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Lines, knots & rigs

What a fly line actually is, the knots that hold it together, and the rigs that fish it — drawn to scale.

Which line today?

FLOATMIDGE TIP~15 ft, 5–6 lb fluoro

The classic drift begins: three wets, bob working the ripple, pulled steady with a dibble at the end.

Team of three ›Lough leader ›

Starting points from published lough practice — your Tactical Card picks for the actual water, hatch and day.

Fly lines

Weight forward — the line that shootsWeight forward Double taper — the presentation lineDouble taper Spey lines and shooting headsSpey & heads The sinking spectrum: floater to Di-7Sink rates Sweep lines and density compensationSweep lines Fluorocarbon, copolymer or nylon?Leader materials Tippet sizes: the X systemX sizes Poly-leaders: depth on a floaterPoly-leaders

Knots

The improved clinch: fly onto tippetImproved clinch The surgeon's knot dropperDropper knot Loop-to-loop: line onto leaderLoop-to-loop The blood knot: the tidy joinBlood knot The Davy knot: small and fastDavy knot

Rigs

The lough cast: a team of threeTeam of three The euro nymph rigEuro nymph The duo rig: klink-and-dinkDuo rig The river dry-fly leaderDry leader The bung: fishing at a known depthThe bung The washing line rigWashing line Building a lough leaderLough leader

Related

TechniqueHow to fish it — boat craft, casting and line management