FG knot is giving me problems

[TxHawgs]

I have only tied the knot a cpl times and love it. However it was with heavier fluro as my leader. Now I'm trying to tie 12lb. co-poly and it's not working out. Could it be the leader material is too soft and that's why I'm having a hard time tying it?

[Darren.]

5 minutes ago, TxHawgs said:

I have only tied the knot a cpl times and love it. However it was with heavier fluro as my leader. Now I'm trying to tie 12lb. co-poly and it's not working out. Could it be the leader material is too soft and that's why I'm having a hard time tying it?

This is the key, I believe. Thicker line works better,
provides more surface area for this knot to bite into.

I just don't see this knot as viable (FOR ME). As I 
have stated before, I've actually been tying the 
uni-to-uni more lately as it is a more compact 
knot and passes thru the micro guides on my LT
rod better than even an Albright/Alberto.

[racedad]

It very well could be the problem. I use 50 lb braid and 15 lb fluro leader with no issues. Have read there are some line combinations that this knot will fail.

[TxHawgs]

Maybe I just needed more practice. But I have tied them recently and they came out real nice and small and held great. Just tied fx2 50lb to 12lb and 30lb to 8lb, they came out pretty good, but not perfect. They will hold but could of been a little nicer. I don't tie thus knot in the boat yet, I tie the uni to uni but it's a little bigger and doesn't go through the guides quite as good.

[TxHawgs]

That's my 50lb to 16lb FG knot.

[racedad]

20 minutes ago, TxHawgs said:

That's my 50lb to 16lb FG knot.

Good looking knot. Don't see anything wrong with that. On mine when I re-tie at home I put a dab of super glue on the half hitch end after cutting the tags. If I have to tie while fishing it doesn't get the glue. Haven't noticed any difference with or without.

[rippin-lips]

I always hear so much about the fg knot being small and so on. I use the Albright special and looking at his pic the fg isn't that small when compared to it.  

 

*final trim wasn't done yet

[Mastermarsh]

Having just switched from using the uni-uni knot to the FG I have figured a couple things out over the many hours I spent perfecting it.  Its much easier to tie using a heavier flouro leader like 15 and 12 pound as the braid tends to lay better and bite in easier. You also don't need to use quite as many wraps, I have found that around 16-18 to be ideal. But it's a headache trying to tie an 8 pound leader using the FG knot, and the alberto is relatively the same size when finished and passes through guides just as well. 

[I.rar]

Eh. 

Albright for leader and Palomar for single hooks for me. KISS 

I still need to work on loop knots if I ever decide to put time to treble baits. 

20lb power pro to 6lb cxx will pass through the micros on my avid x without issue. 

[MassYak85]

I use 12lb all the time and I have no issues. However that's with 30lb braid. The higher diameter braid might have more of an issues biting into the leader. 

It's a great knot once you get it down. Used Uni-Uni for years and will never go back .

[MickD]

The uni is NOT more compact than the FG.  It's a very good knot, quite easy to reliably tie, but just count the number of layers of the leader and compare it to ONE for the FG.

As stated before in this string, the lighter the leader (and the braid)  the harder it is to tie a good FG. But if the leader is that light, then the double uni will work very well with most guides.  The real utility in the FG is with leaders of at least 15 pounds, preferably 20.  

I use the "weave the braid over/under the tag end of the leader, and with this method, it is very important to snug up the braid weaves after each 4, for a total of 12.  That snugging up process is key and troublesome at first.  I don't do it, but I have read that some scrape braid with a fingernail to remove any coating.  The braid I've used so far doesn't seem to have a coating.

If you take apart a well-tied FG you will find that the leader has been deformed by the braid thus giving a mechanical lock.  If you put too many weaves of the braid on you may not get this deformation of the leader and the knot may not be reliable.  The lessons I got on it recommend three sets of 4 weaves for a total of 12, each set snugged up very tightly before going on to the next set.

[desmobob]

I love the FG knot but lots of people have problems with it.  I used to use a Uni-to-Uni, then went to the Albright, then to the FG.  I still tie the Albright if I'm on the water.  I think any of these knots get the job done, and using the one you find easiest to tie or have the most confidence in is the way to go.  

I wonder if some folks' troubles with the FG knot are related to the type of braid or leader used?  I use regular old Power Pro and Seaguar AbrazX and the combo works well with that knot.

As for which knot is smallest, the FG knot is the thinnest and is half the diameter of an Albright or Uni-to-Uni.

Tight lines,

Bob

[racedad]

5 hours ago, desmobob said:

I use regular old Power Pro and Seaguar AbrazX and the combo works well with that knot.

 

As for which knot is smallest, the FG knot is the thinnest and is half the diameter of an Albright or Uni-to-Uni.

Tight lines,

Bob

Agree 100%

[livin2fish]

Much improved in the tying of the FG, but have intermittent failures.  Actually fun tying using the hand weave and foot method.  Tying 8 lb or 6 lb fluor leaders to 12 lb Nanofil on spinning reels.  Leader materials 8 lb Izorline copolymer mono and 8 or 6 lb Segaur Red Label fluor.  Haven't documented which leader material is having the most failures, but one is too many if there is a nice fish or an expensive lure on.  My question is, does the FG knot hold equally for fluor and mono with same test leader material?

[Evan K]

The only failures I've had with the FG knot are when I haven't retied for a long while. If it's important to retie lures it's probably about as important to keep the leader knot up to date as well.

I like the Albright quite well too but I can do an FG a lot faster and easier.

