EASIEST Braid to Fluoro Knot ever!

[Cranks4fun]

First, let me say that I am praying for those facing Hurricane Irma in the south Atlantic. Now to the knot: I have been thinking about trying this knot for a while. I actually learned a similar application while perch fishing on the great lakes with a friend years ago. I just tried it and it seems to work great! I have been experimenting with casting it through spinning gear in the back yard and pulling the knot very hard with both hands and it casts and holds up very well. I will include a picture or two below. You simply take your fluoro leader and double the end over like you are tying a palomar knot. Instead, tie a simple overhand loop knot, making the loop very small (anywhere from 1/2' to 1/8"). Then tie your braid to the loop with a palomar knot and cut the tags off very short. After all of the uni knots, FG knots, Alberto knots, etc. that we have learned on Youtube, it seems that this one works just as well. I have not done comparison tests with competing knots lifting weights yet, but it seems strong pulling it by hand. I am going to keep experimenting, but just like discovering the simplicity of the palomar knot, I feel like this thing is going to work, even if it holds to just 85% of the fluoro strength (10 lb. test) it will be fine for my applications. The knot casts through the smallest eyelet of my 7 ft. Berkley Lightining Shock rod with very little observable resistance, just a slight tick sound occasionally if you listen very hard. 

  There are at least two advantages to a knot like this: 1) When having to retie a new leader onto your braid while out on the boat in the wind, rain, burning sun, etc., and 2) to pre-tie a series of leaders (for back-ups or to vary leader thickness or length) and have them ready to simply tie on with a palomar. Maybe this is not new to you guys but I have never read about anyone doing this. There may be some downsides on the water that I haven't yet considered but I am ready to try it fishing this Saturday. Let me know if you have tried this.

 

[A-Jay]

Definitely seems simple as compared to some of the many leader / mainline connection knot options available today.

And not to be a big downer but any type of over hand deal made in nylon line makes me nervous (insert I've had some failure with them in the past).

Additionally, tying braid directly to ( in this case 'around' a single strand nylon loop) has been somewhat problematic as well.

Does 'OK' in the bigger tests of both nylon & braid, but once the sizes start to shrink down to under 8-10 lb test nylon & 10 or 15 lb test braid, so does connections strength and reliability. 

YMMV ~ I'd advise - fish with caution

May be better off going with a loop to loop deal - been doing that in the fly fishing venue forever. 

A-Jay

[Cranks4fun]

A-Jay, Yeah it sounds too good and too simple to be true. I will test it some more and modify it if there are unforeseen issues. If it does work like it seems to so far though, this will be a HUGE time saver. If not, back to the blood knot, the uni knot, and the it-is-easier-to-turn-back-flips-while-drinking-coffee-than-to-tie-these-on-a-boat knots! Haha!Thanks for the insight!

  

[Further North]

Interesting idea, I'll be curious what your testing shows.

[NHBull]

While it sounds interesting, I don't see the upside.

The alberto and uni/uni takes less than a minute and is proven to work great.  I look forward to seeing your feedback.

[Cranks4fun]

I can tie the knot I just described in the dark. I cannot do that with the alberto knot or the uni knot. Even the video instructors warn that you have practice those knots for a while. The knot I tied above is much, much easier to ME, but I know everyone is a little different. Maybe you have the knots down after years of practice, but not me. I used to never use leaders with braid but rather I'd go straight fluoro with one knot (line to lure) and still do quite often. In fact, I actually usually go straight braid when using braid (no leader) because of the headache of connecting the leaders out on a boat. Regardless, if this works well, it will be easier for me anyway. Thanks for your sharing your insight

[WRB]

When you test knot strength apply the load quickly about 10 lbs per second to simulate hook sets and controlling fish. Applying load evenly and slowly at 1 lb per second yields strong knot strength results that are meaningless to fishing applications.

This knot looks problematic is 2 areas, overhand knot strength and braid cutting the single strand of FC, mono/Copoly line. Give it a try.

Tom

[Turkey sandwich]

My concerns with this are the same as above.  I generally use a uni to uni for most applications, and have gotten it to the point where I can tie it well in under a minute.  Another very simple option that takes less practice, though I don't typically use it with braid, is a surgeon's knot.  It's very fast to tie, very simple to tie, and most of it can be done with your eyes closed.  2-4 wraps is pretty common for mono, FC, or copolymer, though I've seen it wrapped 6-8 times with braid.  

[MassYak85]

It might work for a little but tying braid to a loop like that will kink, and consequently weaken and cut straight through the fluoro and most likely fail easily after some use. For simplicity the double uni is pretty easy I would stick with that if you don't want to tie the alberto, FG or any of the others. 

[Cranks4fun]

I have used the double uni and others and they work well but they always seemed time-consuming to tie in the boat. I just went back a looked at the video on the 6-turn "surgeon's knot" that Turkey sandwich mentioned. I have heard of that many times but never tried that one. It looks very easy. I am going try that.

   The reason for all this renewed interest in these braid-flouro-leader set ups is that we have started doing mini tournaments and we often use huge (10-20 acre) weedy ponds with big open areas along the weed edges. My buddy schooled us last week (first time in 4 trips- Ha!), but he's talkin' trash now so I need a BIG home run win next outing. He Never fishes the drop shot and teases me about it being a sissy, trendy, nerd style of fishing. So, I need a "power drop shot" set-up to clean up along the thick weed edges. I wanna make him cry! I really appreciate all of the tips and feedback. I can smell victory already! Haha!

[Bruce424]

Same type of deal I used as a kid with them snelled "j" hooks with the looped leader. My dad had me do an overhand knot with my line. Then with a poetic rhythm say "loop through the hook loop then hook through the tied loop!" First fishing "knot" I learned. Worked great fpr sunnies and catfish.

[Cranks4fun]

Bruce424, Yeah, I know what you are talking about. I've tied those while saltwater fishing. I grew up on the lower Chesapeake Bay and we used those snelled looped leaders on saltwater bottom rigs. We bought two-hook, pre-manufactured bottom rigs and then usually bought the snelled hooks (hooks on factory-pre-tied leaders) and looped them onto the bottom rigs. A big *** oz. weight was then snapped onto the bottom clip. I think most inshore saltwater fishermen are familiar this rig. You could save money by tying your own in the way you described above. Some crappie and perch fishermen use similar 2-hook bottom rigs too. They were the original "drop shot" rigs but they had two hooks. They have been around for decades.