howsthebite · Knots · FG knot
How to tie the FG knot
Joins braid to a fluoro or mono leader with the slimmest profile of any common line-to-line knot.
Also called: Fine grip knot
Why this knot
It passes through guides almost silently, which matters when you are casting a long leader. It grips by friction rather than by bulk.
Tie it
Step 1 of 6
- 1 Hold the leader tight — around a rod butt, your knee, or between your teeth. Tension on the leader is what makes this knot work.
- 2 Weave the braid over and under the leader, alternating sides, for about twenty wraps.
- 3 Keep each wrap snug against the last. The braid should bite into the leader as you go.
- 4 Lock the weave with two half hitches of braid around the leader.
- 5 Add three to five more half hitches around both the leader tag and the braid.
- 6 Wet it, pull the braid firmly to bed the wraps, then trim the leader tag flush and the braid tag short.
That's the knot. Wet it, seat it, and pull against it before you cast.
Getting it right
- This is the one knot worth practising at home before you need it at 5 AM.
- Constant leader tension is everything. If the leader goes slack the wraps will not bite.
- Twenty wraps is a working number. Fewer slips, many more just adds time.
What goes wrong
- Letting the leader go slack partway through, which leaves loose wraps that pull out under load.
- Skipping the finishing half hitches. The weave alone will unravel.
Knots that go with it
