# braid to vanish knot



## younggun (Sep 16, 2008)

gday,
ive bene using my 2-4 kilo drop shot and shimano sienna 2500 for a while now and it is a great little set up for what i do,
but i find that my double uni knot to connect the 6 pound braid and 8 pound berkley vanish snaps well under its breaking strain,
if i ever get snagged it is pretty much a case of doing circles to unhook the bottom.
the line will only ever break at the knot conecting the braid and vanish.

by the way, im using berkley fireline if that helps,

thanks guys,


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## warren63 (Apr 16, 2009)

I have used for a long time the double surgeons knot and never had a problem with it and im also using Berkley vanish for a leader.


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## Swamp (Nov 20, 2007)

The breaking strain of fireline is very under rated 6lb probably means more like 12lb so in effect the 8lb leader is the weak link. 
Also get your hands on some Nitlon DFC by YGK much better leader than berkley vanish.


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## Ranger (May 31, 2008)

How old is the braid? Braid does delaminate, and there are always reports of bad batches, so test your fireline out first.

Then if the double uni is letting you down, double the braid before tying the knot and dont forget to lubricate it well before pulling it tight, because if you don't do this, friction/heat build up as you snug the knot will weaken the line.

If this still fails, try an improved albrights instead. Easier to tie than a double uni, and a smaller neater knot.


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## Ozzybass (Jun 29, 2007)

Double uni knot serves me fine for connecting braid to mono/fluoro leader. Only complaint is that it rattles thru the guides, but no failures usually.


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## grinner (May 15, 2008)

like warren i use the double surgeons and it seems ok. i went off vanish for a while but found a spool of 10 lb and have been using that for flatties with no probs. check it after each fish or snag and replace if you feel any nicks


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## mcquamic (May 29, 2008)

Do yourself a favour and learn the bimini twist and attach the leader with a smooth leader/loop knot. This will increase the breaking stain to near %100 if you use a leader around %10 greater breaking strain. If you practice this alot you can tie it easily in the kayak even in rough conditions. Also as mentioned above Berkely underrate the breaking strain of fireline quite alot. I use 4lb and use an 8lb nitlon leader and the 4lb braid is actually stronger than the leader.


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## justcrusin (Oct 1, 2006)

Gday mate

I used http://www.animatedknots.com/indexfishi ... dknots.com when i want to remember some new knots.

For that size line I use the improved albright now that ranger mentioned. (sorry couldn't find a good pic of it)

Cheers dave


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## kayakity-yak (May 31, 2007)

I use a 5 turn surgeon. It gets a bit hard to tie when you're using leaders of 2m or more, but I use a bit under that and it's relatively easy. I say _relatively_ easy as sometimes it ties perfectly with no trouble but sometimes you might need to pull on the tag end or the leader end or the main or various combinations to get rid of a bit of slack that forms in the knot as you tighten. But just pull slowly and watch and you can work out which end you need to pull if need be.

It's held up a good 10 - 15 mins on a 52cm Salmon using 8Lb braid with 20Lb vanish leader, and I use it regularly on 4Lb braid and 6 - 8 Lb vanish with no problemos.

I go thru the loop 5 times.


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## kayakity-yak (May 31, 2007)

Also, when I'm trying any new knots, I tie and test a few at home to make sure I've got them right

Get 2 old hooks, and cut off the pointy bits with some pliers, so you have 2 blunt hooks.

Tie your leader knot with a metre or 2 of length of the respective lines.

Tie 1 hook to your vanish with a trustworthy knot (I use a uni)

and *important point* - tie the other hook to the braid using a palomar knot










most usual terminal knots do not cut the mustard with braid (a uni or a blood knot is hopeless)

Next is find something heavy to hook onto and pull out slowly with some scales and see what it reads before it snaps. When it snaps, the hook will go flying off and scare the crap out of you (even tho you bluntened it), so I also stick some blue tak on it so it stays put.

Dont expect to get 100% of the breaking strain. 70 - 80 % is more likely, I think my 6Lb braid and 8lb leader test (the leader being the weak point), snapped at 6Lb, but you account for that with your drag setting


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## mattyoga (Mar 30, 2008)

While working away last week and being bored in the hotel I tried 10lb braid (platil) to 20lb vanish in various forms of knots and tested using a spring scale:

braid alone :14lb
4:8 turn double uni : 7lb
42 turn bimini with ukatan: 12lb
42 turn bimini with ted donalan's leader knot (see Geoff Wilson): 14lb

I only tried each knot once, so not a good sample by any means, though was eneough to satisfy me to use the ted donelan one if time is not an issue. otherwise I use a double uni- will try the quintiple surgeon and doubled double uni to see how they go...


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## LoboLoco (Feb 1, 2008)

I use the exact same line and braid and have found the same problem!!!
Changed the braid (same stuff tho just new) and it was much better, maybe it is a bad batch


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