Like most of you, I am convinced that a braid mainline to a fluorocarbon leader offers numerous advantages in a variety of bass fishing situations, but like many of you I hold my breath every time I set the hook on a braid-to-fluoro setup. Even after experimenting with various knots, and seemingly perfecting them, I’m still nervous as a long-tailed cat in a room full of rocking chairs when I go to cross his eyes.
Part of that is attributable to a bad experience on the water last fall. I thought I’d gotten pretty good with the FG knot, but three times in one day I had a swing-and-a-miss moment that left me bewildered and fishless. I got home, went straight to YouTube, and found out I’d been finishing the knot incorrectly. Over the winter, nearly every time I sat down in front of the TV I had a spool of braid and a spool of fluoro at the ready, and I practiced and practiced and practiced until I could make the knot look good in my sleep.
No matter how good it gets, I’ll always be haunted.
One step I’ve taken to lessen the stress is to add a drop of super glue to the knot upon finishing it, which seems to add a bit of security but also tends to leave your fingers stuck together. Then I happened across Loon UV Knot Sense, a product made for fly anglers, but there’s no reason that it can’t be used by us bass freaks, too. It’s an adhesive that secures knots, dries quickly under natural UV rays (or with a UV light), and remains more pliable than super glue. At $8.50 a tube, it’s a little more expensive than the hardware variety sealant, but if it performs better it’ll be worth it. I’m willing to be convinced, because my nerves can’t handle the idea of my lines parting on the fish of a lifetime.
