Question:
Our flats are cluttered with floating grass that often ruins my presentation. I tie my own flies and have been using 25-pound-test hard nylon for the weedguard. After two or three fish, the guard is so mangled, I have to clip it off. Do you have any better ideas?
– James Edwards, Galveston, Texas
Answer:
I gave up on nylon and solid wire for weedguards a few years ago. I now use plastic-coated braided wire. You need to use the older, larger-diameter wire not one of the braided microwires that are too thin and supple to be used as a guard. Uncoated braided wire won’t work because it unravels. I have used Sevenstrand and Berkley, and the color doesn’t seem to matter.
For flies size 1 or larger, I use one or two posts of 40-pound wire, and for smaller flies I use the 30-pound wire. After the wire is tied in behind the hook eye, you must coat it with epoxy. This way the plastic-coated wire can be bent and reformed many times, and it will still work as a functional weedguard. Using head cement will cause it to shatter.
-Lefty
