How To Tie The Strongest Braid To Braid Fishing Knot [Video]
- By: Luke Simonds
- on February 11, 2016
- Found In: Braid to Braid, Fishing Knots, Fishing Tips
It’s knot time again!
And this time we’re covering a new type of connection… we’ll be tying a braided line to another braided line.
After getting a lot of great feedback from the braid to fluorocarbon leader knot contest, I started getting a good amount of questions from anglers wondering how to best connect two braided lines together.
Why Tie A Braid To Another Braid?
The most common use for a braid to braid knot is to splice a braid backing to the top ~100+ yards of braid in order to save money and time when re-spooling (allows for the untouched backing to stay on the spool while applying a fresh top section).
Given the multiple requests for this knot, I decided to do some testing and found that the knot shown below generates the highest breaking strength.
How To Tie A Braid To Braid Fishing Knot
After testing some of the most popular knots (blood, traditional double uni, albright, alberto) to connect a braided line to another braided line, I found that the Modified Double Uni Knot shown in the video below has the highest breaking strength.
This knot is easy to tie, it is very small once complete, and it’s hold strength has been testing just as strong as connecting to a swivel or a leader, so there isn’t much (if any) loss of strength to the overall system due to the splicing of the braid.
Here is a video showing exactly how to tie this impressive knot:
Note: This knot is the popular Double Uni Knot for line to line connections with just a slight adjustment in doing 10 wraps on each side vs. the traditional 5 wraps.
Conclusion
Our knots are always the weakest points of the line system, so it’s on us to ensure we’re using the strongest options for all types of connections so that the biggest fish of the day doesn’t get away.
And when in need of connecting a braided line to another braid, then this Modified Double Unit Knot for Braid is a fantastic option.
It’s easy to tie, has a thin profile, and it’s breaking strength has been the best I’ve tested for this connection so far.
If you have any braid to braid knots that you’d like me to test it against, please do not hesitate to let me know using the comment section below.
Tight lines and strong knots!
Go To Our Knot Testing Homepage [Full Knot Rankings]
Related categories:
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish ever trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
STOP WASTING TIME ON THE WATER!
Do what the “SMART ANGLERS” are doing and join the Insider Club.
Here’s what you’ll receive today when you join:
- Weekly fishing reports and TRENDS revealing exactly where you should fish ever trip
- Weekly “spot dissection” videos that walk you through all the best spots in your area
- Exclusive fishing tips from the PROS you can’t find anywhere else
- Everything you need to start catching fish more consistently (regardless if you fish out of a boat, kayak, or land).
I have tried this 100 times. Every time it has snapped the line after checking when I pull the braided lines away from each other to check the knot. WTF?!
What lines are you using? Any idea how much tension you’re putting on it when it breaks?
Have you tried an fg knot for braid to braid it seems to work I use about 30 wraps,it makes a small knot and it doesn’t hang up on the line spooling of the reel maybe you could test it
Yes, I tried it on braid to braid and it did not perform well. The problem is that the braid can’t dig into itself like it does with mono/fluoro, so it’ll eventually slide off when enough tension is applied.
To test it out, just pull on the line until it either breaks or slides off… it has slid off every time I’ve tried it.
Let me know if you find that it holds.
Your not doing it right. The tighter you pull, the tighter the knot gets. I just did braid to braid test and literally could not pull it apart or break the line with all my might.
What would happen if you did the same process with two line thicknesses instead of one?
This braid to braid knot works well for line of different diameters too.
thanks
thanks for knot luke .have you actually caught a fish with this knot under real world pressure outside of spool if so up to what size. cheers
Yes, I had a 5 ft tarpon peel out enough line to get the knot out of the reel… still landed it on 10 lb line.
Hey Luke, have you ever tried testing a Double Uni using the same method of doing two turns around the other line instead of one as if you were reinforcing a single Uni knot when attaching it to a hook/swivel ?
I’m not sure that I understand what you’re referring to… is there a video that shows this style of tying the double uni?
can i use FG knot?
The FG knot should not be used for braid to braid knot connections… only braid to a mono/fluoro leader.
Using FG knot braid to braid all the time. From 22kg mainline to 90kg leader. What is your reason for not recommending it?
I have found that the coils will side off of the braid when I tried it with braid to braid. Are you saying that the knot will break before the coils slide off when you’re using it on braid to braid?
how bout tying mono to fluorocarbon
The 3 turn surgeon not is my favorite knot for mono to fluoro. Here’s the rest of the ones I’ve tested out with their ranking for each type of connection: https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/fishing-knots/
can you use this knot to tie braid to fluorocarbon?
Yes, but it’s not the best option in my option… here’s a link to see the strongest knots for each connection need: https://www.saltstrong.com/articles/fishing-knots/.
can you use this knot to tie braid to fluorocarbon?
how would you rate the blood knots strength compared to the uni to uni knot?
The blood knot is great for lines of equal size/strength, but the uni knot seems to be the clear winner when connecting lines of different sizes/strengths.
What do you think about using an alberto knot to connect braid to braid?
The Alberto knot is a good knot (it won’t slip out), but it’s breaking point is not as strong as the FG knot so I’d recommend that first… here’s a link showing a knot contest of the FG knot vs the Alberto where the FG won 5 out of 5 times in case interested: http://www.saltstrong.com/articles/albright-vs-alberto-vs-fg-knot/
Thank you for your reply yeah i saw your fg knot vid it looks superior to the alberto for tying flouro to braid and I would like to use the FG knot soon as I’ve only tied the alberto knot (never had it fail and have caught some big chinook and steelhead) But I was wondering about using alberto knot for tying braid to braid instead of the uni to uni knot.
