I use 20 Lb. Dacron fly line backing, half hitched around the line I am using as a T-line, whether the line is braided, furled, monofilament or a PVC coated fly line. A stopper knot is tied loosely at the rod end of the T-line, and the Lilian Loop passes through the center of the loose Overhand or Figure-8 Knot - your choice. Tighten the Stopper Knot first, then pull the half hitch loop up to tighten against the T-line stopper knot. The over hand knotted end of the Lilian Loop half-hitches on to the Lilian to finish the knot off against the Lilian Stopper Knot. To loosen the half-hitch, you just pull on the tag ends of the Lilian Loop - No secondary loop is needed - while holding onto the Lilian with your second hand and the rod tip being held down inside of the butt section of the rod to insure that you do not have a to join the Broken Tip Club.
For the Lilian Stopper Knot, I prefer tying a Double Overhand Knot into the Lilian because it is easier to untie than a single overhand knot is, and holds the half hitch knot more securely than a single knot, and has a large enough Diameter that it usually prevents the Lilian from sliding down inside of the rod’s # 2 rod section, which can be very hard to get out on stream…Karl.
I’m late to this discussion, but I have had the tag end of an arbor knot (slip knot) in both fluoro (and I believe nylon) slip. So I begin the arbor knot with two figure 8 or overhand knots as a “handle” knot and a “stopper” knot spaced about 1/2" or 13mm apart at the end of the line.
Then I tie the arbor knot slightly below the two figure 8s.
I then stick two fingers into the slip knot loop and pull on the standing end of the line to seat the stopper knot against the slip knot.
This produces a slip loop knot with a tag that will never slip, and ( @Kris.Franqui ) makes it a little easier to manipulate the slip knot to attach to and remove from the lillian that can help with cold hands.
Not to take the thread too far down a “lines” rabbit hole from the “Broken Rod Tip Club” subject (which I thankfully have never done while actually fishing)…
That’s a pretty interesting method of attaching a level line, And you get a very nice “handle” on the girth hitch to help remove it from the lillian.
In my early days of experimenting with level line alternatives; i.e. tapered, PVC, and braided line material that required a loop of limper material i.e. Dacron, for a girth hitch, I read somewhere (here@Gressak ? TBum blog?) that passing the lillian through the girth hitch loop 3 times would securely attach the girth hitch to the lillian. I tried it a couple of times and it seemed to work, but I didn’t hook up with any sizable fish that produced a result I got with the mistake of only passing an unknotted lillian through a level line slip knot once .
I am the odd man out. I knot all my lillians. Never had an issue un-knotting them when needed. Really, i will rarely clean or need to dry out those top sections so it really has no inconvenience.
I just girth hitch. I dont use dacron for my lines but use 60 or 80# braid loops connected via albright. I could see how dacron might be bulky, but doubt it would effect presentation. The braid loop is pretty thin, is fast, easy, and really have been doing it this way since I started. It is idiot proof.
I have never lost a line and it is probably the simplest way to connect.
Tristans method could work too with a single double surgeons loop to simplify. I would suspect the problem over time is that the flouro line may fatigue or get deformed, but he would probably mention that if it were the case.
) makes it a little easier to manipulate the slip knot to attach to and remove from the lillian that can help with cold hands.
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