The welded loop is the premade loop that comes on the front and back of most modern fly lines, and a lot of veteran fly fishermen do not trust it. They cut it off and build their own loop by doubling the line over and tying nail knots. In this episode I tested the manufacturer's welded loop against a loop I made myself with nail knots, and the result surprised me. The welded loop was not only stronger than my homemade loop, it was actually stronger than the fly line itself.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
Yes, and it surprised me. In my test the welded loop on a Cortland Precision fly line was not only stronger than the loop I built myself with nail knots, it was actually stronger than the line. The line broke before the welded loop showed any compromise at all. So if you have been cutting the welded loops off your fly lines because you do not trust them, my test says you can have full confidence in a quality manufacturer's welded loop.
Most modern fly lines, like the Cortland Precision I tested, come with a premade loop welded into both the front and the back. The loop lets you make a fast loop-to-loop connection to your backing on the back end, or to your leader on the front end. It saves you from tying knots in slick fly line and gives you a clean, quick connection you can swap in seconds without rerigging the whole line.
You double the fly line over on itself to form a loop, then lock it in place by tying a series of nail knots over the doubled section. It is best to tie those nail knots with a Tie-Fast nail knot tool, which is a simple folded piece of aluminum and one of the cheapest pieces of fishing gear you can buy. If you are not great at nail knots or you want a perfect one every time, that tool is highly suggested.
My homemade loop did not actually break. What happened is the loop pulled out of the nail knots and slipped, even though I pulled about as hard as I would in a real rigging situation. I could probably have tightened those nail knots down better, but the takeaway is that a slipped loop fails just as surely as a broken one. The welded loop, by contrast, did not slip and held past the breaking point of the line.
Based on this test, no. A lot of fly fishermen who have been at it a while cut these loops off because they say they have never lost a tarpon doing it the old way, so they are not going to start trusting the new loops now. But the machine showed the welded loop was stronger than the line itself, so cutting it off and replacing it with a homemade loop actually gave me a weaker connection, not a stronger one.
I have broken and tested a huge range of knots and connections on the Tom Rowland Podcast, and I keep all of those results in a free knot guide. You can download it at tomrowlandpodcast.com and compare breaking strengths side by side. It is the fastest way to decide which knot or loop connection to trust before your next trip instead of guessing at the vise.
This is one of those arguments that has been going on in fly fishing for years. The new lines come with welded loops, and a whole generation of anglers refuses to trust them, cutting them off and tying their own. I did not want opinions, I wanted a number, so I rigged the manufacturer's welded loop against a loop I built with nail knots and pulled them both. What I found changed how I think about it. I walk through the whole test in the episode, so press play in the player above.
When the welded loop sample failed, it did not fail at the loop at all. The line broke down in the running line and the loop stayed perfectly intact, which means that loop is stronger than the line it is built into. My homemade loop told a different story, it slipped out of the nail knots rather than breaking. Seeing both side by side made the lesson obvious. I explain exactly what that means for your rigging in the episode, so press play in the player above and follow along.
Here are the steps I walk through in this How 2 Tuesday. I cover the details in the episode, so press play in the player above and follow along.
I unpack each of these in the episode. Press play in the player above.
I went into this expecting my hand-tied loop to win, and it did not. The manufacturer's welded loop on a quality fly line proved stronger than the line itself, while my nail knot loop slipped under hard tension.
The lesson for me is simple: trust a good welded loop, and if you do build your own, seat those nail knots harder than you think you need to. Press play in the player above for the full test.
welded loop · nail knot · Cortland Precision fly line · Tie-Fast nail knot tool · fly line backing · loop-to-loop connection · Danco · Tom Rowland Podcast · How 2 Tuesday
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
Tom Rowland Podcast — Episode 959: Tom Rowland (How 2 Tuesday Solo)
In this episode: the manufacturer's premade loop on new fly lines, why veteran fly fishermen cut it off, building your own loop with nail knots, the Tie-Fast nail knot tool, and a pull test with a surprising winner — in the exact words spoken.
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Tom Rowland: Which is stronger? The manufacturer's loop that comes on the end of fly lines or the loop that I make with nail knots myself? What's going on everybody? It's How to Tuesday on the Tom Rowland podcast brought to you by Danco.
Tom Rowland: Today, we're talking about fly fishing and particularly the connection between your fly line and backing or your fly line and leader. When you buy a new fly line these days, a lot of them, just like this Cortland Precision, come with a manufacturer's premade loop in the front and also in the back. So what you would do here is a loop to loop connection with either twist to your backing or some sort of other loop not to your leader.
Tom Rowland: And a lot of fly fishermen that have been at it for a while just don't trust these lines. They think, well, I've never lost a tarpon the other way, so I'm not gonna start now. And they cut this off and they make a loop on the end.
Tom Rowland: The way that you make this loop is you tie nail knots. You double over the line and then tie nail knots.
Tom Rowland: It is best if you can tie it with a Ti Fast nail knot tire. This is a probably the cheapest piece of fishing gear that you could ever buy. I don't know how much it costs, but not much. It's a simple folded piece of aluminum, that makes a really good knot. So if you're not very good at nail knots or you just want to tie the perfect nail knot every time, this tool is highly suggested.
Tom Rowland: So what we're gonna do today is we are gonna test a welded loop versus a loop that I created with nail knots and see which one's the strongest. Here we go.
Tom Rowland: Did that surprise you? Because it sure surprised me. The manufacturer's welded loop was not only stronger than the loop that I made myself, but it was actually stronger than the line.
Tom Rowland: This is the one that actually broke. You can see see that the loop is here. There's no compromise whatsoever on the welded loop and it broke down in the line right here. So that means that this part is stronger than the line. So I will have a 100% confidence interesting also to see what the difference was while this one broke in the line and the loop remained perfectly strong.
Tom Rowland: When I did the nail knots to make my own loop, what ended up happening is the loop actually pulled out of the nail knots. It didn't break. It slipped out of the nail knots. So maybe I could have tightened them down a little bit better, but for the most part, I really pulled pretty hard as hard as I would on a rigging situation and it still slipped. This one did not slip and not only that, it was stronger than the line itself.
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