Smiley's leader knot

[Smiley 8]

A while ago I was having issues with my leader knots, I tried lots of different ones and ended up coming up with my own.The knot is stronger and a little smaller than a double uni. It also ties easier IMHO.It is best suited to lightish leaders, 6lb and under, it does start to catch the guides a bit too much when you start getting much heavier than that.Give it a go, tell us what you think ;D [file name=6Wo8hbAt__Smiley.pdf size=258294]http://www.fishyorkepeninsula.com/images/attachments/6Wo8hbAt__Smiley.pdf[/file]

[Cal 480]

Nice one smiley , yes that is a nice knot.Sorry to steal a bit of thunder from you mate but the knot you show is actually used a lot by long distance casters, mainly for comp casting and mainly in the UK and Europe.I use it for when I am doing distance casting ,its great for shock leaders, and the reason they use it is because it is the slimmest.Only one is more streamlined and that is the blob end knot, which is a pain in the a#$e to tie.It is considered one of the best.It is a testament to how you must pay attention, and be thinking to improve your angling to experement and work it out for yourself.Awesome work mate and plenty should benefit from using it.http://nickaway.com/images/Backgrounds/shocker.jpgCheers 8)

[Smiley 8]

I thought someone might have thought of it before, but I came about it on my own. I did have a quick look around on several of the knot sites but couldn't find anything so I claimed it ;)Just noticed that the one in your link is different to mine, I tie the uni over the tag aswell

[Drawn 1]

Fantastic effort to come up with that knot yourself.I was shown it a while ago and was told it is called the "slim beauty".Drawn

[Smiley 8]

I think that is what the one in the link Cal put up is called, mine is slightly different.

[YoBBo 0]

cool, i just love this stuff, nice one Smiley.Just outa curiosity , how do you know its stronger than a double uni? did you test it, and if you did, how?The reason I ask is, i put up a post about tying heavy leaders to mainline, but im tryin to work out a way to test the knots..80 - 100lb ish.

[Smiley 8]

I only tested it once, using a sping scale thingy.The main reason i know that it's stronger is because if i get a snag that i have to break off it almost always breaks at the jighead/lure not the knot like it used to with the bouble uni.

[David Ciaravolo 34]

Great Knot Smiley!! Fellas this is well worth a try.And as for beating a double Uni, well i must confess, I tied a Uni, Smiley tied the Smiley Knot ans when the scales came out, HE WON THE DAY!!Its a good knot, i was happy with the uni before, but now im changning my spots, give it a go!Yak

[Steve-Bream-Fishing 4]

Good one Smiley :icon_e_wink: I'll have to practise that one :icon_e_biggrin:.

[Smiley 8]

It wasn't me yak, you tied them both. Shows how easy it is to tie when you beat your own double uni on your first go at a new knot!

[David Ciaravolo 34]

It wasn't me yak, you tied them both. Shows how easy it is to tie when you beat your own double uni on your first go at a new knot!

Ha! I forgot that Aaron! Selective memory, they call it! ...beat...my own knot....... bloody hell! y'd think i coulda rigged it in my favour! (no pun intended)

[brenton 637]

I tried it out this morning on the bream Smiley and i reckon its tops,easy as pie and seemed pretty neat and if you,ve tested it and it out performed the double uni then its a pearler. cheers brenton

[Smiley 8]

Cheers Brenton, I've only tested it properly once tho so it's hardly a definitive test. But through fishing it and other knots I have tested it plenty and it's the only one that hasn't given out on me.Just for the record, when we did test it we used 10lb braid and 8lb leader(from memory) the uni broke at 3.0kg(6.6lb) and mine broke at 3.6kg(7.93lb)!!! I think i'm going to have to test it again, that number seems to close to the breaking strain of the leader. It's funny tho, when the knot fails the leader almost always breaks just behind the knot leaving the actual knot intact! So I guess the breaking strain for the knot wound be very close to that of the leader.

