MickD

Leader FC is harder, stiffer, than line, and I think less likely to be damaged by either fish teeth, mussels, or rock, and is less likely to tangle. If that is important, it has advantages to justify its price. You don't use that much of it, especially if it gets damaged less, so the cost is less than it at first appears. If your knot uses a lot of leader , you'll be using more of it. Keep in mind that FC sinks, so either version is not the best for surface lures. You can get hard mono which is very tough, and it floats. Hard mono is available from fly shops.

I wish my buddy who sank a 4/0 gamagatsu into my scalp had pinched the barb. :-) Another advantage of barbless.

Caution: It will take only a slight amount of heat to loosen the tiptop, so don't cook it!. The blank can be damaged. The best way is to be pulling on the tiptop as you apply heat, like with a rubber band. then it will slip within a few seconds without damaging the blank. If it does not come loose in a few seconds, stop. The tiptop is probably epoxied on and heat is not the answer. In this case take it to pro and let them handle it. A pro will be able to better match the old tiptop for ring and tube size, and provide a better quality tiptop than repair kits do.

It is my opinion that with any product, you get to a sweet spot in price vs value where after that, added money yields less and less advantage. So I don't often go "all the way". I think when you get beyond about $200 on spinning reels, you've about max'd out. BUT, that sweet spot may be higher up in price if you are shopping for a salt water reel. Really premium salt reels are better able to handle the salt and have more drag capacity where it is really needed. I don't think there is a fresh water fish that's going to fry a drag on a good spinning reel, but that is not the case in salt. If I were to fish salt regularly, I'd probably pop for a Stella or similar.

Flouro has a density of about 1.5 that of water, so it does sink. Braid density is about 1.0, same as fresh water. One way to get your senkos down faster is with lead nails inserted into the senko. If you're using senkos wacky, use tiny cable ties or O rings and place the hook between the cable tie/O ring and you'll lose fewer senkos. Big split rings work well for this too. Even on the same day, in the same school of fish, fish take the lure in different ways. If active, or if there are more than one fish near the lure, they will hammer it, sometimes running immediately. You can feel that on any tackle. Sometimes they take it so delicately that you only notice when you move the bait. If you feel resistance when you move the bait, set the hook aggressively. And there is everything in between. I think you are using braid, so that's good, more sensitive than mono or flouro. A flouro or mono leader will not affect sensitivity unless it gets very long.

In my opinion the Winn Wrap is the way to handle the grip with badly worn/damaged cork. They do feel very good both dry and wet, don't get slippery when wet, and DEET is their only enemy. But DEET is the enemy of anything that is plastic or rubber based. They don't cost a fortune, so give them a try and make your own decision. Mudhole.com has a great selection of them.

If it's working for you, then don't doubt using it. Doesn't matter what others think. The double uni is a great line to line knot, and if you use big loops, it can be done fairly easily. I think it may be the next easiest reliable knot to join braid and flouro/mono.

I agree with others that sensitivity is a pretty subjective thing, but there are some things that affect sensitivity. The lighter the guides and finish the more sensitive the rod will be. This is one of the reasons that people prefer micro guides where it makes sense. The lighter the blank for its power, the more sensitive the rod will be. The higher the modulus of the blank material the more sensitive the rod will be (assuming the manufacturers know what they are doing). This is more subjective, but I "feel" that the faster actions are more sensitive than the slower actions. Not talking power, but action. When you change power the more powerful will most likely be heavier, so possibly not as "sensitive." In your example, I think you just have to try them with the same line and see what you "feel." There is no question in my mind that braid provides a more sensitive system than does flouro or mono. So if you are using flouro or mono, and want to improve the ability to feel the bite, try braid. BIG difference. If one is building a rod and sensitivity is the primary objective, he will build with micros on an extra fast blank of proper power for what he wants to do, use the lightest reel seat, and very little cork. Carbon fiber rear split grip on a casting rod, no foregrip. Butt knob only on a spinning rod. Possibly skeleton seats. No long, decorative thread wraps.

