Anglers love to debate knots, perhaps now more than ever, as braids and Super Lines have made monofilament practically obsolete since it hit the shelves some 27 years ago. Fewer people may be filling their entire spools with mono these days, but it still has a home in fishing – with fluorocarbon – as a dominant material. And if you ask me, there’s no better way to attach braid to a leader than the FG knot.
Over the years, fishermen pledged allegiance to several braid-to-leader knots. You have a uni-to-uni splice. There is double uni. Alberto Knott, Seaguar, Bristol. I could go on. All of these lumps have been tested repeatedly in water and in controlled laboratory settings. They’re all good, they all work. But then came the FG knot, which blows them all out of the water in terms of shear strength and reliability.
FG means “fine grip” and was invented by the Japanese. But unlike many of the baits and tactics adopted from Japan, it was the Australians who first adopted and popularized the FG. YouTube cowboys casting from the rocks needed a knot that would slip easily through their spinning rod guides so they could bomb a cast, but also stand up to punishing fish like giant trevally and dogtooth tuna.
How to tie a FG knot
A finished FG knot is a thing of beauty, but you can create some ugly messes when you’re learning it. The biggest criticism of the FG is that it is a pain in the ass to tie. It’s like the Bimini twist for the next generation, and if you can tie one fast and cleanly you can use that skill as a flex. When I first tried FG, I was worried I did something wrong and it would fail, but I quickly became comfortable with the steps and haven’t looked back.
Unlike other connections, which rely on two knots being jammed together or cinching of the coils to hold, the FG uses pleating. To start, clamp your stick in a holder (or against the fence, anywhere that will lock it in place) and then hold the end of the braid in your teeth. Go far enough away from the rod that there is a lot of tension on your braid. Now place the end of your leader vertically over the taught braid. Next, pass the end of the leader under the braid running away from you and pull tight. Then, pass the end of the leader under the braid moving toward you and pull tight. Repeat these variable steps 20 times. When finished, tie an overhand knot from the tag end of the braid around the leader to keep everything in place.
What you have just done is braid or criss-cross the leader. When you pull the braid and leader tight, that pleating cuts through the thick leader. The mechanics are like a Chinese finger trap, where the harder the fish pulls, the more tightly the plated braid closes. Once you have initially applied some pressure to set the pleating, add 10 to 12 half hitches around the leader with the braid tag and then trim both ends of the tag very close. You can add a drop of super glue to the half hitch if you want, but never put a drop of super glue on the pleated section. Here’s a solid YouTube tutorial on an alternative method of tying the FG knot.
The Easiest Way to Tie a FG Knot (Strongest Braid for Leader Fishing Knot)
Why doesn’t FG work?
Although the FG was originally designed for fighting large-scale saltwater fish, I have come to rely on it for almost everything. It’s a little more time consuming than a simple uni splice, but I’m so confident in its strength that I think it’s worth the effort, even if I’m only throwing jerkbaits for trout or jigs for schooly stripers. Australian-born Elite Series bass pro Carl Jocumsen uses FGs almost exclusively. A few months ago I got a chance to talk to him and he mentioned many benefits. Because the FG is so thin, it allows it to be reeled even on a low-profile baitcaster’s spool, meaning he can add 10 or more feet of leader to his braid without sacrificing callability for position or presentation. It is also an additional insurance policy when tournament money is at stake.
“FG is so strong that now I never have to worry about losing a connection,” Jochumsen told me. “I’m more worried about the hook breaking or the braid breaking. A split ring will probably fail before that knot.”
Speaking of Jokumsen, I haven’t been impressed by FG yet. I’ve worked hard against tuna and heavy stripers, but I’ve been more impressed by its performance when hooked. During a trip to an offshore wreck last fall, I pulled a snag so hard that the 60-pound braid eventually broke, but not the knot. I’ve torn belly hooks out of plugs hung in wood, but that FG knot never failed.
