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Loop knots

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megalomaniac

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Oct 28, 2005
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Mississippi
Anyone else noticed that loop knots seem to fail where the flouro rubs against the eyelet after a few hundred casts and a dozen fish caught?

Been using loop knots on my soft flukes and topwater past couple years to give them more darting action, but have had more fails at the eyelet than I do with improved clinch, palomar or barrel knots (not initially, but after sig use without retying).

I'm at the point where I think I'm going to quit Tying loop knots, because I'm too lazy to retie periodically throughout the day. I only retie when I notice abrasions on the main leader itself.

maybe I'm doing something wrong.

16 lbs flouro leader
 
Could it be your hooks, or a bad spool of Flouro? 16lb flouro is what I use for fly fishing for bass and catfish and haven't had an issue. I'm not catching big redfish, but do pretty good on bass and catfish with it. How many turns are you taking before going back through the knot? A non-slip loop knot is one where more is not always better. I had a tarpon guide teach me to only take 2 and that gives a stronger knot than 5. Tom Rowland had a podcast on this where he tested them, and the fewer turns had a higher break strength. I'm using Orvis Mirage Big Game/IGFA 16 pound flouro.
 
The knot isn't failing, it fails (eventually) where the slack loop goes thru the eyelet.

Set the hook, line breaks, reel it in and the knots is intact, but the loop itself broke.
 
megalomaniac said:
The knot isn't failing, it fails (eventually) where the slack loop goes thru the eyelet.

Set the hook, line breaks, reel it in and the knots is intact, but the loop itself broke.
Click to expand...
Oysters ain't your friend and trout/reds ain't tippet shy…….. 20#
The ONLY thing i use.
1730232258099.webp
 
7mm08 said:
Oysters ain't your friend and trout/reds ain't tippet shy…….. 20#
The ONLY thing i use.
View attachment 249580
Click to expand...
But why should I have to increase leader diameter if the problem is at the loop and not the knot?

I guess what I'm thinking is the supposed extra action of the loop knot doesn't seem to be worth it if it's weaker than another knot with the same diameter line.

And sure, I could just prophylactically retie every couple of hours. But that ain't happening unless the leader gets frayed.

I would guess I make 1000-1200 casts in a typical day fishing. I'm thinking its the repetitive casting that is weakening the flouro as it rubs and folds against the eyelet.

And this winter, I'm going to try to go REALLY thin with Ned Rigs... like 10lbs braid to 8lb flouro tied to 1/8oz heads and less
 
7mm08 said:
What kind of LOOP KNOT do you tie?
Click to expand...
not sure of the name, just make a half hitch in the line to make the loop, then pass the end of the line through the eye, back up to the loop, then go around the loop 3x and cinch down. The knot itself isn't failing at all, it ends up failing eventually at the back of the loop where the line goes through the eye.

Main concern isn't with my jigs... those are cheap. But fishing topwater with $12 skitter walks HURTS if the loop breaks!
 
WTM said:
yeah i wouldnt be using flouro for topwater baits. kind of defeats the purpose.
Click to expand...
My thought exactly. Flouro shouldn't be used on topwater as it sinks. Also it can get brittle. I would use a mono on top water or straight braid. With a loop knot, mono would probably be best as the braid might slip with a loop knot.
 
megalomaniac said:
not sure of the name, just make a half hitch in the line to make the loop, then pass the end of the line through the eye, back up to the loop, then go around the loop 3x and cinch down. The knot itself isn't failing at all, it ends up failing eventually at the back of the loop where the line goes through the eye.

Main concern isn't with my jigs... those are cheap. But fishing topwater with $12 skitter walks HURTS if the loop breaks!
Click to expand...
I'm not sure you get a lot of benefit for using a loop knot on a hard topwater like you do with the jigs. I usually use a regular knot to those.
 

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