How about using beads that keep the weight away from the knot?. The knot is swallowed by the hole in the bead, the weight never touches the knot, the bead stops on the eye of the hook, so doesn't damage the knot either.

I have three Stradics and have had no trouble with them. Last reel I bought was a Symetre, and it seems to me to be as good as the Stradics for function. I have bought two of my Stradics on Ebay, they were used, slight cosmetic scratches, and have had no regrets. When buying from Ebay don't buy from anyone below about 99% approval. Anyone that high who has been selling a while will be reliable and honest.

If I had that quality of cork on a rod I'd cover it up immediately with a Winn Wrap. I thought Dobyns were supposed to be sort of premium rods, but that cork is disgraceful. IMHO

Make sure you have very good ventilation if using acetone. I personally avoid it preferring other options that work as well. " Breathing moderate-to-high levels of acetone for short periods of time can cause nose, throat, lung, and eye irritation. It can also cause intoxication, headaches, fatigue, stupor, light-headedness, dizziness, confusion, increased pulse rate, nausea, vomiting, and shortening of the menstrual cycle in women. Breathing highly concentrated acetone vapors can irritate the respiratory tract and burn your eyes. Skin contact with acetone can irritate or damage your skin. " from US National Laboratory of Medicine.

Good point, Frosty. Most reels only can hold about 15 pounds max. I interpreted the original post to mean the reel "easily" gave line. Even 15 pounds feels like a lot of force. Sean, are you talking about giving the line easily or with a lot of effort? And did you find if the line is slipping on the spool?

Can you tell us what the blank is?

Good news. Take a sharp razor blade and take the braid off the next one you discard and notice the "notches" in the flouro.

In my opinion the FG is well worth learning. It has been tested as the strongest line to line knot. Mine last until I have retied the lures so much I have little leader left. I have a couple that have lasted this whole season, on rods that get used a lot. They just don't seem to get damaged by guides, or anything else. They are much easier to tie on flouro that is about 15 pounds and over than on lighter flouro, and tying onto 10 pound braid can be troublesome for me. I use the method that doesn't require constant tension, so maybe the constant tension method will tie better than my way. One thing you could be encountering is bad flouro. We used to kid about Vanish, it was the lure and the fish that would vanish. If new Vanish, I have no idea if it's OK, but the old Vanish was very easily damaged. All FC is susceptible to weakening when kinked, but the FG does not kink the flouro like many knots do. I suggest you try a setup with some mono and see how it goes. If it does not work well, then I think you may not be tying the knot correctly. One thing also is testing the knot before using it. If you tie the FG and it slips when testing it in your hands, it is not tied correctly. It should be like a rock in your hands, and you should test it to very high stresses. Make sure you lube the knot as you pull it tight, also. This is VERY important to all leaders, but especially for flouro. I just reread your original post and you say it is 'coming loose and breaking off." If it is really coming loose, unraveling, then it is not tied correctly. A correctly tied FG does not unravel. You are using the half hitches as the last steps, right? I am interested in hearing how you work out of this. The video above is absolutely dead nuts on. One way you can tell if you are getting it right is to disassemble one after you tie it. If it is done right, the flouro will have the "notches" he mentions. It will have been permanently deformed and it is the mechanical interlocking of the braid loops with the flouro notches that make it work. The half hitches prevent the braid from simply "coming loose." But if you are not getting the notching, you are not pulling it tightly enough and it will not be reliable.

This should be pretty easy to figure out. If the line is slipping it will be rotating relative to the spool while the spool does not move relative to the rest of the reel. Let's hope that is the problem, very easy to fix. When I don't want backing under my braid I just tape the spool with masking tape and it provides friction so that a good knot will hold without slipping. If the drag is not working (spool is rotating relative to the reel at full drag adjustment) maybe the drag is failed, but I've never seen that. I don't know how a drag fails unless a very strong saltwater fish burns it up. It is simply a few washers, half fixed to the spool and half to the shaft, that when pinched (by the adjustment knob), produce friction, or drag. If the reel is assembled properly it should work.