[racedad]

16 minutes ago, Evan K said: If it's important to retie lures it's probably about as important to keep the leader knot up to date as well.

I inspect and re-tie as often as needed. 

[Dan_the_fisher]

I do more wraps on smaller line and it works out fine, from 30# braid to 10# sunline sniper I do 35 wraps and it's strong 

[Fisher-O-men]

I've mentioned it before but worth mentioning again if it saves somebody a big fish.  Anybody that has fished on ocean party boats knows that braid cuts mono almost like a hot knife through butter.  It is that same property of braid that makes the uni/uni connection less than perfect.  I popped off several fish on the hook set before I figured it out.  Any wrap knot is better, and worth learning.

[Darren.]

16 hours ago, MickD said:

The uni is NOT more compact than the FG.  It's a very good knot, quite easy to reliably tie, but just count the number of layers of the leader and compare it to ONE for the FG.

Actually, if you define compact by width, no,
the Uni is not more compact.

But by length it is. With 10# and 15# PowerPro
plus 6-10# leaders, the Uni-to Uni is plenty
small and compact.

Just use what works best for you and don't
worry about it!

[aquaholik]

50 LBS Braid to 12 fluro or mono is tough with FG knot. Not enough difference in the diameter for the FG knot to grab and bite down on the mono since 50lbs braid is about the same diameter as 12 lb mono. General rule for FG knot is that braid diameter has to be smaller than the fluro or mono leader.

12 lbs Nanofil to 8lb mono/fluoro leader is even tougher since Nanofil is so slick.

Big question if why choose 50 lbs braid to 12 fluro and not 20 or 30 lbs braid to 12 fluro? The weak link in this case is the 12 lb fluro so you can't horse a fish out of cover even with 50lb braid if your weak link, the leader is 12lb test.

8lbs Nanofil to 8lb fluro leader and the FG knot will never break at the connection. The 8lb fluro leader will break first at the terminal connection unless that 8lb fluro has a greater knot strength than 12 lbs.

[OkobojiEagle]

K.I.S.S

 

oe

[MassYak85]

5 hours ago, Dan_the_fisher said:

I do more wraps on smaller line and it works out fine, from 30# braid to 10# sunline sniper I do 35 wraps and it's strong 

This is important too. I usually do about 20-25 when using a 30# braid to 12# fluoro leader. Plus about 10 overhand knots to finish it. So around 30-35 wraps in all. 

 

2 hours ago, Darren. said:

Actually, if you define compact by width, no,
the Uni is not more compact.

But by length it is. With 10# and 15# PowerPro
plus 6-10# leaders, the Uni-to Uni is plenty
small and compact.

Just use what works best for you and don't
worry about it!

Exactly. The FG knot is the thinnest, but also probably the longest leader knot. But I don't think the length of the knot is ever going to cause issues whereas the width of the knot might. Especially if you are having the knot go through small guides or even through the line guide into the reel. 

[TxHawgs]

4 hours ago, aquaholik said:

50 LBS Braid to 12 fluro or mono is tough with FG knot. Not enough difference in the diameter for the FG knot to grab and bite down on the mono since 50lbs braid is about the same diameter as 12 lb mono. General rule for FG knot is that braid diameter has to be smaller than the fluro or mono leader.

12 lbs Nanofil to 8lb mono/fluoro leader is even tougher since Nanofil is so slick.

Big question if why choose 50 lbs braid to 12 fluro and not 20 or 30 lbs braid to 12 fluro? The weak link in this case is the 12 lb fluro so you can't horse a fish out of cover even with 50lb braid if your weak link, the leader is 12lb test.

8lbs Nanofil to 8lb fluro leader and the FG knot will never break at the connection. The 8lb fluro leader will break first at the terminal connection unless that 8lb fluro has a greater knot strength than 12 lbs.

I like the heavier braid in the wind. A lot of guys don't like fishing braid because the wind will cause a lot of bows in the line esp on the water. I don't have that problem. I did put high viz yellow on some reels this yr. And although I love being able to see my line well esp were the leader and fluro meet. It still brings my confidence down when fishing them. Fish are very pressured and line shy where I fish.

On Sunday, May 22, 2016 at 4:41 PM, racedad said:

Good looking knot. Don't see anything wrong with that. On mine when I re-tie at home I put a dab of super glue on the half hitch end after cutting the tags. If I have to tie while fishing it doesn't get the glue. Haven't noticed any difference with or without.

That has glue on it also.

[MickD]

18 hours ago, Darren. said:

Actually, if you define compact by width, no,
the Uni is not more compact.

But by length it is. With 10# and 15# PowerPro
plus 6-10# leaders, the Uni-to Uni is plenty
small and compact.

Just use what works best for you and don't
worry about it!

The issue with getting through guides has little to do with length, much to do with "width."  The uni will not go through guides as well as the FG, no matter how you define the issue or the knot dimensions.  But, since the issue is the tying of the FG with lighter lines, those lighter lines with the uni just may go through the guides fine.  So use it when the FG is tough to tie and the uni works fine.  We are in agreement on using the uni with light lines/leaders.  

 

[Paul Roberts]

On 5/22/2016 at 1:13 PM, TxHawgs said:

I have only tied the knot a cpl times and love it. However it was with heavier fluro as my leader. Now I'm trying to tie 12lb. co-poly and it's not working out. Could it be the leader material is too soft and that's why I'm having a hard time tying it?

I'm going to guess that you are simply not keeping enough tension on the leader as you make your wraps.