inserting single strand bite leader

[simon carey]

After much playing with Lukes twisted leader demo I have finally got it down pat thanks to Che's photo. One tip I can give to others who are struggling is to form the doubled bite leader use a pair of good pliers and hold the section you wish to twist then put the other end in your drill and reverse the direction you used first. With your swivel held in the middle after twisting if you pull away whilst bringing the pliers towards the drill it forms up really well on heavy leader (heaviest I did was 130lb) as that is all I had. You can then use the pliers to hold both ends together with your tube in the middle for the nail knot.

The thing I cannot get is how to insert and attach a single strand leader instead of a 4 strand twisted bite leader. Any help would be great. Thanks

[Brandon Khoo]

Simon - are you asking how we attach a single strand bite leader to the end of a twisted leader?

If so, you can either tie it on or you can crimp it on. Tying it takes some practice as you need to nail knot the heavy bite leader but you can use a simple uni knot for the twisted leader. Neil showed me how to nail knot it a while back - it is hard to explain without seeing it. Crimps are the easiest.

[simon carey]

Thanks Brandon - i should have asked neil when I was in Brisbane but ran out of time - I am trying the nail knot approach but can't get it to cut in and hold. I assume you could just used a solid ring instead of a swivel and tie the single to that at the end of the twisty, but it would be a pretty bulky knot in 150lb plus. Have you got a photo of the crimping setup

[Brandon Khoo]

it's not difficult to get a nail knot to bite. It helps to wet it a little and then pull it very tight. You've got to make sure you retain the tightness in the loops. The conventional wisdom is you can't tie a uni-knot with 330lb leader but One of the guides on Nomad Sportfishing manages to do it! I can't get that to bite so I stick with the nail knot.

I don't have any pictures of the crimping and there is no point my taking one because I put shrink tubing over the top.