[dropcap]A[/dropcap] few years ago while spinner shark fishing offshore in north Palm Beach, a hooked spinner in the plus 70-pound class got broken off. My factory welded loop failed. Wow, was I pi##ed. No more I vowed, and I now snip off welded loops at the fly shop when I buy a new fly line.
The only thing that’s holding a factory welded loop together is MELTED LINE COATING – not the core where the strength is. Mountain and rock climbers use knots to stay alive so they know knots. They know that folding over any line you get twice the strength of the material at the connection point.
One knot, the Nail Knot, has each of its coils wrap around one folded tag, – failing is an improbability. No nail knot I have ever tied failed. And I do not know of anyone who had their nail knot fail. That is five decades of fishing.
Relatively unknown is the use of a tool to tie nail knots perfectly every time and do so in seconds, not minutes. It is called the Tie-Fast Tool. It is a $4 to $9 item (online, big box store fly fishing section or your local fly shop). The tool itself is made out of one piece of stamped stainless steel, and you could not wear it out in ten lifetimes. I never leave home without it. It has multiple uses as you will see in the second video.
There are two videos, one by InTheRiffle. They tie the nail knot to fly line a little differently than the manufacturer (Tie-Fast) and we like their method better. The second video is by Tie-Fast and after their version of tying a nail knot, a whole host other tool knot tying uses are revealed. Both videos very much worth watching. They will change how you tie knots.
Bomb Proof Your Fly Line Loop – Tarpon Loop on Fly Line
[youtube id=”KulwRFQcjuo” width=”620″ height=”360″]Tie-Fast Knot Tool
[youtube id=”611JWRtkjOc” width=”620″ height=”360″]
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