How to be sure?

[markguyver]

I have been tying floro to braid for my leaders useing a uni-not and a few others but my confidence level is not high. i read articles about the braid cutting into the floro as well as mono, so is there a fool proof go to knot? there are great web sites that show the how to part, but i need to trust these knots . What do u guys know that i have yet to learn? mark

[Marty]

I use to use a uni-knot when tying floro to braid but when I set the hook it would break.

Now I use the Spro Power Swivels (size 10 - thirty-pound test) to join braid to floro. Plus I also use the size 10 in my drop shot rig to eliminate line twist and that is using floro to floro.

http://www.tacklewarehouse.com/Spro_Pow ... e-SPS.html

[mac (Doyle McEwen)]

The weakest point on any cojoined lines is always going to be the knot..There isn't anything that can change that..Personally I do not use leaders, so I don't have your problem..I heard a person say don't use this or that knot as it cuts into itself..I hated to tell him, if it doesn't cut into itself at some point it isn't a knot..

mac

[jimmy87]

I have been trying differnt knots as well. I found the Tony Pena knot along with the albright knot both to work well for joining braid to mono.

Braided line to green maxima is what I been playing with.
join the lines then tie on a 5/0 superline hook. latch the hook to your Truck bumper or fence post.
lean back and see what happens. For me I am able to put way more pounds on it than any fish I ever have had to fight.
Treat it like a snag and break it. the knot at the hook breaks for me.

differnt dia on lines joined to differnt braided lines will give differnt results so always test it out first!

Albright is the knot I prefer now because it is easier to tie and smaller.
take the time practice tying. Test all knots! if you dont get it right it will pull apart (albright)

[dgoldston7]

Mark, the knots you mentioned are just that knots. In that case, when the braid tightens down around the mono or fluoro it will cut it. Try the sebile "knot". Its more along the lines of a Chinese finger-cuff "connection". at first it will be a little tricky to tie, especially with smaller diameter lines but once you get the hang of it i promise you will never look back. Because its no a true knot, you do not have to re-tie it after every few fish. When using braid to fluoro add a few wraps and that will make of for the hardness of the fluoro vs when your using a softer line such as p line. I used this connection on a tuna boat this year; 50lb spectra to 15lb seaguar fluoro, 9 tuna in 4 hours without re-tying once , biggest went 56lbs. you can find the a video on youtube.

[offduty]

I have not tried the Alberto knot yet but it is similar to the Albright and if you google Alberto knot you can find the link. I'd post it for ya if I knew how but heck I just figured out postin pic's.

Rich

[Robert F]

You guys crack me up with your knots.....Try the blah blah knot ....or listen to Marty. I have been using the swivel for years. They do not fail and they are so small they do not affect the action of the bait .

[BIG DADDY BLUE RANGER]

it took me a long time to get over that fear of an extra knot, but I forced myself to try it this year and now all my rods (except my big swimmer rods) are set up braid to flouro. On a spinning rod I followed Robert F's advice and use the 30# power swivel tied with palomars all the way around, seems to help out with twists... On bait casters I use a version of the Albright,, there's so many I dont know if it's considered the improved Albright, the Alberto, or whatever..... anyway I use 5-6 wraps up and another 5-6 wraps back down and have yet to break at the joined knot !!!!!! Well except for a very few poorly tied knots while I was learning that slipped bcus I failed to bring the tag end of braid back thru the flouro loop opposite the way I entered(DOH!). The ultimate test for me was snaggin jigs in the rocks and giving a few experimental hard hooksets just to test the strength. Every single time when I had to break off it was always at the jig knot, never the leader. Plus its very small and slips right thru the guides without any issue as long as the flouro tag is trimmed short. I leave the braid tag about 1/4" and burn it w a lighter. I use the uni-uni splicing backing on the spool just bcus its a little easier to tie but have absolute faith in the Albright for my leaders. I found using the cleat on my boat to hold the loop of the flouro in place while I tie seems to work well for me...goood luck

[markguyver]

Thanks for the insite everyone, i will be playing with all the knots mentioned. Marty i already went and bought the swivels so i will have those ready as well. i think the more knots i learn the better i will be. THX again for the imput. mark

[Ross England]

Hey Mark. Let me preface my comments that there are much better and experienced anglers than me with various opinions on your braid and leader question. I have been using the uni to uni connection for about 7 years now. All of my spinning rods have ten pound braid and I vary the leaders from 6 pound to 12 pound fluoro. The only times that I have experienced breaks is when I test the completed knot before tying on the rest of the terminal tackle and when a client tightens the drag from where I have set it. Of those two scenarios, the tightened drag creates the bulk of the failures. That is one adjustment that most don't explain in switching from mono and to a lesser extent fluoro, to braid is that you need a little give somewhere in the set up. I am sure that there are better methods but I am kinda simple minded from the perspective that if it works for me, no sense changing.

Presentations that I use this set up for include senkos, flukes, drop shot, split shot, c rigs, shakey heads, and small rip baits. The swivel is a great solution for quite a few guys. I just don't care for it because of how it sinks a slack line. Stick with it and keep on experimenting because once you gain a comfort level with the set up, you won't look back.

[Jeff C.]

