Shortening A Head / Splicing Line

[chiasson]

I have a line that is a bit too heavy for the rod I bought it for and I can't return it so I'm thinking about cutting it back a bit - it loads great with half the head out. My question is what is the best way to do this? Should I just chop it, put a loop on the end and be done? Or, should I take line out from the middle of the head and splice it back together? The line is a Rio Windcutter 4/5. The idea is to just lighten it up a bit without messing with the taper too much so that it does what it's supposed to but casts a little more crisper and so that my rod wont buckle when trying to roll cast a bunch or line or when casting a sinking leader.

 

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

 

C.

[Bowcane]

First if your only using half the head your grainage is way off, sure you can just get a new line? Now I assume its the single hand WC, so most of the grain wieght is in the second belly, go look at the RIO site if you have not to see the profile of it. You'll need a mic or vernier caliper to do this right and likely a line scale, I think Umqua has them, if you decide to cut. Dont remove from the tip cut from the belly or you'll wreck the taper. Now the WC really isnt made to turn over anything more than a poly leader, as it is it will not work with sink-tips, it can be modified to do it, I've done it with my spey lines. It also not meant for really big flies either. You're going to have to figure out the lenght vs grain ratio/wieght to do it right...beyond what I can help you with through a forum. Its also going to be a personal feel thing too. IF you cut, as I said, cut out of the belly and do a welded splice about 2 - 2.5" long, I'd cut as close to the rear taper as possible. Still you're rolling the dice on a line worth close the better part of a hundred bucks, if you've never done this before..well!

[chiasson]

Yeah, definitely risky, but what the hell. I bought it months ago and have another line that works with the rod. The line is actually the W/C 4/5 Spey. The rod is the Sage 5110. Since I don't have an adequate scale or calipers this will definitely be a trial and error thing. If you don't mind could you elaborate on how I can modify the W/C to cast tips.

 

Thanks for the response.

C.

[chiasson]

The W/C 4/5 is 320 and I would like to get it down to 255-265. I'm sure I could find a scale to approximately weight out what I need to remove it's just knowing what part of the line to cut out under the premise that I want the most weight in the shortest amount head remaining while still having something that will turn over.

[maxwell]

i would take a few feet off the back.. like 3 or 4 then maybe 2 off the front.. give it a cast and see were it is for u... like bowcane said it can be risky and u can wreck the line (ive messed around witha few dozen the last year and ahve lots of scrap lines kicking arounw now) then cast is.. if its still too heavy take another foot off the back.. u will be altering the taper of teh head no matter what you do so its up too ya too make it sutable for what you want too do with it!

[Bowcane]

Two ways to modify for tips, 1) cut an loop 15' back from the tip and use Rios tips as is. 2) What I did was cut the tip back about 3' just to get past that little level short bit to a spot where on my 5/6WC its about .050" in diameter. Then I used Rios tips and started cutting them back till I could effortlessly cast the type 3. I then cut an intermeidate and type 6 the same lenght. I doubt you could cast a type 8 so I didnt bother. They ended up about 10'. I'll add they work a lot better for depth control than poly-tips. Oh, and cut from the back because I believe they are density compensated, obiously re-looping is required.

 

Now when you cut the line, go to Rios site and look under spey. They have a table that gives the line specs, lenghts, grains, etc. You can do all that math stuff and figure out where to cut to get tha grainage you think will work. Good luck!

[chiasson]

Thanks for all the advice. So, I got my hands on a scale and have figured out how many grams that I would like to remove, it's approximately 3.8-4.2 grams. I think I'll take it all off the body close to the rear taper as you suggested. It should equate to no more than 10 feet of line. Bowcane you also mentioned doing a welded splice. I've found a few tutorials online about how to splice lines but was wondering if you had preferred method.

[maxwell]

i use shrink tube and a lighter.. make sure not too overheat.. best too flicker the lighter through the place you intend too splice rather than apply direct heat.. take your time.. heat slowly so you dont burn the inner core! dip in cold water too cool quicker if you wish too unpeal the shrink and check for any missed spots.. if so add some mo shrink tube n touch it up! some people use a heat gun dealio!only way ive tride too plce is too make 2 welded loops then loop em together n weld them together.. if i figured it was a little too thin i used some line shaving from a scrap piece...

[Bowcane]

Either a welded splice or the braided finger puzzle splice. No need to go over the welded splice, Maxwell pretty well hit it, other than to mention that its going to end up between 40 and 50% bigger in diameter than the line itself. That said all splices are going to have a bit of a bump, just try to make the transition as smooth as possible. Also dont go cheap with the heat shrink use at least double the lenght of the desired splice, hey its only a buck and a half for 3 feet, and use clear so you can watch when it starts to fuse. I use a multi-setting heat gun for my splices. Briefly the finger puzzle splice is done by, 1) slide about 3"-4" of braid over one of pieces, it will be a _____ to do 2) use the thick ACC, just a drop, and glue the two pieces end to end 3) slide the braid over both pieces evenly pull it evenly tight and just a drop of ACC at both ends 4) wrap thread over both ends about 1/2" and finish off as if you were wrapping rod guides 5) apply Pliobond over the whole splice. This splice can be a bit sticky going through the guides but when done right can pull a truck out of the ditch. Note the ACC is not part of the strenght of this, its just to hold it all together till the Pliobond sets. It has less of a bump but is more work to do. I assume you have checked out 'Speypages', they have a wealth of spicing info there as does the "Irish Angler". Also dont try welded splices with the sink-tips/polytips as they are mono core, you'll have a weak splice or a melted mess if you try, welds work only with rayon/dacron cores such as in flylines

[admin]

Not sure if this helps, but here is a little loop tutorial my buddy Mike did up.

 

http://flyangler.ca/forum/index.php?showtopic=5099

[Bowcane]

I forgot to add that when doing the welded splice or loops to cut the end(s) on a long bevel (1/2" long) to smooth the weld and roll the splice in your fingers when melted, yes its hot so be carefull. Both the splices described I can personally vouch for, both have handled 30"+ steelhead in both the St Marys (Ont) and Niagara (which averages 6000CMS down stream of the whirlpool) so a 20" rainbow shouldn't break them. I prefer the welded splice.

[chiasson]

Great info! So, For the inline splice what is the best thing to use for the braid?

[Bowcane]

I believe the stuff I have is the courtland braided backing, it may also be labelled as braided shooting line. Not even sure if they still have it, yup, its been that long since I bought it.

[chiasson]

One more quick question. For the welded splice is it necessary to do welded loops first and then weld them together or can I just taper the two ends butt them up and weld em?

[SilverDoctor]

Taper em and weld em make sure there is lots of overlap. I use a heat gun with a tinfoil funnel shaped around the front of the gun to direct the heat at a spot. Works great, more precise than a flame. Cooked a line with a candle flame, mind you the wife keeps telling methat the Glenfiddich Single Malt had something to do with it.

 

One more quick question. For the welded splice is it necessary to do welded loops first and then weld them together or can I just taper the two ends butt them up and weld em?

 

[chiasson]

Taper em and weld em make sure there is lots of overlap. I use a heat gun with a tinfoil funnel shaped around the front of the gun to direct the heat at a spot. Works great, more precise than a flame. Cooked a line with a candle flame, mind you the wife keeps telling methat the Glenfiddich Single Malt had something to do with it.

 

Great, will give it a go this week. thanks!