Andy135

Don't get me wrong I find it a ballache having to tie an FG, but it's the least fiddly of the wrapper knots out there. The actual tying is doable in 1-2 mins easy, but it's the cutting back the frayed braid to good and getting another length of leader ready that sucks the time (and effort) up.

Honestly, about a minute. Have done it on a rocking boat and in the dark on the shore. All without a bobbin too.

That's a new one on me. We've always been told that braid cuts through the tide better as it's thinner. Surely fatter mono would catch more tide and vibrate more I would have thought, but who knows. Either way, I've now got another excuse to add to my armoury for the next time I blank 😉

All part of the service from the SLT...

No. 25 is ok, but not 26. 26 is waaaaay too many.

You're missing the point. It becomes almost impossible to put sufficient tension on more than around 25 wraps, so if you use, say 30 wraps, the first 5 won't be under tension, even if you follow every other part of the process correctly. So my point was that @GPSguru is only partially right in saying that the longer the knot, the more the load is spread. Too long isn't actually helpful in this case.

This is only partially helpful though. What I mean is that the same amount of load (the limit of one's ability to apply tension on the knot) is spread more thinly across a wider surface area, meaning the average load per braid wrap can reduce. Same as how a car with wide profile car tyres can aquaplane more easily than the same model of car with skinny tyres. Both cars have the same load but with skinny tyres the load is focussed on a smaller contact patch with the road giving better performance on wet road surfaces. I've found that with more than about 25 wraps of braid, the first few wraps don't get cinched down as much as the wraps at the end nearer the hitches. Over time this allows all the wraps to work loose and the knot comes undone. So less can be more with wrap-based knots.

I doubt that the attractant would really work even when fresh. It's more about shape and movement IMO, and being where the fish are.

Totally agree here. I too use a length of wood (cut down pickaxe handle that doubles as a priest) and let the drift do the work. Should never pull for a snag using the rod alone - ask me how I know...

Ah you mean he was wrapping his finger and the leader at the same time?

The click is made by the tag end of the leader touching the rod ring. One way to mitigate the click is to tie a series of half hitches over the tag end so that the transition from leader to braid is smoothed/tapered by the hitches. Easier said than done though to be fair.

That sounds like a recipe for the braid to slice through to the bone. I usually put a loop of braid round my sleeve (sleeve, not wrist!) and pull on the braid without risking a braid cut.

No. There's really no need.

I learned to tie it using that video. It's what the bass lure guys use to tie fluoro leaders to their braid and it stands up to repeated casting & retrieving through the rod tip nicely. Just practice the knot until it becomes second nature. Doesn't take long to learn. Just 20-25 wraps and a handful of half hitches. That's literally all there is to it. The key though is tightening down the wrap after the first half hitch. If you don't put the wrap under tension then it will unravel. It holds using friction on the fluoro/mono, so you have to tighten the wrap down by pulling the braid to apply the friction tension before tying off with the rest of the half hitches.

I do. It's brilliant.

Yeah, there's no way I'd take it skishing! Too lovely to risk it. But they are good in the surf. @Davemc and I took our Van Staals to Jersey for a few days luring for bass (I blanked before @JonC asks a pointed question...), and we used them in big surf conditions in our waders up to our waists. They never missed a beat and only needed a quick rinse off.

Actually, I think I've caught another more recent one, when out with @Saintly Fish at the Spoils last summer.

Last season, when I took @Davemc bream fishing in Sandown Bay. I was using a spinning rod and that Van Staal with a bream rig and a bass took off with one of the squid strips.

Shimano are good for FS reels - I used their Exsence 2500 and Sustain 4000 for lure fishing for bass and they are still silky smooth after 8+ seasons of use. However I found myself using the Van Staal 150 exclusively on the boat. It's a thing of beauty in my view #tackletart

Well, why don't you say what you really think! 🤣

I only used booms when wrecking, just to keep the hook length from tangling on the way down. For general bottom fishing I only ever use the red zip sliders.

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With a muppet 😉