Dropper knots

[James Dunlop]

Hi I just wonder if anyone has had problems with dropper knots.  Until recently I used double blood knots for my droppers but the last couple of years I started getting breaks at the dropper.  The last couple of years I have been fishing mostly at Assynt and have been catching and losing larger fish. I did get the odd failure before this but not often. I think the more regular failures have been because I have been getting hits from bigger fish. The break nearly always happens when the fish first hits the fly.   I have started using water knots for droppers but the problem with this is I usually need to re -tie the whole cast after a tangle but with the blot knot it was easier to repair.  I use 6lb  drennan double strength which I usually coat with ledasink to sink the leader.   I dont know if the problem is with the low diameter line I use, the ledasink or the knot not being suitable.  I have not had any failures with waterknots  but  has anyone tried using grinner knots for droppers ?

[Otter Spotter]

Try using riverge leader rings (Seamless rings) http://www.fishingmegastore.com/riverge-seamless-leader-rings~1150.html They solve the problem of losing a whole cast if you get a tangle with your water knots. I use the 1.5mm version makes life a lot easier on a windy hillside!

[Wildfisher]

I just use water knots and have found them to be by far the most reliable way to make up a cast.  You just have to accept bad tangle = new cast as part and parcel of fly fishing.

[Robbie]

I have always used a three turn water knot and never had any problems, regardless of the material used. Guess you just have to find a setup that works for you.

[Highlander]

You do not say what line you are using. Blood knots are "great" for nylon but not so good with other types, certainly not fluo.
I have used a five turn blood knot for making casts for many years & can count on the one hand how many times it has "given way"
The water knot is indeed another that can be used, I do not use it though I have tried it. Tangles were more common I found so I dropped it in favour of the "older method" but many do & are quite happy with it.
Tight Lines

[Wildfisher]

... is shite!

Agreed. Great for dry fly etc, useless for pulling flies. Like all pre-stretched leader material it has no give / elasticity and snaps if shocked where the likes of Maxima would just stretch.  For pulling flies bog standard green Maxima is hard to beat

[Highlander]

Why people still use Drennan Double Strength is beyond me. When I visited the Dark Side for a time (Bow fishing) it amazed me the amount  of time I saw fish lost due to this material breaking invariably  "on the strike" by fishermen but rather than change continued using it.
I remember Stan The Man bemoaning in a Trout & Salmon article years back bemoaning loosing nine fish in succession using double strength. What I could not understand was why he kept on using it despite what happened. I thought he might have wised up after the first couple. As Fred says it has no give in it & this fact alone has a built in deficiency right from the start.
Tight Lines

[Wildfisher]

Maxima or Drennan sub surface green - both good  for pulling wets on lochs. I tend to fish dries / nymphs most of the time and use Rio Powerflex which is very fine for its test. However it is equally crap  for puling wets thus  I NEVER go out without  a spool  of 4lb Maxima green in my pocket and if I switch to wets on lochs I always change. I  had to learn that lesson the hard way.

I always use 2 turn water knots. I used leader rings years ago, but found them too much of a faff and like Andy I'd rather use 1 knot than 3.

[haresear]

Two turn water knots for me, with a uni-knot to the fly. I changed to these knots after suffering breakages on the thinner hi-tech lines and that seems to have solved the problem.

Double strength is fine for dry fly as said, but I too would go for a standard unstreched mono for pulling wets. I use any decent coarse fishing main line (Shakespeare Omni) for example or spinning line for that matter. They come in 100m spools and are cheaper than "fly leader".

Alex

[sinbad]

Double strength drennen cost me my best ever trout, i will never ever use it again after using 6lbs and losing my best ever trout the size of my arm in rimsdale i broke off on lots of 1lbs trout the same trip. Its total crap !
PS im not bitter im bloody raging and that happened 10 years ago lol