If you want to increase sensitivity for a technique, if you want to better feel bites, if you want better hook sets, especially on long casts, go braid. If you use one rod mostly for surface, use mono or mono leader to keep the line on the surface. FC will sink. If you want line strength greater than about 8 or 10, with spin, go braid. I don't like trying to handle heavier FC or mono on a spin reel, although I know a lot of people do it. 15# braid casts and manages much better than 10 # mono, orders of magnitude better than 10 # FC. (especially on smaller reels) I know some will argue otherwise, and may be right for some expensive, special, FC, but generally what I say is true. Braid usually can be quite twisted and still perform well. Its density is almost the same as mono so will stay on the surface. FC is about 50% higher and will sink. One last thought, if you really like what you have, if it really works for you, leave it alone.

Most people like a fast or extra fast action for both drop shot and other finesse, like tubes, flukes, etc. The power should be based on the weight you plan to cast and the size of the fish you want to stop. The moderate actions are more flexible relative to easily casting various weights, and if you get a good material, like Revelation or Bushido or the higher grades of any other manufacturer (St Croix Avid or higher, or similar), it will work fine for both drop shot and finesse. In my opinion, there is not that much difference in right rods for both. The reason I have a dedicated drop shot rod is only that when I want to use drop shot, I don't want to have to take something else off and rig it for drop shot. It is not because there is anything really special about drop shot requirements.

I NEVER have experienced this with mono, and I never use swivels. But it sounds like somehow you are getting the line heavily twisted. Not sure what you're doing to cause that, other than maybe in-line spinners. I suggest taking off the terminal tackle and let all the line off the reel while motoring down the lake. Then start over and see if the problem is immediately solved. If it's solved, but then comes back later, there is something causing heavy line twist.

Just get some larger split shot and pinch on as many as needed for the conditions. Some times you want it planted, but other times you want to keep it moving. Drop shot sinkers are sort of expensive considering what they do.

I love super flukes with 4/0 gamagatsu worm hooks. The belly slit helps getting them rigged straight. The comments on action are right on target, you want to let them fall freely for quite a few seconds, then "twerk" or "twitch" them, just little ones. If rigged right they will go straight some times, left some times, right some times. Many fish will not come up all that far for them, so if your fish are in 8-10 feet, you probably will have to fish them slowly enough to get them down about 5 feet. Also, they are not a dingy water bait, in my opinion. Best in clear. I've not fished them weighted very much, and haven't done all that well. But if fish are quite active, i see no reason why fishing them simply on a jig of appropriate weight and hook size wouldn't work well.

Tom is your data on loop knot strength with line grade flouro? I expect it is, as many flouros don't like to be kinked or bent sharply, as a loop knot will do at the hook eye. I think they are pretty good with mono or leader grade flouro.

Senkos are heavy, one of the advantages of the Z man grubs is that they are bouyant, which is part of the magic. Forget senkos, the Z man grubs are right and they last forever-no more replacing them due to fish damage (at least until you are almost to triple digit fish numbers). But , when fishing senkos wacky use rubber O rings and hook the O ring and not the senko and you usually can get at least a few fish on each one.

One can argue that quality snaps don't have problems, but you don't know you have a quality snap until it's too late. the original post said small snap, and small snaps are notorious, based on my experience, for problems. I almost always use snaps, but check them often, and mostly use the medium and larger ones. I too have had snaps open on fish. Usually it's one I probably used too long, opened and closed it too many time. I'm not against snaps, and I'm not advocating for loop knots over snaps, but the question was about loop knots. Depends also on the type of snap. Duolocks of the medium and larger sizes are a lot more reliable than the old fashioned straight ones. And some snaps are almost impossible to get onto some lures, like surface lures with a concave face. Loop knots do make a lot of sense for those lures.