[Bob Munoz]

Not!

But it did speed up my leader tying. I usually have spools all over the place when I'm tying up a bunch. I was looking around for some way to lasso 'em. An old C-clamp vise and some of those RIO bra straps did the trick. Marking the table at 1 foot increments lets you just rip out the right amount of material. Heaven help ya if your wife catches you marking and clamping the kitchen table - try the insanity plea.

 

[Moonlight]

Bra straps?

Right on, I always wondered what a good name for those would be, good job Bob!

 

[Penguin]

...Who would'a thunk?!...

...It just gets better and better...but what will I do with all the extra time I used to spend looking for my leader stuff?

 

[pmflyfisher]

Agree that looks way to organized for an old FF like me.

More fun to look through all my vest pockets for the right tippet spools. Thank god I don't have to tie complicated tapered trout leaders to often. Steelhead and salmon

I like that solution though and will give it a go

 

[juro]

I'm a big LeBra fan. They let me stuff spools in the vest (steelhead) or chestpack (stripers) without all those trailing line problems.

What recipe do you use? I just do the 60/20/20 rule as given in the McClane book. The butt can be up to 2 parts (60/40), the taper up to 3 (even) and the tippet one pc. or two if extended.

Turn over very nicely and although very simple it works great. Easy to replace lost sections or calculate modifications to length, # of parts, etc.

 

[Bob Munoz]

I'm pretty sure these used to be called Le Bra straps. I tried to convince myself that I'd not lost too much grey matter by doing a little research. Trust me on this one - don't bother looking for "RIO Le Bra Strap" in a search engine. They must have changed the name in a fit of marketing PC'ness.

Juro - I've been fussing with the 60-20-20 general formula. My buddy Fireman Steve the speycaster told me I should experiment with thicker butt material to get everything to turn over well. He uses 50 or 60# to get started and builds a tapered butt. I'm just building a few variations on that theme. Struggling a bit with 50-60# blood knots! Ultimate goal is a 15-18' leader for a 9/10 Accellerator slung off a 9150.

 

[juro]

Too bad they haven't figured out a way to splice mono yet! I usually start with 40# or 30# Maxima... depends on the line I am matching it to. They don't make a 35#, wish they did.

 

[halcyon]

tying blood knots in 50 o 60# material can be done with only 3 turns on each side of the knot. This makes drawing the knot up much easier and does not affect the strength of the knot in this heavy mono.

 

[MJC]

Leader Spool Tamers

Not to take anything away from the "Le Strap" spool tamers which do work great, a bicycle inner tube cut cross ways in strips about 5/8" wide works just as good, it's just not as stylish.

 

[SSPey]

MJC - now this is a good tip. And of course the rugged solutions have a style all their own

thanks!!

 

[juro]

Re: Leader Spool Tamers

Not to take anything away from the "Le Strap" spool tamers which do work great, a bicycle inner tube cut cross ways in strips about 5/8" wide works just as good, it's just not as stylish.

Clever! What do you use for the hole guide?

 

[MJC]

Inner Tube Tamers

I just let the mono tag stick out a little on one side.

 

[juro]

My favorite part is the hole and tab, if you grip the tab and pull the leader 'dispenses' itself thru the hole, pull the other way and it 'reels' itself in.

You sure get a lot of straps per tire tube though!

 

[Nooksack Mac]

There are lots of medium-size rubber bands in general circulation (my mail is frequently bundled inside one) that work fine for Maxima-size spools. A sample is 3/16" wide, approx. 2 1/4". Some vests have inside pockets topped with velcro. Let the tippet end protrude through the velcro, and you can pull it out as needed, while the spool rotates inside its pocket. Neat!

 

[Speynut]

Rocket Science/Blood Knot Tool

Bob,
Function and simplicity make for a beautiful design. A very cool idea. I look forward to coming up with something similar to manage those loose spools all over my bench.

Hey, any chance you're familiar with Cinch-tie Tru-Blood Knot Tyer or other quick tools on the market? I'm looking for something that's fast, easy to work, with and produces quality knots?

I've about worn out the Dennison Blood Knot vice I currently use to make leaders, and though it makes excellent knots I'd really like to know if there's a faster tool out there for the job.

Thanks, JB

 

[Bob Munoz]

JB,

I've never used a special vise for tying knots. I'm getting a lot faster at just doing them by hand. I should try one in the local fly shop. Let us know which tool is your favorite.

Bob