Best knot for tying braided fishing line?

[Mike]

Im looking for a strong secure knot to use with braided line such as spectra. I would also like to hear what you guys use in monofilimant too. So far all the research I have done says the polamar knot is the strongest for both types of fishing line.

[Fairlead]

Mike,
Can you expand this a bit - bend, loop, hitch, knot - what do you want to do with the line?

Gordon

[Mike]

just tying it to a hook or lure.

[roo]

just tying it to a hook or lure.

The Palomar is easy to tie and remember.  I also like the Uni-Knot.  My favorite link for it seems to be dead, so try this:

http://www.in-fisherman.com/magazine/guides/cg2003Sp_Uniknot/

[DerekSmith]

The Palomar leaves a lot of forces changing direction sharply at the eye - never a good sign of strength even with a meaty Spectra line.

Try the elegant, yet easy to tie Plaited Double which gives a gradual transfer from single line to double line and a clean loop around the eye.  With a little practice it only takes a few seconds to form and holds well even with slimy Spectra.

http://www.thaifishingguide.com/fishtechequip/techniques/knots/plaiting_a_double_steps.html

[Dan_Lehman]

Palomar, Uni, Plaited, Bimini Twist ... .

Here's another perspective on mysterious angling knots;
www.fishingkites.co.nz/fishingknots/index_fishing_knots.html

Presentations of angling knots have the frustrating characteristic of
seldom giving a good image of the completed, set knot.  The Plaited
one cited by Derek is an exception, and the Uni is a paradigm.  I
think that in most cases the Uni knot is expected to be what one
might call a multi-Overhand or Strangle--i.e., that all those easily
put on turns around end & SPart will be drawn into overwraps upon
setting the knot by pulling on the free/tag end.  But this usually isn't
made clear, and it didn't happen completely that way in some 0.8mm
nylon monofilament line I just played with (rather stiff & intractable).
In fact, there seem to be several angling knots that ultimately have
this same form.  On that Vic Dunaway WWWeb page, the image of
the snell to the hook at the top shows the structure that is the last
obvious/clear one before the tightening step (for other applications
of the Uni), where the loaded line passes through wraps to arc
outside of them all the way around.

Geoff Wilson gives a "Triple Palomar" for HMPE line wherre one
intially takes 3 turns around the hook eye before continuing.
Many images of this knot show the bight-end of it left around
the hook shank, though some instructions require that one move
it off of the shank and around the knot body; Budworth takes the
novel presentation of showing it moved all the way up to collar
the SPart!?  As for it having sharp turns, hmmm, maybe the finely
braided line does some significant flattening over the metal, and
so with its slickness transmits force into the knot that causes it to
fail elsewhere.  (Wilson gives 72% as a strength.)

There was a recent article in an angling magazine presenting
one fellow's testing that showed a 12-turn Bimini (IIRC, else 20-)
to be optimal, more turns (20/40/60) being weaker; this met with
some surprise and skepticism on one forum, but ... .

--dl*
====

[Mike]

there also seems to be some confusion between the uni knot and the grinner knot. Some show them as the same knot, others show the grinner to be alot different than the uni

[Funambulist]

Different lines will have a great variation in breaking load when knotted with the same knots - I have heard of the Bimini Twist being the knot of choice for Marlin fishing:

http://www.leadertec.com/tipsandtechniques/fishing_knots/knots_Bimini.html

What I would suggest though is that you try a range of knots using a spring balance and make direct comparisons between different lines and knots and see which fail first. Alternatively you could tie different nkots at each end of a length of line and see which breaks first - remember that wetting the knot before drawing it tight will significantly increase it's strength!

Tight lines!

[Mike]

thanks guys.  After further research on several fishing forums, it seems the polomar knot is the knot of choice for tying to hook or tackle. And for tying braid line to monofilimant line,  tye a bimini twist in the braid and then connect it to the mono using a "Reverse Albright" aka. yucatan knot or worm knot. I tried it and it seems to be very strong.

[Dan_Lehman]

thanks guys.  After further research on several fishing forums, it seems the p[a]lomar knot is the knot of choice for tying to hook or tackle. And for tying braid line to monofilimant line,  tye a bimini twist in the braid and then connect it to the mono using a "Reverse Albright" aka. yucatan knot or worm knot. I tried it and it seems to be very strong.

And here is another case where "Yucatan"/"Rev. Albright" appear to in fact be just
the Albright (which itself comes with a variety of finishes), but with a different tying
method, and expecting some transfer of coils from one part into another--i.p., from
the one line's standing part to that line's overwrapping (by transfer) end.

there also seems to be some confusion between the uni knot and the grinner knot.
Some show them as the same knot, others show the grinner to be alot different than the uni

I'm not sure how "a lot different" they get, beyond all seeming to show the end making many
wraps of two standing parts and beneath an arc it forms, and then transformation is maybe
supposed (not always specified) to occur on particular tightening, where all of these turns
are transferred into the overwrap--which matches most of the images presented of the tied knot.
Again, the bothersome issue w/angling-knots presentations is that details of the exact geometry
intended (if in fact the author actually knows this--and many surely don't!) are not clearly specified,
verbally or graphically.

I confess to being baffled by the Palomar, which is by the most common description for tying
simply a secured Half-hitch in doubled line (but loaded on one--or the other(!)--end).  For
one, there is as with other knots tied by doubled line (such as the Fig.8/Overhand bends
and loopknots) the question of which end to load (which is manifest in how the knot gets
dressed, and in fiddly stuff like fish line, seems a trick to both discern & control).  Why should
such a simple structure be so strong?

--dl*
====

[Aftely]

Hi folks! I got some braid line and some flourocarbon line. How much fouro do I use on the spoon before I can tie on and wind up braid?

[Sweeney]

Hi folks! I got some braid line and some flourocarbon line. How much fouro do I use on the spoon before I can tie on and wind up braid?

it might help if you were to expand this a bit - exactly what are you trying to do?

Barry

[knot4u]

The Berkley Braid knot was invented specifically for braid, but it also works in monofilament and fluorocarbon.
http://www.netknots.com/fishing_knots/berkley-braid-knot

Fish-N-Fool works too:
http://www.netknots.com/fishing_knots/fish-n-fool-knot/