My apologies… I rarely get braid to braid questions so my mind automatically assumed the most common question I get (braid to fluoro). For braid to braid, I would not recommend the alberto knot because it is designed specifically for braid to mono/fluoro similar to the FG knot. So far, the best option I’ve found for braid to braid is the double uni knot (10 x or more a side).
Braid to braid, any knot is a fail.
Splice the two lines together at home with a medium size sewing needle. The south africans have a very good method that is as near 100% as you will get. Real 100%, not internet bragging rights 100%. Stronger than the PR or FG connection to your leader will be. The trick is to splice the one line through the other back and forth and not inside the line, and then take the tag of the line just stitched and stitch it back and forth through the other and DO NOT tie off the tags, just cut them a mm or 3 short. Do 30 stitches each side for your own peace of mind, 20 each side is more than adequate though. 20lb braid is not an issue to stitch.
Thanks for the knot suggestion. I’ll add that to my list of knots to check out.
Note: Yes, I agree that the “100%” strength claim is a fallacy given that it goes against physics… all knots create a load bearing point in the line, so that’ll be where the break occurs unless the main line is compromised.
http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?topic=10139.0
http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?topic=20739.0
http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php?topic=15598.0
I’m not a fan of the stitched loops for spinning leaders, there stitch to stitch is the way forward for me if a heavy braid leader is required, but there all the info. Paulus fishing had some info a few years back but that picture and tests seem to be gone off his site now.. Just posted the links above for you to check out. no reason to publish this response, rather try them and test them and tell yer folks.. 😉 That stitch is in essence creating a new braid in splice, over the join, of a much thicker ply than either line being joined so in my laymans engineering guess it can be stronger than either line as opposed to a knot. Badly done, as strong and well done, stronger..anyway..I’ve not touch wood, been able to break one, over the mainline, in three seasons and many break offs and big angry fish in shallow rocky waters. Some were neater than others but I’ve yet to have one fail me. My FG’s are reliable but very occasionally I’ll tie a dud and cast off a lure or loose a fish, the stitch to stitch..is in another league of reliability.
Been using this knot for some time now thanks to you, Luke. Works a treat and is very easy once you know. Thanks for the contribution you’ve made to my fishing experiences!
My pleasure Kevin! Thanks for making time to leave the nice comment. Fish On!
What is the breaking strength as a percentage of line strength? Why not splice the lines together using splicing needles?
When doing this knot on 10 lb test (which is what I typically use), the breaking point averages out to be 20 lbs.
Since this line is so thin, I’m sure that using a slicing needle on it would be very difficult (I’ve only heard of that used on heavy braid.
So using a knot doubles the line strength or is it that the manufacturers of the line understate it’s strength by 100%?
The listed line strength is always lower than the true breaking strength of the line, but the amount above varies. Since knots always create a load bearing weak point in the line, the purpose of a knot is to minimize the weakness that it causes so that the breaking point can be as close as possible to the actual strength of the line… this modified double uni knot for braid does a great job at spreading the tension load resulting in a higher breaking point than most other knots (while still being slightly weaker than the actual strength of the line).
This what you wrote “When doing this knot on 10 lb test (which is what I typically use), the breaking point averages out to be 20 lbs.” I was wondering why 10 lb test line can become 20 lb breaking strength after a knot is used to join line sections? Shouldn’t the knot reduce the breaking strength to about 9 or 9.5 lbs at best?
Fishing line that is rated at 10 lbs can have a 20 lb breaking point because the “listed strength” is often much lower than the “actual strength” to ensure any blemish points are still at least 10 lbs. With the 10 lb line I was using that had a 20 lb breaking point at the uni knot, the actual breaking point of the line was more than 20.
Note: It is very difficult to measure the actual breaking strength of a line without load points of knots, so I recommend tying two knots on the same strand of line and then pulling until one of them breaks to see which one is strongest.
I have Daho splicing needles and also use very thin gauge high tensile wire for lines smaller than 0.4 mm. I regularly splice braided lines of 50, 80,100, 200, 300, 400 and 700 lbs test. If the braid was 30 lb test of 4 weave hollow braid then I am confident of 30 lb to 30 lb. There are other knot-less methods using same strength mono inserted inside the braid and crimped using Daho custom crimps. There is a limit to diameter difference and as a rough guide 50% line diameter difference is about the limit. That means I could splice 30 lb to 50 lb, 50 lb to 80 or 100 lb, 100 lb to 200 lb etc,etc. I agree, that the very small lines are very difficult to splice and in any case splicing is not something to be done while fishing at night on a rocking boat!
I assume that this knot will work on all line weights, 10lbs-10lbs, 130lbs-130lbs
Yes, and it can be used to connect lines of different sizes… 10 lb to 100 lb.
I would never recommend stepping down line class any more that 2 sizes down. Especially with a uni-uni (knot pulling against a knot) It is too easy for say a 10lb spectra to pull inside the 100lb.
I completely agree that there should never be a need to tie a 100 lb braid to a 10 lb braid… way too much disparity. I was under the impression that Jim’s comment was referring to connect a 10 lb braid to another 10 lb braid, and a 100 lb braid to another 100lb + braid. And I did a poor job in my reply to specify that in my reply.