Interesting subject. I've always straightened my leader by pulling the line either through a small piece of leather, rubber or lately just my finger tips (be careful don't cut yourself) I've even used the tire tread on my car. It doesn't seem to take a whole lot of friction to sufficiently straighten things out. I've never broken my line by weakening it this way but I'm sure it does as Paul say's. But then again sometimes I'm quite the knucklehead of fly fishing. I'm also one of those guy's who rarely use tippet. I just use the last foot or two of leader as a tippet to tie the fly to. I will use tippet when needed but I usually don't need to. I can just see all of you pros out there just cringing. I figure that I spend about $8 more a season for leaders. It's a good trade off for no knot. I just use a loop for quick changing. The line manufacturers love me. OTOH if I glued my leader to my line such as Tom and Joyce I'm sure I would use tippet. Now watch next month I'll be rambling on about tying tippet on and how much I like it... back under my rock.
Bill P. Fly Fishing - www.graysharborcomputer.com/flyfish Music - www.graysharborcomputer.com/gank -----Original Message----- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] On Behalf Of Paul Marriner Sent: Wednesday, October 13, 2004 4:34 AM To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: [VFB] QUOTE FOR THE DAY As too often happens these days, my reply to Jimmy was unnecessarily snide and abrupt. Things are rarely black & white, rather shades of grey is the norm. In this case, many---likely most---trout fly fishers use manufactured tapered leaders. The "curling" problem starts when the leader is taken from the package and invariably is at its most annoying in the heavy upper section. After straightening, it returns to the "curled" state when wound on the reel. Using rubber, or leather, or some other material on this heavy upper section is unlikely to cause significant damage. OTOH, if one pulls the entire leader including tippet through rubber, damage to the finer mono is inevitable. Why else would we lubricate knots before tightening? So, if stretching the leader fails to straighten the heavy section, the judicious application of some friction is warranted. However, stop there and straighten the lower, finer, sections by stretching---they usually require little effort to remove curls. Finally, one can eliminate most curling problems by using furled or braided leader butts. Cheers, Paul -- Paul Marriner Outdoor Writing & Photography. Owner: Gale's End Press. Member: OWAA & OWC. Author of Stillwater Fly Fishing: Tools & Tactics, How to Choose & Use Fly-tying Thread, Modern Atlantic Salmon Flies, Miramichi River Journal, Ausable River Journal, and Atlantic Salmon.
