The Great Tag Line Experiment

[Team9nine]

Quote

 

"Here's another thing that burns me up. You see people tying a knot, and they get down here and they got their little tag ends, and they microscopically...they want to cut it within 79 hundredths of the line. They're like, "Why don't you cut all that tag end off?" I'm like, 'Hey, if he didn't see this first 110 yds, that last little quarter inch that you're trying to cut off ain't going to hurt nothing.'"

 

Gerald Swindle

 

 

I like playing around on the margins because I feel like that's where you learn things and see differences. The above quote was from a fairly recent G. Swindle video, and I saw it about the same time that I found some of my pics from a tag line experiment I did out on the water. This was a 400 acre community reservoir that holds weekly bass tournaments, so these fish are not "unpressured." I basically set the rules at one rod/reel/line for all baits used to keep equipment the same. Line was 10# mono clear. I used a Palomar knot to tie on several different baits, but in every case, I overtied considerably, similar to what you would do if setting up a dropshot. In all cases, the minimum length of tag leader line was 20 inches. This leader tag was never trimmed, and I tried not to rearrange it on casts, instead just letting it ball up or wrap around the bait to whatever degree it wanted to, unless it physically impaired the action of the bait.

 

I started with a crankbait because I felt it might be the easiest to catch a bass on doing this since it is considered a reflex type bait and can be fished fast. In each case, and to dispell random chance or luck, I fished the same bait with the long tag end until I caught 3 bass on it, any size. After catching 3 bass, I would remove that bait and try another.

 

 

This first pic is a shot inbetween bass of the crankbait (Bandit 100) I was throwing with the oversized tag line. It got wrapped up pretty good at times, but I still managed to land 3 bass rather easily despite all that extra line.

 

 

On to bait two, which I decided to slow down and see if fishing something slower would deter bites due to the extra line floating all around the bait. I tied on a Shakyhead with a Zoom finesse worm and went to casting. After a time and 3 bass later, it wasn't looking like fast or slow made any difference. Again, as you can see in the pic, if the line balled up or tangled, I just kep casting with it.

 

 

So bait 3 turned out to be a topwater Pop-R. This time a 22 inch tag line left streaming behind the bait while I popped and chugged the topwater along the shoreline. And, just like the previous couple baits, I was able to manage 3 fish landed on the mega tagline.

 

Of course, none of this proves anything other than at times, or with certain fish, line likely plays little if any role in deterring bites if the bait is presented correctly or the fish is hungry enough. It does give one a lot of confidence though after going through this type of on-the-water experiemnt to realize that you don't have to do everything "right" or "perfect" to catch bass.

[Dirtyeggroll]

Cool.

Didnt seem like your lure fouling rate changed that much.

 

It’d be interesting to see if anything was different in grass or slop.

[fishwizzard]

I cut my tags to about 1/4” irrespective of what kind if line or lure. I do this so I can immediately detect if the knot is slipping with just a quick look at the tag. 

[papajoe222]

Honestly, I don't give any thought to how long/short the tag end of my knot is. I don't go to extremes one way or the other, but I can say that I've had knot failures, in the distant past, from clipping the tag at the knot.

[Hammer 4]

I usually leave about 1/8" on all baits..

[MN Fisher]

I cut my tags to around 1/4" - just to make them look neat, not for any other reason.

[JustJames]

I normally cut my tag end also but sometime when I tie the knot at the spot, I don’t cut tag end another reason I use trilene knot because with this knot I can make tag end as short as 1/2” without cutting.

[Jaderose]

I guess my response to this thread is that some people need more to do.......?

 

[The Bassman]

I use straight braid so I tie my knots to not use up more line than necessary. If I'm careful I have less than a half inch of tag. I still trim it a little because I'm a neat freak.

[Choporoz]

When I first started fishing 50 some years ago, I cut tags real short, but at some point learned that the clinch not I used slipped just a little and the short tag could speed up knot failure.  For decades after that I hadn't paid a lot of attention to tag ends, but left them probably around 1/4".    The last two years, I've really been trying to refine my work in grass.  That led me to using longer tags, over an inch sometimes.  I feel that having enough tag to allow the line to bend back toward the hook gives me less to catch on grass, even if just a tiny bit less....no data, but I think it helps. And I'm certain that it hasn't affected the fish any. 

[fishwizzard]

14 minutes ago, Choporoz said:

When I first started fishing 50 some years ago, I cut tags real short, but at some point learned that the clinch not I used slipped just a little and the short tag could speed up knot failure.  For decades after that I hadn't paid a lot of attention to tag ends, but left them probably around 1/4".    The last two years, I've really been trying to refine my work in grass.  That led me to using longer tags, over an inch sometimes.  I feel that having enough tag to allow the line to bend back toward the hook gives me less to catch on grass, even if just a tiny bit less....no data, but I think it helps. And I'm certain that it hasn't affected the fish any. 

That is interesting!  Next time I am at a snot-pond I am going to give that a try and see if it helps there too.    

[WRB]

I admit to being a cut it off short as possible tag end angler. 

Trout fishing you tend to cut tag ends off close to the bait hook and flies because the tag end tends to gather debris. 

Bass fishing I still cut off tag ends short about 1/16-1/8 long.

Very interesting experiement!

Tom

[TnRiver46]

Like @WRB said, I got into the habit of cutting them super short when tying tippet onto the end of trout leaders when fly fishing. If you leave a tiny tag end the leader will tangle up very badly and very often 

[fin]

You neglected to add the tag tag to your post, @Team9nine ?

 

7 hours ago, Choporoz said:

When I first started fishing 50 some years ago, I cut tags real short, but at some point learned that the clinch not I used slipped just a little and the short tag could speed up knot failure.  For decades after that I hadn't paid a lot of attention to tag ends, but left them probably around 1/4".    The last two years, I've really been trying to refine my work in grass.  That led me to using longer tags, over an inch sometimes.  I feel that having enough tag to allow the line to bend back toward the hook gives me less to catch on grass, even if just a tiny bit less....no data, but I think it helps. And I'm certain that it hasn't affected the fish any. 

I think that's a danger with most knots. My eyes aren't that great anymore, so it's hard to see if there's a tiny loop left in there, especially with my spit all over the knot.

 

Short tags are stiffer for sure, and that can cause several issues.

 

This post might convince me to quit trimming my tags altogether. I never thought it was necessary anyway.