On Tuesday, July 24, 2012 8:11:23 AM UTC-7, M wrote:
I recently bought some braided loops which came with a plastic sleeve. The sleeve is supposed to slide over the loop (once the braid is threaded onto the fly line) to be glued over the butt end of the braid, as a kind of 'cap', I guess to stop the braid end fraying.

Anyway, this plastic sleeve is about 4-5 inches long and I'm pretty sure it's intended to be cut down first.

Can anyone tell me if this is the case and what size to cut it down to. There's so much talked about rigs which do/don't turn a fly well, that I want to get this about right.

Thanks for any help.
Mark

Yes, if you use the plastic sleeve to keep the end of the braid from fraying you should only use a piece about 1/2" long. However, there is a problem using these plastic sleeves. Because they are stiff compared to the flyline, they eventually cause the flyline to crack just above the joint. A superior solution is to do a whip finish wrap with light monofilament at the end of the braid and then lightly coat the entire braid covering with Aquaseal.