Best knot for Fireline Crystal

[Black_Blade]

I've been using a uni knot in almost every scenario...I have one spool with 10 pound Fireline Crystal and all my other spools are Power Pro (either 10 or 20 pound). All of my break offs and some have been while casting out...have been on the Fireline Crystal. Is it the uni knot that is weakening this line, for it seems to be pretty tough stuff otherwise (will slice your hand off before it will break)? I will try a length of 10 pound floro leader material on it to see if it makes any difference (use a back to back uni to join)

 

Lost two pike that broke off at the side of the canoe this season, mind you was set up for bass, so only had a jig worm set up but last year had the same trouble where the line broke at the knot (once from a fish and twice from trying to free up from snags)

[kickingfrog]

Uni for me. If I've tied the knot properly failure is not an issue.

[Garry2Rs]

You can double the strength of the Uni Knot by simply going through the hook-eye twice.

 

Bearing in mind that ten pound Crystal is only about the diameter of four pound mono, any ten pound fluoro or mono leader will give you some bite-off insurance when you pick-up an incidental Pike. However I don't have much faith in any non-metal leader of less than about twenty pounds for toothy critters.

Garry2R's

[Black_Blade]

You can double the strength of the Uni Knot by simply going through the hook-eye twice.

 

Bearing in mind that ten pound Crystal is only about the diameter of four pound mono, any ten pound fluoro or mono leader will give you some bite-off insurance when you pick-up an incidental Pike. However I don't have much faith in any non-metal leader of less than about twenty pounds for toothy critters.

Garry2R's

 

I will give the double loop-thru a shot, I just picked up some 10 pound floro leader material and also have a small amount of Berkley nylon coated steel leader line left, think its 20 pounds though and would defeat the low visibility of the Crystal.

[Black_Blade]

Uni for me. If I've tied the knot properly failure is not an issue.

I like using the uni knot as well, easy to do in wide range of applications. If its not the knot, then must be a poor spool of line maybe. I even peeled off a good chunk, thinking maybe might be some scuffed sections or something.

 

Will see if using a uni uni spliced in leader line helps, was gonna grab another spool of Crystal in case its a bad batch I got, but couldn't pull the trigger on the $22 spool, when already had $30 in other 'essentials' in hand...

[Garry2Rs]

Although covered by different pattens, the fibres that both Powerpro and Fireline are made from are almost the same. Both will not hold dye, so they all fade very fast with use. The white line called Crystal is simply a non-coloured version of the regular line.

 

As far as visability is concerned, in my opinion, the translucency of Crystal only exists in the mind of the advertising agentcy.

 

However, I don't think it matters to most fish. Perhaps on tough days a fluoro or mono leader helps with slow presentations, like drop-shot etc. On reaction bites like Spinnerbaits, or Crankbaits, I think the fish are chasing the lure and the line means nothing.

[Black_Blade]

Although covered by different pattens, the fibres that both Powerpro and Fireline are made from are almost the same. Both will not hold dye, so they all fade very fast with use. The white line called Crystal is simply a non-coloured version of the regular line.

 

As far as visability is concerned, in my opinion, the translucency of Crystal only exists in the mind of the advertising agentcy.

 

However, I don't think it matters to most fish. Perhaps on tough days a fluoro or mono leader helps with slow presentations, like drop-shot etc. On reaction bites like Spinnerbaits, or Crankbaits, I think the fish are chasing the lure and the line means nothing.

 

Have to agree with the hype of line visibility, for really, my dad did quite well catching all kinds with the old black fishing line and early versions of mono when that came on the scene. He was no 'sportsman' either...lol, he always had at least 30 pound test on his reels which was like cable back then...all he wanted was to pull the fish into the boat, never mind giving the fish a chance!

Edited July 10, 2010 by Black Blade

[Spiel]

For tying directly to the lure (swivel/leader) with Fireline you can't beat the Palomar knot.

 

http://www.netknots.com/html/palomar_knot.html

[IndySKS]

Good luck on finding a knot that works on your crystal line, if you do find something let me know the secret. I will admit im not a line or knot expert but I bought a roll of crystal a couple years ago and had the same problem, i eventually gave up on it and went to spider wire stealth. Never once in 1 1/2 years have i ever broke the stealth or had a knot break.

[Black_Blade]

Well went out this morning, had both rods set up with about two feet of the ten pound Floro leader material. My daughter was using my rod with the Crystal on it but as it turned out she didn't even get a bite. My rod had 30 pound PP on it, then the 10 pound floro leader...only had two hits and both broke off the floro leader...can't be 100 % sure it was at the knot but the second time I am pretty sure it was. Man, I sure was steaming then....put on a two foot home made wire leader then but of course no other bites.

 

I think I am going to give up on uni knots...although they have been fine in the past, line is breaking left and right now! I wet the line before cinching it down too, so can't figger out what could be the issue other than this type of knot for some reason is just weakening the line.

 

Didn't get out on the water till about 7 30, so sun was well up and I wasn't confident that would have much luck, so made it that much worse when the two hits you get and both snap off like that. The fish weren't monsters either...well the first one just blew up on the bait and it was gone..so not sure how big that one was, but the second, it didn't seem to be overly large by the way it fought.

[Fisherpete]

I used to use Fireline, now use PowerPro, and have always used the palomar knot. I have never had that knot fail, and it is as easy as it gets to tie. Landed a 23lb muskie on 8lb Fireline with no leader, palomar...

 

I don't like straight line-to-line connections, when using a leader I always tie to a swivel. Mind you, the lakes that I fish are not all that clear, and the fish that I go for (pike, musky, bass) don't seem to be very line-sensitive.

Edited July 11, 2010 by Fisherpete