How to Tie a Leader to a Main Line (Braided Fishing Line or Monofilame – Florida Fishing Products

In this article, I’m going to teach you how to tie a leader to braided fishing line or monofilament fishing line. But first, we’d like to show you why using a 100% fluorocarbon leader is essential to catching more fish.

In our humble opinion, any angler using braided line should also be using a 100% fluorocarbon leader. why you might ask it’s harder for fish to see, more abrasion resistant making it harder for fish to break away from the structure, and the fluorocarbon leader provides superior knot strength over braided line that is known to slip. this means landing more fish, which should be the ultimate goal of all anglers. We all want to catch the next personal best catch (PB), and we do it by capitalizing on opportunities and catching as many big fish as possible. And we make the most of those opportunities by preparing well, and tying a leader is one of the many ways anglers prepare to go out and catch big fish. so on to how to bind a leader…

I’ll use my personal favorite knot to teach you how to tie a leader to your main line (braided fishing line or monofilament fishing line), and that’s the uni to uni (or double uni) knot. I like this knot because it is simple, has a very high breaking strength, and is very easy to teach others. so how do you tie a leader using a uni to uni (or double uni) knot…

1. keep the lines parallel to each other.

Begin by keeping the braided line and 100% fluorocarbon leader parallel between your left thumb and index finger. I like to start with my braided line, so I hold my braid over my fluoro to start.

1. create the first loop.

use your right index finger and thumb to create a loop with your braided line, and then pinch the loop between your left index finger and thumb like this… (I like to pinch the loop tag behind the braid and fluoro ya pinched in my left hand)

1. thread the braid through the loop.

Use the index finger and thumb of your right hand again to thread the braid through the loop you just created.

1. start winding the braid through the loop.

start wrapping your braid around the fluorocarbon leader and loop you just made. I usually wrap my braid 6-8 times depending on the size of the braid. For this exercise, I’m using 65# distance braided fishing line, which is pretty thick, so I only used 6 wraps. (if you use mono instead of fluorocarbon, you can use 4 or 5 wraps on both unit knots).

1. tighten the first half of your uni knot.

1. turn around to start tying the second uni knot with the 100% fluorocarbon leader

At this point, I flip the line over so the fluorocarbon leader is on top and the newly formed knot on the side of the braid is tight between my right index finger and thumb.

1. Create a loop with the 100% fluorocarbon leader.

then I start the process again creating a loop with the 100% fluorocarbon leader like this…

1. Pass the fluoro through the loop and start wrapping.

I will then wrap the fluoro around the braid and wrap it exactly four times. Due to the thickness of the fluoro, it does not need to be wound as many times as braided fishing line. (It doesn’t really matter what size fluoro leader I use, I always wrap the fluoro four times.)

1. then you’ll want to tighten your second uni knot.

1. I admire how far you’ve come.

At this point, you will have two uni knots facing each other with a little extra line in between.

1. synchronize your knots!

I like to wet my braid and fluoro with my mouth at this point, and then I’ll sync the two knots together. (I was told a long time ago by a more experienced fisherman than I that the saliva helps lubricate the knot, which helps the two knots sync up better. For some reason, I never doubted him, and I must say my knots always have worked very well).

1. cut the ends of the tag.

I like to cut my labels very close to the knot. I first make sure to time the knot really well so the knot doesn’t slip, and then I’ll cut the ends of the tag as close to the knots as possible. For less experienced anglers, you may want to leave some final etiquette until you learn how to time your uni-to-uni (or double-uni) knots.

Now you know how to tie a leader to a main line (braided fishing line or monofilament fishing line) using a unit-to-unit (or double-unit) knot.