18 hours ago, MN Fisher said:

^ What Fry said - I've also moved from the FG to the Alberto for the same reason.

I fussed with the FG knot for about 2 years. Don't get me wrong it's great, thin, strong, everything it's advertised to be. But the finishing hitches, I just never had 100% confidence in them. The Alberto is plenty strong and thin for me and my applications. When I break off, it's the lure knot that fails, which is all I ask out of a leader knot.

FG all the way, finish hitches usually four. coat with Loon UVknot sense. Spinning gets longer leaders usually 6-10'. Almost all spinning are braid to leader and baitcasters are almost always straight fluorocarbon unless I am fishing topwater then it is straight mono or big swimbaits get straight 20# Big Game.

FM

Well I just learned one thing and that is I can tie the Alberto knot while I am THINKING about tying the FG. Never knew it was that easy!!

My experience with braid goes way back. It didn’t start well. Braided lines were not good initially but over the years the development of new materials and carrier counts has made braid relevant and even advantageous. The same goes for Floro lines.

It took awhile to develop trust in braided lines. I’ve found they work really well in certain applications. All of my spinning setups have braid to leader. The castability and reduction in line twist is too good to overlook.

Straight braid has an application for fishing really heavy cover so punching/flipping and frogs benefit from no stretch and strength. Cutting vegetation is another positive. Finally, top water lures get braid to leader. Long casting and most importantly no stretch are a real advantage. This system has worked well for me. As stated, knot failure is at the lure and not the connector knot. That’s it.

I use lots of braid to the leader in my combos, and I always do FG knot at home. If I must do it on water, I'll go with Alberto (crazy Alberto) knot. Fast and reliable, and easy to do on water in the wind. BUT I love my FG knots, and I never break any of them in my fishing life, even in saltwater fishing.

This is the sample for my Slow Pitch Jig Rod, You have no idea the pressure on this FG pulling fish from 300 feet deep and you see how small is the knot is, Please pay attention to how I sinch the knot and burried that braid in mono/Fluoro and if you do that you have strongest braid to leader knot that can handle everything.

With the right tools and some practice I got pretty good at tying the FG knot. I think it is the best knot for braid to leader connections. I like that leader tag end is pointed towards the braided line as I have had issues with tag end tangling with the Alberto Knot.

If you want to tie the FG knot get your self a small hardware clamp for the braid tag end tension.

Tools

I don’t like it. When I had used it I used the Alberto. Prefer straight mono or straight braid