If you use a swivel, how long of a leader do you use? The one time I tried a swivel on my dropshot rod, it got hung up in the guides when I tried to cast. Was I using too big of a swivel or do you use such a short leader that the swivel doesn't reach the guides?

[elfish16]

when I am connecting braid to floro or mono I use the Seagaur Knot. this thing is very very strong! I use it from fresh water to salt water and it doesn't fail. if its going to fail its when you tie it... burning the knot or such. If you tie this and it doesn't break upon finishing the knot you are GOLDEN!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.seaguar.com/seaguar-communit ... r-knot.htm

Eric

[Robert F]

If you use a swivel, how long of a leader do you use? The one time I tried a swivel on my dropshot rod, it got hung up in the guides when I tried to cast. Was I using too big of a swivel or do you use such a short leader that the swivel doesn't reach the guides?

Jeff,
I use a 3 to 4 foot leader. It can stay outside the tip. That short of a leader is not a problem. The swivel is so small I have not seen it affect the bite ratio or change the action of the bait. It also sinks, falls or floats just like the line. Remember we are talking about a specific product. The Spro 35 pound test swivel. It is REALLY tiny.

The other thing to keep in mind, tie the swivel to your leader then to the braid main line. You can not tie a palomar to the leader with the swivel attached to the braid. I have never had a failure using the two palomars but many say the Palomar is not a good knot. I use it because I am used to it and can tie two palomars quicker than any fancy connection knot. Everything I tie is a palomar which means I get very proficient at tying one knot. Kind of a practice makes perfect idealism to it.

[Marty]

How To Tie: The Braided Top Knot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RJZO0y0 ... =topvideos

[Jeff C.]

Thanks Marty. I'll look into those swivels.

How To Tie: The Braided Top Knot
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-RJZO0y0 ... =topvideos

Ah... great video... now I get it.

[619]

Allbright goes through the guides and is very strong. This months article of Bass Times shows you what some of the top pro's use. Aaron Martins uses the allbright. Good read.

I have been useing the Allbright and have been catching huge stripers with no problem. I was having issues on the hook set when I first starting useing Braid to Flouro and it was my problem. I was setting the hook the same way as with strait flouro. Problem was there is no no stretch on the braid and the knot is the weakest link and would break. I changed my Rods action and set the hook the same but don't break off.

Hey Robert you can Tie the Palomar with the swivel tied to your leader. Just need to take the whole leader through your loop. At least I do that on my Carolina rigs sometimes if I need to. (Maybee not still the Palomar but it works) In the article in Bass Times most pro's advise not to use Palomar with Flouro though.

[Fish Trap]

Albright hands down. 99% of the time the knot at the hook will break when using this knot if you learn how to tie it properly. Here is the link http://www.netknots.com/html/albright_special.html . I have been tying this knot with all kinds of braided line for Tuna, all the way down to trout. You just have to play with the amount of wraps with the braid over the mono. Smaller braid, more wraps. No reason to use a swivel as it is nice to put on a leader long enough to retie a few times. I switched all my spinning gear over to 10# braid and 6 to 10# flouro leaders. No twists, no wraps on the reel, completely unreal how good you can feel the fish at 50' deep on a dropshot etc. Playing with 15# braid on the baitcasters for bass although all my heavier rods have braid. Mono is a thing of the past now for me and only used for leaders.
http://www.netknots.com/html/albright_special.html

[PapaJohn454]

Tried braid on a baitcaster. One backlash and that was it.
Could not undo the mess even with the "crank against the thumb"
trick. Had to cut it all off and go back to Flouro.

I too have gone to braid on all my spinning reels and have never looked
back. No twists, super-sensitive, and can cast a mile.

[Bassin]

Ross England,

What do you have as the backing to the 10 lb braid you have on the spinning reels? Or is it all 10 lb braid?

Thanks,
Bryan Vogt

[kopper_bass]

Guys,
If you're going to be at the ISE Sacramento Show next week, come swing by the Pure Fishing/ Berkley Booth.
I'll be there again this year with my knot machine and we'll be demonstating and testing all these knots. it's a lot of fun and quite eye-opening sometimes to see that your "favorite" knot that "never" breaks, does so quite easily when tested under load. it's also a great time to learn and experiment.

We'll also be having our KNOT WARS again this year. The winner from each day's event gets a prize package from Pure Fishing with lots of great stuff. Every day we have a different pound test war.

Stop by and check us out. Come say hi too.

Kopper

[Tin Can]

Tried braid on a baitcaster. One backlash and that was it.
Could not undo the mess even with the "crank against the thumb"
trick. Had to cut it all off and go back to Flouro.

I too have gone to braid on all my spinning reels and have never looked
back. No twists, super-sensitive, and can cast a mile.

Hey John, are you using a leader or just straight braid?

[JustinD]

Thats what I do also Can........braid to leader via a swivel. One my one spinning reel.

[Tin Can]

I fish clear water though, and I make long casts. I can't have 4 feet of line hanging off the tip and expect to cast very far. I would rather fish straight braid, but haven't because I can't stop thinking that the fish can see the line and probably don't like it much.

[Ross England]

Hey Bassn,

I just use some cheap, bulk 10 lb mono as the backing on all of my spinning reels. I am just guessing as I buy the big spools of Power Pro but I probably load about 75 yards of the 10 lb braid on a spinner.

Ross