Walter & Group...
Waiting for more responses on the fundamentals of leader design.
Once in a great while I send a fishing story. I'll title this one, EXTREME FISHING # 2.
(Number # 1 was described in ON THE RUN, a book about striped bass fishing. Some of these super macho guys don wet suits and fins ..... then swim out in the rough ocean off Montauk Point with fly rods and catch stripers. Sometimes the currents take them miles out to sea.)
This one is timely since we have been talking about leader connections lately.
I ran out alone in my skiff on the moon at 4:30 this morning and staked out at the edge of a flat in water about 4'deep. At first light, a school of tarpon came in range feeding on the surface. I jumped and lost two fish.
Then one took my fly .... a good fish, perhaps about 80 - 90 lbs. After fighting the fish with all the pressure my 20 lb. tippet would likely bear, I had him up to the skiff on his side ready for a release.
Problem was that I had a loop-to-loop connection between my 60# butt section and the loop at the end of the fly line. The loop on the end of the fly line was made by folding the line over and using 2 nail knots of 10# mono. The one on the end of the butt section was a uni-loop. Usually I use a large ring tip top on my rod but this one had a standard one.
That loop connection got momentarily stuck and when the fish lurched, the tip section of the rod pulled loose and slid down to the shock tippet. Not wanting to lose that rod tip, I grabbed the leader and slowly worked the fish toward me. No sooner had I gotten hold of the tip and the shock tippet, when the fish went crazy and LEAPED INTO THE BOAT KNOCKING ME OUT OF THE SKIFF ALONG WITH MY ROD !
Now the fish was in the skiff and I was overboard. I grabbed the rod as it sank, and started back to the skiff. Suddenly I recalled that my buddy had been fishing in his skiff about 100' from me when, a few minutes before, a tremendous hammerhead shark ( 10' to 12' long) had taken a tarpon that he'd been fighting. That motivated me to streak back to my skiff in record time. I vaulted over the side and into the boat. I quickly secured my rod and clipped the bite tippet, then released the tarpon. About 30 seconds later that shark attacked the fish and ate it in two bites !!!!!!!!
The sun came up.
I came back in for breakfast and am about to put a new tip top on my rod.
Now I'll use one of Dan Blanton's braided smooth connections (which Lefty had told me about) before going out tomorrow morning. I've had all the stuff to make these ever since we discussed all this months ago but had not taken the time to rig them up.
Here is a "fundamental" to add to the ones you come up with : The leader/line connection should be designed to pass smoothly through the tip top and guides.
Gordy