Q: “I want to make a fast-sinking shooting head with some T-14 and a commercial shooting line. I don’t want to make a loop-to-loop connection since I am not going to change the shooting head. Is there a simple way of making a smooth connection?”
Harold Anderson,
Boston, Massachusetts
A: Purchase an inexpensive 50-yard spool of 50-pound-test Gudebrod Butt Leader. This line is hollow and has a hard finish that wears well when cast.
Cut a length of 8 to 10 inches, and with a large blunt needle, open one end. Insert the T-14 sinking line halfway in the hollow braid. Repeat with the commercial shooting fly line and the other end until the ends butt against each other. Using 10-pound-test monofilament, make a 10-turn nail knot at both ends of the hollow braid. Trim the ends. The nail knots will lock the connection and allow the braid to act like a Chinese finger cuff. Use Pliobond or a similar flexible material to coat the nail knots.
This same technique can be used to repair a damaged area of a fly line.
