For Simplicity sake....

[Dick Sweeney]

OK - so after struggling with many knots... mucho failures...... and some small triumphs... but still no final conclusion.

Dare I ask this question.........

OK why not tie my braid direct to a heavy duty swivel and my leader to that........ and then to the popper / jig.  That would give me round about a meter of cast leader....if the lure is making so many splashes then surely a fish will not be spooked by any braid that is being retrieved through the water. MAybe on a jig it should be longer... but my date with destiny is getting closer..... and if I cannot master a simple solution then this seems a good alternative.....

YUP I would much prefer to do a fancy knot that works... but so far I have had no joy........ doubled allbright, stren, uni knot, midknot... bimini leaders (nobody to tie with).......

Thoughts comments appreciated.

[Jon Li]

Tying the braid to a swivel may work , as long as the knot is not slipping under heavy drag but then there is a problem of braided fraying when being cast , presumably you use gloves when fishing ,
other problem you may encounter is a small toothy fish hitting your swivel while working the lure .

I wud rather avoid swivel but just crimp a mono leader on both ends and tie directly to the braid and use splitring to facilitate the changing of lure at the other end of the crimp .

However , I still think mastering a particular knot is usefull and in my case , I use MidKnot exclusively when GT/Tuna popping .

Jon .

[Stephen Polzin]

For a long time I was tying a bimini in braid then tying it directly to the swivel as you describe.  Worked fine.  One day I caught 16 in four hours without a single bustoff. 

It is effective, though:

Now I use a twisted leader as it gives me more confidence when leaning into a solid cast, has added abrasion resistance around heavy country and adds a shock-absorber element to the line.  Also guards against wear on that last couple metres of braid that's otherwise getting stressed every time you cast.

The bimini's worth learning.  You should be able to tie it solo. Just don't try and make it too long.  A foot or so is plenty then it can be attached to a twisted leader quite easily.


steve

[Travis Heaps]

ahhh woppie - just learn the twisted leader 

[Dick Sweeney]

Aghhh travis - is there no where a man can be without being known !!!! Ive got Dave 73 giving me a tutorial soon!!!

[Dick Sweeney]

Whats all the fuss about !!!! It really helps if someone can show you these knots.... Dave came round last night and showed me a few... including the twisted leader and bimini... no where near as hard as I thought... but it did really help having someone to show me the ropes so to speak.

[Travis Heaps]

isn't that the truth...I think tying a twisted leader is really straight forward now, its just the time factor.  Try telling me that when I was trying to learn and had never even heard of a twisted leader, let alone seen one!

Hope the one I sent you in the mail today is up to scratch now Dick!