Originally Posted by
Micanopy
I am new to crappie fishing, but very accomplished at surf fishing. The UNI to UNI connection is solid but keep in mind that it can and will over constrict and cut itself loose. I applied a lot more force obviously while surf fishing, but that was my experience. I prefer to use a Nail to Nail knot connection. These knots constrict around the line and just kind of jam together. Very strong and durable and they don not over constrict as stress is applied.
Mono has a pretty good amount of stretch ( 20%), which helps it retain it’s strength. It stretches, then recovers. Flouro stretches, but it does not recover. Instead it gets thinner, but not uniformly, rather a little bit here and there kind of affair. Braid stretches by tightening it’s weave not by elongation of it’s fibers. 5% stretch can be expected.
So...... with a knot, mono strains then recovers. The knot tends to relax some. With braid it strains, but never relaxes, rather it maintains it’s strain. Strain it again, and it tightens again, never to relax. So when using a constriction knot like a UNI, you can expect it to continually tighten. This is why it is not durable over time.
Braid to mono or flouro, the braid can and will cut the mono/flouro. Just as there are some knots that do not work well with flouro, there are some that do not work when joining lines. Not sure of how long any of you keep this braid to mono connection before retying, but I would change it out more often than not. Everything is relative I understand, but thought it worth mentioning when the OP was asking.
The easiest way to fashion Nail knots is with a tool. There are many out there to choose from and they cost just a few bucks. With practice you can fashion up perfect knots in no time. The knot was designed for attaching a thin mono line to a fat rubberized fly line. The attachment is a Nail knot in the mono coiled around the fly line, which has not knot. It tightens and simply grips the material for the hold. I began using it to attach my main line braid (30Lb) to my braid shock leader (100lb) for surf fishing. Everyone recommended the UNI to UNI but I began getting mystery separations where no force was being applied and the two lines simply separated. One knot had over constricted and cut itself free. Once I changed that all went away. Landed some very large fish with that connection to be sure and even old knots held just fine.