My recent attempts to come up with an interchangeable single leader system have produced some interesting results.
My first stop throughout this learning process was to try the most obvious and streamlined knot choice, the Midknot.
I figured the line to make this midknot should be hollowcore so we could easily splice a loop in it to make it interchangeable. Then, the challenge was to form the midknot itself - not an easy task with 200lb superline with a relatively 'thick' diameter. Getting the midknot to bite with this diameter in even the most supple shock leader is impossible - maybe in Varivas of the same breaking strain but i would highly doubt it. Therefore you are presented with a midknot that doesn't stick - however, as long as it doesn't slide off the leader, the knot will retain it's integrity.
The next step was to address the issue of sliding since i am convinced there is no way to get this to bite. I also tried roughing the leader with sandpaper, again to no avail. This next step took me to forming an 'insurance' knot to combat the sliding. This involved making a tube/nail type knot neat and close to the midknot with 80lb PE. This was then tightened to the death with pliers, then a liberal amount of superglue was applied to make sure it did not budge (being very careful to avoid touching the midknot). I then lightly whipped the knot and the insurance part so that the small insurance section did not cause issues when entering the rod guides. This is then lightly coated in a urethane bond for 'slickness' - don't know how this will hold up in the future, testing required.
So now i have a fairly streamlined funky looking interchangeable leader system. I think 200lb is appropriate for the midknot since there has been so much dramas about knots breaking due to heavy shockload - hopefully some if not all of that problem is somewhat avoided/elimanted by using this higher breaking strain.
I am still concerned about the strength due to the knot not being able to bite - however, multiple load tests with scales and my car have proved it not to break or break where i wanted it to.
Requires further testing and may prove to be a complete total waste of time but it was good to experiment with something different
My quest for an interchangeable single leader system will be continued...
