I have a few minutes at work and the warmer temps have me thinking of fishing. I don't do a whole lot of clear water fishing. I was thinking of using an FG knot to attach an 8 foot fluorocarbon leader to my 8lb PowerPro, or doing the same for my 8lb Trilene. For those of you in the know, would you use the FG knot or to help with line twist use a small barrel swivel attached to each respective line? Presentation probably matters more in clear water situations than stained.

I use a knot. Then I can make my leader 6' long. I don't replace it until it gets under 3'. I only use swivels on spoons and spinners. In that case I put the swivel at the lure. I figure if a fish is about to bite a piece of flashing metal, a black swivel will not be an issue.

I don't think a fluorocarbon leader is needed for clear water. I do like them for abrasion resistance in rocks or when pike are a possibility.

I am thinking of going stealth this summer and getting back to my roots of light line in clear water situations.

I used some straight Fluorocarbon (Seagar Invis X) last summer on Lake St Clair and Isle Royale due to another posters suggestions on this board.........I cant remember the person or I would give a hat tip. I was impressed with the line and will now end up with at least 2 spools, probably 3.

Invis X

I am not sure how other knots fare with the material as all I used was a Gryp Knot tied with a Tie Fast tool.........worked to perfection.

As per using the FG knot to connect braid to light line I am skeptical. Not saying it doesn't work only that I haven't tried it. I am always skeptical about light fluorocarbon leaders attached to braid. There is no stretch and therefore extremely unforgiving. The lightest I went with an FG knot was 20lb suffix 832 to 15lb fluorocarbon while trolling crank baits for walleye in WCPP and that combination worked well. Going much lighter this summer with straight fluorocarbon.

mastertangler: " I used some straight Fluorocarbon (Seagar Invis X) last summer on Lake St Clair and Isle Royale due to another posters suggestions on this board.........I cant remember the person or I would give a hat tip. I was impressed with the line and will now end up with at least 2 spools, probably 3.

I tried straight Fluro once and it seemed to jump off my spool and create all sorts of problems, of course that was about 10 yeas ago and I am sure something has changed.

Rs130754: "I have a few minutes at work and the warmer temps have me thinking of fishing. I don't do a whole lot of clear water fishing. I was thinking of using an FG knot to attach an 8 foot fluorocarbon leader to my 8lb PowerPro, or doing the same for my 8lb Trilene. For those of you in the know, would you use the FG knot or to help with line twist use a small barrel swivel attached to each respective line? Presentation probably matters more in clear water situations than stained."

Am I the only one that stopped at "Warmer temps" and thought "What warmer temps?!?"

Rs130754: "

mastertangler: " I used some straight Fluorocarbon (Seagar Invis X) last summer on Lake St Clair and Isle Royale due to another posters suggestions on this board.........I cant remember the person or I would give a hat tip. I was impressed with the line and will now end up with at least 2 spools, probably 3.

I tried straight Fluro once and it seemed to jump off my spool and create all sorts of problems, of course that was about 10 yeas ago and I am sure something has changed."

Yes, I had tried P-lines Flouroclear some 12 or 15 years ago with disastrous results and that made me gun shy for quite some time. Then there was Berkley Vanish which all but assured your fish would "vanish" when it hit your line (terrible knot strength).

But several of my Pro Bass / guide buddies use Bass Pro shops XPS Fluorocarbon exclusively with good results. I decided to use the Invis X and was definitely impressed. Super pricey to be sure.

As per jumping off your spool..........Fluorocarbon is definitely denser and therefore stiffer material than mono. Sometimes that can hurt your lure action as I found out with jigging spoons offshore with a side by side "fish off". My pal Glenn was using straight 80lb mono leader and I was using 80lb Fluorocarbon and I figured I would smoke him but it was the other way around. I kept thinking about it and finally settled on the Fluorocarbon as being less flexible than mono and therefore impacted the action of the spoon..........but I digress.

That added stiffness needs a little bit bigger spool to come off of. Similar to using Trilene XT........use a small diameter spool and the material has a hard time behaving.

