After tying the recommended blood knot to join different size mono to build my own leaders I did some pull tests using my fish scale to see what weight it would take to break the line. I found with the blood knot would always break before the recommended line test weight was reached. I played around with a few knots but nothing seemed strong enough or easy enough to tie stream-side without some sort of gadget. Then I came up with one that was easy and strong.

First take the two lines and overlap about 3" then wrap the lines over from 4 to 6 times depending on the size of the leader material - the smaller the line the more wraps

Now bring up the tag ends and cross them over the same number of times as you did previously.
Now you have two lines and two tags. Holding a line and a tag in with each hand pull until the knot tightens up.

Now release the tag ends and just pull the two lines. It helps to moisten the knot before pulling. the knot will then tighten up to a nice ball with a tag at each end. Now just trim the tags.

Although it’s a glorified granny knot it’s very strong and if tied right the line will usually break before the knot gives way. I use this knot on all my leaders and tippets even fishing for Chinook Salmon. Give it a try I think you will like it.

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 14th, 2002 at 11:29 pm by Fly1 and is filed under Terminal Tackle. You can leave a response.