[crocka79 0]

good onya smiley, does any one no how this knot comes up compared to improved albright??? :)cheers trevor

[Smiley 8]

The albright is slightly slimmer in the light stuff, more so as the thickness of line increases. It doesn't pull up right every time, only works well when there is a reasonable diameter difference between the lines and doesn't last too long punching through the guides. It's strength is ok if you use a double in your braid. I'm not sure how it compares when tested but I came up with my knot because I wasn't happy with it overall.

[brenton 637]

As you say Smiley,I would love to see it tested a bit more but if it out performs the improved albright that would be great because the albright is hard to get right.Keep up the good work.. cheers brenton

[crocka79 0]

keep practising brenton improved albright is a good strong knot and probably the easiest outa the leader knots to tie, ive rarely had problems with it. as long as u stick with 5 wraps up and down shes sweet. only probs over the years has been if u leave a little tag it can catch and cause bird nest and lose lure or jig but again rare. :)cheers

[YoBBo 0]

keep practising brenton improved albright is a good strong knot and probably the easiest outa the leader knots to tie, ive rarely had problems with it. as long as u stick with 5 wraps up and down shes sweet. only probs over the years has been if u leave a little tag it can catch and cause bird nest and lose lure or jig but again rare. :)cheers

I cut my my double then plait it over the tag end. Problem solved. “Ü”

[crocka79 0]

I cut my my double then plait it over the tag end. Problem solved. “Ãœ”try to keep me knots as simple as possible yobbo usually using light leader so its figity enough. as long as tag end nice and trim there no probs, but feel free to explain further. im not sure wot u mean

[YoBBo 0]

bit hard to explain in words, but i will give it a go.I tie a bimini twist, then connect the leader with an Improved Albright. As you know this leaves the tag end of the leader pointing down the leader, and a chance of catching on the eyes. To neaten this up, I cut the double of the braid (the knot is already tied so it doesnt matter), then plait over the tag end by wrapping one piece of braid over the left, one over the right until the tag end is neatly covered then tie it off.If using a short leader there is no need to cut the braid, just twist it through the leader back and forth.For light leaders I usually use a Yucatan knot, but I reckon I will give Smileys knot a go.Different knots for different situations, and I agree, keeping it simple whenever ya can.The knot i just explained is for more of a permenant fixed leader, eg deep sea reef fishing.But I do tie a bimini twist in all my braids.

[crocka79 0]

yeah im always changing leader sizes fella ile have to have a sus at tying bimini twist and yucatan. u do alot of deep sea souties then?

[YoBBo 0]

yes mate, we do a deep sea charter every 3 months, and doing a 5 day trip in March.If you are changing your leader alot, you might find the bimini is just too time consuming, and smileys knot would be worth a look.

[crocka79 0]

sounds good have to get meself on a deeper sea charter one of these days, but for now ile stick to the shallow coastal areas and estuarys(bit tight on cash) missus would spit chips if i went on a charter with a boat in the shed. i reckon ile have a look at smileys knot good and proper though already printed it out ile sus it out dis arvo. looks to be similar to albright though

[YoBBo 0]

sounds good have to get meself on a deeper sea charter one of these days, but for now ile stick to the shallow coastal areas and estuarys(bit tight on cash) missus would spit chips if i went on a charter with a boat in the shed.

I got that bit sussed, mine comes with me, she loves it

[crocka79 0]

nice,me missus comes out maybe twice a year but its a bit hard with the little ones, not really her thing. (lucky 4 me) ;)

[Smiley 8]

Anyone else given my leader knot a go?

[brenton 637]

I,m using it all the time Smiley and so far i,m impressed,im putting about 7 turns on the uni...about right you reckon or would you use more?......you don,t want royalties do you?? cheers brenton

[Smiley 8]

Yeah, 6 to 8 turns is about right, if you do too many the uni only tightens at either end and can cut through the fluro. Which is just as bad as only doing a couple of turns.Now as for the royalties...........

[bennyboy 0]

Anyone else given my leader knot a go?

Yup, i've given it a crack aswell,seems the goods mate

[Zads 0]

The Knot is not a slim beauty as this tied using a figure eight Knot as start in your leader with the mainline passed through it and the tag on the leader is facing towards the reel http://www.marinews.com/Slim-Beauty-233.php