Wednesday, September 17, 2014
The Fluorocarbon-Braid Connection
For us Bass Anglers it has been a long hot summer. Most of us were on the water before the sun came up every morning just so we could enjoy a few hours during the day where the sun wasn’t blazing down on us. With days like that the fish usually go deep and can become sluggish. For us out here on the Colorado River Lakes we’ve had to employ mostly finesse fishing tactics and rigs in order to put fish in the boat. Rigs like the drop shot and tube jig.
Finesse fishing requires an extreme degree of sensitivity because most fish don’t hit these baits hard like they would a crankbait, spinnerbait or even a topwater. They simply put the bait in their mouth. By using braided line with a fluorocarbon leader both the drop shot and tube jig you not only have the sensitivity that braid gives but you get the near invisibility under water that fluorocarbon provides. You’re winning on both fronts!
But most anglers are very weary when it comes to tying line directly to line. I’ve even heard of one pro being “sketched” out by it. Well this really isn’t as big of a deal as some anglers make it. I use one knot for my Braid-Fluorocarbon connection and it has suited me well to this day. That knot is the double uni knot.
As you can see from the illustration above, it is a very simple knot to tie. In fact I’m sure it was a third grader who not only tied the knot above but then illustrated it so his Mom could put it on the door of the family refrigerator.
Here is some advice on this knot: Trust it. It’s going to hold because it like most knots we tie is what is called a self-cinching knot. As a fish pulls against you, the knot only gets tighter. When you perform the wraps on the knot be sure to wrap six to eight times erring on the side of more wraps. I’ve only had the knot break once all summer and that was because I wrapped both types of line only 5 times a piece because I was in a hurry to get back to fishing after I lost my hook and weight on drop shot rig to an underwater brush pile that was holding Smallmouth.
That brings be to my final piece of advice on this knot. Don’t get in a hurry while tying it. Dress it up pretty before pulling it tight or the line will cross itself and break itself, which is most likely what happened in the above story.
This combination provides a serious amount of feel to the angler and you can enjoy knot strength of 85% to 100% if tied correctly. As always thanks for stopping by and reading and remember while fishing our beautiful gin-clear lakes practice CPR. Catch, Photograph and Release.
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