The FG knot revisited

[gstours]

  The FG knot seems to be a good way to attatch a mono leader to a braid coming from your rod/reel while standing in the water rather quickly.   I,m sure finishing the knot with more hitches is a smoother addition.  Butt do that when you can .    This is a quick version.

[David Hall]

I love that knot.  problem is I keep forgetting how to tie it? but then most times I forget what I get out of my chair for? so I just go to the bathroom! that way it looks like I had something to do!
thanks Gary I like the way he ties this.

[gstours]

  Practice getting old,  you,ll get good at it i,m thinkin!     I was riding the excersize bike and saw the equil to the fg knot.
      This seems more complicated, takes a special bobbin,  and it wood be impractical to try standing in the surf,  or on a stormy sea.
These folks brag it up,   you decide your knot,  and mourn the fish lost?    Its good for intertainment purposes.   Shop Time??

[David Hall]

thanks Gary, made me forget how to tie the FG again!  its raining anyway so Ill go back and watch it again, oh look a squirrel!

[Tiddlerbasher]

  Now I remember why I don't like knots but prefer splicing a topshot into hollow braid - NO KNOTS

[oc1]

I have a love-hate relationship with the FG.  Tedious to tie but it doesn't click going through the guides.  I'm going to try his method of wrapping but was a little put-off when he said he was going to scruntch the wraps down.  That means he was not getting the wraps tight enough initially.  Loose wraps will make the knot elongate and start to unravel.  Also, I don't like his 1/16 inch tag end on the mono.  The mono tag end is what makes the knot click in the guides and it should be completely covered with the half hitches.

Thanks for showing Gary.
-steve

[Brendan]

I don't think I can tie the FG well.  But after a trip to the Coranado's I caught multiple Yellow tail heads and got all of my jigs back from the Seals, I think it works.
Tight lines, Brendan.

[Smols]

Brendan,

At least you know your knot was strong....  I fished the Coronados several times last summer and the seals were Brutal. Any fish hooked close to the island is a seal lunch 95% of the time. The only chance you have is to immediately motor away from the island after a hookup and use heavy enough line to get the fish in FAST in hopes you can get away before the seals grab it. The last trip, the three anglers on our boat caught limits of yellowtail trolling pink rapala lures 100 yards or more from the island. Never lost one to the seals all day and never used a bait. The 5 trips before that day, we lost multiple fish to the seals each time. I am not a fan of trolling as I much prefer fishing live bait, but it sure beats losing a bunch of fish to seals. I was amazed at the pink rapala lures being the ticket. That is the last color I would buy, but that's  what the fish wanted.

Smols

[Brewcrafter]

Thank you!!  That was a great video, and very thorough!  I am hoping I can play around a little bit in the garage tomorrow with that; love to learn new fishing tricks!  Along the line of knots, Capt. John Collins (San Diego Long Range fame) was on "Let's Talk Hookup" this morning (SoCal Sportfishing Radio show on Saturday and Sunday mornings) and he did a wide variety of knots on the show that they are putting up on their website.  But he repeated several times (and I am paraphrasing): the best knots are the simplest knots that anyone can tie well for the application they are in.  It was a great show from a guy that has tied a lot of knots in his career...

[boon]

I have a love-hate relationship with the FG.  Tedious to tie but it doesn't click going through the guides.  I'm going to try his method of wrapping but was a little put-off when he said he was going to scruntch the wraps down.  That means he was not getting the wraps tight enough initially.  Loose wraps will make the knot elongate and start to unravel. 

100% agree, I noticed his knot "settled" a LOT when he loaded it. I tie my FGs with some (although not a huge amount) of tension on the mainline (braid) and they settle maybe 10% when I cinch them down, whereas the knot in this video looks like it doubles in length before the wraps bite in to the mono.

I still think the FG is the best braid-leader knot that you can tie without tools. I have a PR bobbin and for my heavy setups that don't have hollowcore I will tie a PR knot if I am sitting at home, but out on the boat, or for lighter rigs, or for anything where I have to cast the line, it's FG all day.

[jurelometer]

Another way to speed tie the FG knot:


And a follow up video on how to tell if you cinched it properly:



I am still struggling to tie an FG consistently.

-J

[r8rs4lf]

If you tie the FG like me where you have the braid in your teeth and your pole leaning up against something or away from you to create tension, a simple helpful trick is to tie a double knot on the end of the braid so it doesn't slip out of your teeth while applying tension. I never used to do this, but found it to be very helpful.

One thing I have learned tying the FG over and over is to get the wraps tight against each other. The way I accomplish this is to slide every over/under tight against the previous one. Also, sometimes the knot starts to look funny (not uniform) like there's a tiny mono loop sticking out. The reason for that is because there is not enough tension on the braid which is being held in my teeth. You can fix that by tightening the tension of the braid in your teeth, slightly releasing the tension of the over/under, sliding it back and forth a bit and tightening the over/under again. That is something I learned how to fix. I used to just start all over because I could not understand what happened and could not fix it. It's kind of hard to explain, but if you keep tying it over and over, you will see what I mean.

I'm pretty efficient at tying the FG this way even on a boat that is rolling and pitching although I try my best to not have to do it by bringing a few set ups already rigged up.

[boon]

If you tie the FG like me where you have the braid in your teeth and your pole leaning up against something or away from you to create tension, a simple helpful trick is to tie a double knot on the end of the braid so it doesn't slip out of your teeth while applying tension. I never used to do this, but found it to be very helpful.

One thing I have learned tying the FG over and over is to get the wraps tight against each other. The way I accomplish this is to slide every over/under tight against the previous one. Also, sometimes the knot starts to look funny (not uniform) like there's a tiny mono loop sticking out. The reason for that is because there is not enough tension on the braid which is being held in my teeth. You can fix that by tightening the tension of the braid in your teeth, slightly releasing the tension of the over/under, sliding it back and forth a bit and tightening the over/under again. That is something I learned how to fix. I used to just start all over because I could not understand what happened and could not fix it. It's kind of hard to explain, but if you keep tying it over and over, you will see what I mean.

I'm pretty efficient at tying the FG this way even on a boat that is rolling and pitching although I try my best to not have to do it by bringing a few set ups already rigged up.

I use this technique; I tie a figure-8 in the end of the braid (doubled if it's very light braid) to give me something to bite. Then I use the spring of the rod to provide tension.

If I get the little mono loop, I find that pulling hard on the mono on both sides of the knot fixes this. It also seems to help the braid cinch down, give it a try

[gstours]

  Thanks for the comments.  i,ve tied it enough to add the tag end in the mouth should be deffinately with a stopper knot.  thanks for helping us all in making a bettrr knot.   maybe saving a dissapointment.

[Chuck750ss]

Anyone able to tie one using something lighter than 20lb mono? If so,any tips?