I use a knot or a swivel to connect the leader material to the main line (braid).

I will use a swivel if I use a lure that spins -- a spoon, for example, or even a Jig Rap, which'll swim circles beneath the boat and cause some twisted line.

Re: flouro vs. mono...I don't know how much of a difference it makes up in Canoe Country. Some lakes like Argo or Knife, maybe. Others, probably not so much. I don't think BWCA/Q fish are all that line shy, but I know that's not something everyone agrees on, so it's just my .02.

If you do go for the flouro, I usually find the more expensive stuff to be much better than the cheaper stuff. If you're using it for leader material, the difference per leader is mere pennies, and one spool will last a long, long time.

If your tying leaders to braid use actual leader material. It’s stronger, knots better and is more abrasion resistant. I use seaguar 6, 8, 10 and 12. It has a little stretch which I like. $9 for 25 yards. I can get around 100 fish per leader. I start with 8’ leaders and replace them when they’re 3 feet.

Good luck to anyone using a full spool of fluorocarbon. You will need it.

Alberto knot all the way for joining mono or fluoro leaders to braided mainline. Easiest knot I’ve found to join those types of line and very strong. I find it easier to tie than a uni to uni knot and I feel it is a stronger and smaller knot so I have much more confidence in it. I’ve tried small swivels and short leaders but inevitably I forget at times and run the swivel through the rod tip, which isn’t good for the guides at all.

mastertangler: "I am thinking of going stealth this summer and getting back to my roots of light line in clear water situations.
Going much lighter this summer with straight fluorocarbon. "

MT
Do you mean an entire spool of the Fluoro without any braid?

How is it working so far this year?

Does the kind of reel change the recommendation for the line? I am trying to decide what to put on my spincasters.

I've had good luck tying 10-12 lb floro leader stock to 15 lb power pro. This spring, I lightened up to 8x8 and had knot and line failures. It may be my middle-aged fingers and eyes, but I've never had such misfortune with anything I have ever tied before, and when I switched back (respooled mid-trip) things were good again. I direct tie with an FG or double-uni. I'm in the camp of putting on a 6' leader and replacing when it gets too short, like less than 2'.

I have been experimenting this summer with a fluorocarbon leader on braid with a spinning reel and I have been impressed. I use the double uni knot and have yet to have one fail. After tying the leader on, I crank the knot onto the spool and then crank 7-10 more times. This way I can cast and the knot doesn't go through the guides, and I can fish a long time without retying. I will be using this application in the bwca in August.

Does no one else use a blood knot ? I use it for braid to flouro and mono to flouro.

I do like leaders with braid; unless fishing muddy water. I usually use fluoro leader and tie it on using the Alberto knot. Easier to tie than the FG knot; for me and I can do it seated in my canoe if necessary. I've been on a P Line and Seagar kick lately for my fluoro. Buy the larger reel filling spools instead of the "leader" spools. Close enough in breaking strength for me and A LOT less expensive. Refill the leader spools from the big spool if you want to.

I had some very bad experiences with P-line Florouroclear which I have already related to previously. That being exposing 3 line classes to a 2 day rain and then not being able to get a knot to stick despite my entire bag of tricks. My trip was salvaged by mu pal which had a spool of green 8lb trilene XT and I have been a fan ever since.

I have tried the InvisX fluorocarbon with excellent results. Straight fluorocarbon without leader. Rather expensive at $26 per spool. I have not tried its companion AbrazX which I imagine is sort of fluorocarbons "XT" version.

There are several ways to tie the FG knot and some of them are a real pain. The Salt Strong video on utube makes it a piece of cake and I cannot imagine a faster, stronger and slimmer knot than that method. Nor have I been privy to naysayers contradicting Salt Strongs tests which show the FG as a clear winner in the strength category. It has certainly revolutionized my fishing by allowing me to have a 10' leader which glides through the guides and right onto my spool with no "thumping" noise like you would get with the clunkier uni knot. (I would not use a long leader with a uni).

