How To Tie the FG Knot

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Knot Style FG Knot Black

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When it comes to joining braided line and either mono or fluoro line, we use two basic knots. For light tackle fishing, we use the Double Uni Knot (both rank among our top seven fishing knots of all time, along with the Pitzen Knot).

But for fish that can really pull, and for most saltwater fishing, we step it up a notch and use the FG Knot as the best braid-to-mono or braid-to-fluoro connection.

Why Do We Use the FG Knot?

The bad news is the FG Knot is significantly harder to tie than the Double Uni Knot, but the extra effort rewards you with an almost 100% transfer of strength. And it is thinner than competing knots such as the Double Uni and the Albright Knot, so it goes through your rod guides much easier.

There are all sorts of instructions on tying it, but the method in this video (which is replicated in the written/illustrated instructions here) is the best. The key to tying this knot successfully is using all your limbs to maintain tension on both lines throughout.

Here below are the written instructions and below that, I have embedded a YouTube video from Australian fisherman Jason Erlich that most people agree is the best video explanation of how to tie this knot.

fg knot tying

RELATED POSTS: Best Braided LineEssential Fishing Knots Best Fluoro Line

FG Knot History

The FG knot is a relatively recent addition to the very growing book of fishing knots.

Very popular with Australian saltwater anglers, the FG knot was invented by GT fishermen who were getting busted off by giant trevally, one of the world’s strongest fish pound of pound. They also wanted to maximize their casting distance and accuracy, so needed a thin knot that could pass easily through the rod guides.

It’s just popular now in the US and other countries and is also known as the Sebile or GT knot. While it is harder to tie than the Double Uni Knot, the method described here allows you to tie it in less than a minute if you practice it. When you think about the pain of a lost trophy fish that escapes due to a weak knot, a few extra minutes perfecting your terminal tackle connections is time well spent.

FG Knot Tool

The other option for tying this knot – if you are having difficulty – is to use the Daiichi Seiko Knot Assist Tool, which is 100% designed to help tie the FG Knot.

The tool works is Japanese-designed and super high quality. It tightens the braided line and keeps the tension on one end of the leader, so it is easy to tie a FG knot without the knot slipping. See below for video instructions on how to use the Daiichi Seiko FG Knot tool.

FG Knot Testimonials

In this article from professional bass fisherman Carl Jocumsen explains why the FG knot is his best and only choice for braid to fluoro or mono connections.

In my last couple years in Australia I learned the FG knot, which is a Japanese knot that originated from the guys fishing for giant trevally. They wanted to be able to use 100-pound-test braid with a 130-pound-test leader and be able to cast it through the guides. It’s the only knot I know that has 100 percent knot strength. The FG knot is actually stronger than the line, and it’s a plaited knot, which means the braid is woven around the fluorocarbon, so it’s super thin and there’s no curl in the fluorocarbon or anything.
n Australia I’d done really well all through my career, but we were using Albrights and blood knots and surgeon’s knots and all that. And I would break off so many fish due to my braid-to-leader knot. In my last few years I learned the FG knot, and I figured out that I could do it on any size line. In those last three years I literally stopped losing fish, and I won angler of the year, I won our classic, I won angler of the year again and I won a bunch of other tournaments in between. It was crazy.
When I came here, nobody had even heard of it. When I fished in the U.S. Open in 2010 I was able to fish with 4-pound-test braid to a 6- or 8-pound-test leader and use a super long leader. That gave me a ton more stretch so I didn’t lose fish, and I could cast that long leader right through the guides. I’ve had that for years here, and I started teaching some of the guys, and now many pros are using it. It’s still such a big advantage it’s worth talking about.

As you’ll read in the piece, the key to this knot is practice. Carl points out he’s taught people who are hopeless with knots to tie the FG Knot quickly and effectively, but it is just a matter of doing it enough times as practice to you develop muscle memory of the required techniques.

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AUTHOR
Rick Wallace is a passionate angler and fly fisher whose work has appeared in fishing publications including FlyLife. He's appeared in fishing movies, founded a successful fishing site and spends every spare moment on the water. He's into kayak fishing, ultralight lure fishing and pretty much any other kind of fishing out there.
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