tackle for this?

Thanks everyone.


Honestly - what's your hurry,the fish isn't going anywhere if it's actively feeding. Proper presentaion (key to successfull fly fishing (especially dry fly)) takes time. Don't worry the fish will wait.

[Urban Nightmare]

Good one BigRackLover. I'm a fairly new fisherman (just started this year) and have spent more hours just casting and reeling the same lure then I probably should have. More just enoying the out doors. I was just wondering if you used the same sort of gear (swivels and such).

[Spidey]

Honestly - what's your hurry,the fish isn't going anywhere if it's actively feeding. Proper presentaion (key to successfull fly fishing (especially dry fly)) takes time. Don't worry the fish will wait.

Sure, fishing is all about patience. But, if you have only got limited time and don't know the water you're on then you'll want to do some "searching" - which is basically trolling or casting various flies until you get a hit. I hiked into an unknown-to-me back country lake in Wells Grey with my wife a few years ago and I only had the afternoon to fish and had to leave early enough to get back to camp before dark. After the hike I was on the water in my floatube by about 2pm or so, which gave me maybe 3-4 hours to fish. Nothing was rising while I set up my float tube, so I tied on a medium sized snap hook and set out to kick around the lake and troll. Tried a hares ear for 10 min, then changed out to stonefly for 10 min, prince nymph, sjw, leach, green bugger, black bugger - and BAM! The black bead head bugger was the ticket. After that it was one 18+ trout after another (some so big a they actually hung out of my C&R stream net!)

So, if I didn't have my snap hook I would have:

a. probably lost up to 2ft of my leader from retying (and compromising presentation)

b. lost a lot of valuable fishing time with retying - and trust me, the last thing you want to be doing when you know big fish are underneath you is trying to tie more tippet onto your leader with a &*%$^ing blood knot! - especially in a float tube.

It's been my experience that snap hooks do not interfere with nymph presentation, especially the larger lures.

Ever since that day in Wells Grey I've been a big fan of these little time-savers. I remember my wife was getting a little squirrely reading on shore as we passed some fresh bear scat on the way up and she kept hearing rustling in the bushes. She tried to convince me to get off the lake early so we could head back but nothing could get me off that lake after I started to catch! Now we both have float tubes - I got to buy a new one she uses my old one for reading (win-win!)

[keeks]

I am with BRL on this one. Taking your time tying on a new fly will also give you a few seconds to scan new water, or come up with a new idea for presentation for the fish you are changing flies for.

As for losing lots of tippet changing flies. Well that is part of the deal. And when you get real good at knot tying, you will lose less than an inch of tippet per fly change. As for the snap hooks. I might consider them for a streamer, but never for a dry or a nymph. I've had way to many refusals for improper size, color, or a bit of drag, on the drift. The snap hook has a place, but I don't think it is in dry fly fishing.

k

[Nomad]

I was looking around at some fly fishing sites and a question popped up. Once you have the leader on the fly line and tippet tied to the leader. Then you tie the fly on to the tippet. With all of these knots how do you change your fly. If you have to cut off the old one and retie a new on, one would go through a tippet fairly quickly wouldn't they? Is there any "quick change" tackle for this?

Thanks everyone.

I use a tool called The Fast Knot Tyer. I can change out a fly in about 20 seconds and only use about 4 inches of tippet per change. I also use it to tie my tippet on to the fly line. 10 feet of tippet will last a long time.

http://www.basspro.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/ProductDisplay?storeId=10151&catalogId=10001&langId=-1&partNumber=22917&hvarTarget=search&cmCat=SearchResults

[fishpro]

The more knots you tie the faster it will be. As for losing a couple inches of tippet each time, don't worry about it. If you need to tie on more tippet, use a figure 8 knot, it's way faster.

[Cal]

Having trouble figuring out what a figure 8 knot is? All I can find are some climbing knots by that name and I cant see how they would be used to join a tippet and leader. I use a double uni knot which I find quicker and easyer than a blood knot or a double surgon. http://www.netknots.com/html/double_uni_knot.html

[fishpro]

Having trouble figuring out what a figure 8 knot is? All I can find are some climbing knots by that name and I cant see how they would be used to join a tippet and leader. I use a double uni knot which I find quicker and easyer than a blood knot or a double surgon. http://www.netknots.com/html/double_uni_knot.html

It actually is the same knot as the climbing knot. You take the two pieces of line you want to tie together, overlap them about 6 inches at the ends, then tie the figure 8 knot. Just wrap the two pieces into a figure 8 and pull tight. Very simple and very strong.

[Cal]

It actually is the same knot as the climbing knot. You take the two pieces of line you want to tie together, overlap them about 6 inches at the ends, then tie the figure 8 knot. Just wrap the two pieces into a figure 8 and pull tight. Very simple and very strong.

Ok kinda the same principle as the double surgon but a different knot. The problem I have with the surgon is that you have to pull a couple feet of tippet through the loop 3-4 times which makes an otherwise simple knot a hastle. I'll give that figure 8 a try, have you ever used the double uni? Do you find the figure 8 easyer?

[fishpro]

Ok kinda the same principle as the double surgon but a different knot. The problem I have with the surgon is that you have to pull a couple feet of tippet through the loop 3-4 times which makes an otherwise simple knot a hastle. I'll give that figure 8 a try, have you ever used the double uni? Do you find the figure 8 easyer?

Well you do have to pull a couple feet of tippet through the loop with the figure 8, but only once. I think I've tried the double uni before, as well as other knots, and nothing is anywhere near as easy as the figure 8. I also find other knots weaker and they break more often.

[Spidey]

As for losing lots of tippet changing flies. Well that is part of the deal. And when you get real good at knot tying, you will lose less than an inch of tippet per fly change. As for the snap hooks. I might consider them for a streamer, but never for a dry or a nymph. I've had way to many refusals for improper size, color, or a bit of drag, on the drift. The snap hook has a place, but I don't think it is in dry fly fishing.

k

Agreed. small nymphs and dries shouldn't be used with snap hooks. But I actually find with larger nymphs and streamers, a snap hook actually can help with a more natural presentation (kind of like a rapala knot does with hardware), giving the fly more natural motion in the water.
http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v375/ebis1/rapalakn.gif
Snap hooks are also a very good alternative for changing flies in evening and low light conditions. Once I clamp the hemostats on the snap hook I can remove and put a new fly on in under 10 seconds (not that this should be comparable to calf roping or anything! :character0053: ) But as a wise man once said, "the best hook is the one that's in the water...."

For the buck or two they cost, they are worth including in the fly arsenal.

[Darren N]

I get by fine with just two knots on my leader. After you loop on your leader (usually pre looped) you tie on your fly with a simple clinch knot. Yes you do end up losing tippet but you can add it on with a loop to loop knot just as your leader loops onto your fly line. It's easy to tie and one of the strongest knots you can make. The time it takes you to make your knots gives you time to think about what you are doing, scope the water, give the pool a chance to settle down from all your mad splashes...

[Urban Nightmare]

Thanks for all the suggestions. Especially on the knots. I'll have to give a few of them a try.

[alodar]

that knot tyer is pretty handy i might pick one up for the other half so she can stop bugging me while im fishing to tie her knots ......lol. I found a demo on youtube and everything