Nozzelnut: "I do like leaders with braid; unless fishing muddy water. I usually use fluoro leader and tie it on using the Alberto knot. Easier to tie than the FG knot; for me and I can do it seated in my canoe if necessary. I've been on a P Line and Seagar kick lately for my fluoro. Buy the larger reel filling spools instead of the "leader" spools. Close enough in breaking strength for me and A LOT less expensive. Refill the leader spools from the big spool if you want to. "

Thanks for this tip! I started using the Alberto knot this season and love it. As stated, it's easy to tie - even when in the canoe, does not fail, and slides through the guides well. I finally have a go-to braid-to-fluoro knot!

I must be just plain old school. Am I the only one here that just uses clear trilene for everything ? I guess my school of thought is “ if it ain’t broke don’t try to fix it”.

Generally I'm like you. Just stick with 8 lb trilene. If/when a leader is needed because of pike biteoffs, I add a knot2kinky leader. But regarding braid and flouro, it's kind of hard to know how many light bites you are missing by not using braid/flouro. For myself, I am going to go to the light braid/light flouro option for my vertical deep crappie jigging this fall and winter. Crappie bites can be almost insanely light at times. If I like the basic setup, then I'll likely set up that way for my walleye fishing as well, albeit with heavier lines. I'm especially enamored of the idea of tying a 6-8 foot flouro leader which can be 'shortened' multiple times as I change lures. I'm hoping the Alberto knot will allow me to cast that long a leader.

walllee: "I must be just plain old school. Am I the only one here that just uses clear trilene for everything ? I guess my school of thought is “ if it ain’t broke don’t try to fix it”."

Gitty up to that- I think a good pole and mono are all we really need 85% of the time. Buuuuut I and most others like to complicate things to believe we are 10% better which lets the tackle companies and Cabelas makes a whole lotta dough off us dummies.

I’m kind of a newb with flouro and braid, but I really struggled with the FG knot and light flouro to braid. Couldn’t get the braid to bite. Much time wasted. Several fish lost. Ended up with uni to uni.

Now I have more than one setup, which really helps reduce the time spent tying knots. I haven’t spent enough time walleye fishing to know whether braid is helpful for detecting the light bite, but I’m beginning to think this is for aficionados with lots of time on the water.

I fish braid with 4-6ft flouro or mono leaders almost all the time. I tie double uni knots and have never broken off there. If I'm fishing very dirty water I'll sometimes skip the leader and tie palomar knots direct with braid.

Braided line isn't not about detecting the bite for me, it's about reading the lure. I spend a lot of my time trolling. With 100 feet of mono out it can be difficult to discern whether your lure is wobbling as expected. With braid, the wobble or vibrating sensation of the lure translates strongly to the rod tip, and even down to the cork on a good sensitive rod. I have cheap Shimano TDR trolling rods, the tips still wobble like mad when my bait is running true. Pick up a leaf, it just goes dead. That's pretty crucial to know. No bigger waste of time than dragging a leaf around the lake.

I use use flouro or mono with braid on a few rods. I'm not sure if I need to or if I just have more confidence in something that may not be necessary. I use a slim beauty knot to join them. It's easy for me to tie and gets through the guides easily.

Braided line isn't not about detecting the bite for me, it's about reading the lure. I spend a lot of my time trolling. With 100 feet of mono out it can be difficult to discern whether your lure is wobbling as expected. With braid, the wobble or vibrating sensation of the lure translates strongly to the rod tip, and even down to the cork on a good sensitive rod. I have cheap Shimano TDR trolling rods, the tips still wobble like mad when my bait is running true. Pick up a leaf, it just goes dead. That's pretty crucial to know. No bigger waste of time than dragging a leaf around the lake.


"

Exactly, same here.
I've done the braided to mono or fluoro many times but by the end of a trip its seems like I've let my leader go and I'm on straight braid with no difference in bites.

Braid and Flouro... Uni to Uni and I'm happy