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FG knot, or not?


SuperHans

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Hi guys,

I have been away from fishing for a long time and am trying to catch up on some of the changes that have occurred.

I now love braid and I gather that fluorocarbon leaders are needed as an invisible attachment to the bait.

Which raises some [silly?] questions.

1. Why a fluorocarbon leader/trace rather than a cheaper mono one?

and

2. Why bother with a fiddly FG knot instead of just joining a braid main line to the trace via a swivel? I mean there IS a swivel somewhere in most rigs isn't there? 

 

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2 hours ago, SuperHans said:

Hi guys,

I have been away from fishing for a long time and am trying to catch up on some of the changes that have occurred.

I now love braid and I gather that fluorocarbon leaders are needed as an invisible attachment to the bait.

Which raises some [silly?] questions.

1. Why a fluorocarbon leader/trace rather than a cheaper mono one?

and

2. Why bother with a fiddly FG knot instead of just joining a braid main line to the trace via a swivel? I mean there IS a swivel somewhere in most rigs isn't there? 

 

Question 1

Fluoro carbon is a great leader for using certain lures such as vibes or plastics or if your after a leader shy fish on bait 

But fluorocarbon leader isn't always the best choice for example if your using surface lures or hardbodies lures your better of going with a mono leader because it floats and fluorocarbon sinks that's why fluorocarbons generally a better choice for soft plastics also fluorocarbon has less stretch then mono under load . Also most monos are very abrasion resistant compared to fluorocarbon I use both FC and mono leaders depending on the fish species and lures used .a few decent quality monos I recommend for leaders . Daiwa j thread platypus and Shimano exage are great cheap mono leaders to use which are just thin and as strong FC leaders. The FC leaders I recommend are FC rock and ASSO if you can get your hands on it. There is no one which is better then the other FC leaders and mono leaders both have their time and place

Question 2 

1 it hides the colourfully braid from fish 

2 the less knots in your rig the stronger it is

3 it makes lures swim straighter 

4 if done right FG knots are super strong no fus and far casting knots 

5 braid isn't as abrasion resistant as mono or FC for same breaking strain so your more protected against get busted off

. Hope that helps 

 

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1 hour ago, Tuna are fish said:

A lot of people use swivels in their rigs, but having a longer leader i great for when a fish runs to a reef or when a mackerel or a fish with sharp teeth gets it it could clip the braid breaking it.

Yep just like tuna are fish said that's why I use a tied on leader even using a bait rig . I do use swivels when im using big baits or livebaits meant for sharks jew or anything big but I always have a tied on leader . I have my mainline going down to a FG or improved Alberto going to a rod length and a half of mono leader going down to a big sinker then going down to a bead and swivel I then attach 40-50cm of 70lb mono or wire trace going down to big mustad hook .This is because where im fishing there is a lot of big rocks oyster beds and weed. If just tied my braid to the swivel I risk getting something big taking me through the rocks and wearing my braid out . But if have roughly 3 metres of mono leader and plus the heavy short leader towards the end of my rig I have a much higher chance of landing the fish if it takes me through the rocks or weed beds which isn't to uncommon.

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5 hours ago, Tuna are fish said:

A lot of people use swivels in their rigs, but having a longer leader i great for when a fish runs to a reef or when a mackerel or a fish with sharp teeth gets it it could clip the braid breaking it.

Cant you just have a long leader joined to the mainline by a swivel?  They reduce line twist and seem to be the logical connection between mainline and trace. Are you saying that you join braid to trace and dont have a swivel in the rig, or you join mainline to trace with an FFG knot AND have a swivel in the rig somewhere [which would be an extra weak point in the rig] 

Soz, still a bit confused

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2 hours ago, SuperHans said:

Cant you just have a long leader joined to the mainline by a swivel?  They reduce line twist and seem to be the logical connection between mainline and trace. Are you saying that you join braid to trace and dont have a swivel in the rig, or you join mainline to trace with an FFG knot AND have a swivel in the rig somewhere [which would be an extra weak point in the rig] 

Soz, still a bit confused

Hey Superhans

Here is how I think.

When lure fishing, you want a knot like the FG so it hinders the action of the lure least. Fluorocarbon is good for abrasion resistance, and it is very hard to see in the water. I have caught fish on mono, fluorocarbon, and braid - fluorocarbon and mono don't have too many differences, in my opinion, when lure fishing. If you are into lure fishing I'd recommend learning at least one leader knot.

Bait fishing is a bit more simple. You could definitely just connect a longer trace via a swivel. This is often what you want so your bait can flutter around in the current. 

So really, you can do either - it comes down to choice!

Cheers Hamish

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14 hours ago, ellicat said:

The reason you use a FG knot (or any other knot) is so you can wind the leader through the runners and still cast - something you can't do with a swivel on.

Typically you would have your braid tied to a FC/Mono leader (of about a 1.5 rod lengths), then a swivel then your trace. This way you have abrasion resistance, that braid fails miserably at, for a couple of metres.

Hi Ellicat,

I wrongly thought a 'leader' and 'trace' were the same thing-this clears that up

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Also, when I'm bait fishing I just use a modified albright rather than FG because the FG is such a low profile that the sinker will go over the FG and not go back down to the swivel after you cast. Also, I can tie an albright in about twenty seconds, while an FG takes me about 3 or 4 minutes. Important when you're rigging up quickly after a bust off and getting bait back in the water as quickly as possible. But FG is great for chucking lures as it goes through the runners very easily.

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