If you use a leader and struggle with the FG knot, this incredibly easy to tie GT knot might be worth a go

I’m not interested in the arguments for or against lure fishing for bass with or without a leader - make your own mind up! - and I still fail to see the point of spending all this money on modern braid mainlines and then using older style knots that can’t get the maximum strength out of these incredible lines. I get all the arguments that we are only fishing for bass, and bass are not exactly tarpon or GTs or bonefish and what have you, but with how good and strong the FG knot is (which I have been using for over seven years now), and how relatively easily I can break Improved Albright or Uni to Uni leader knots in my hands when tied with say 20lb braid and a 20lb fluoro leader - again I ask myself what’s the possible point in not using the best leader knot I know of? Why not take the leader knot in your setup completely out of the equation as a potential weak point? Presuming that is that you lure fish for bass with a leader…………….

The FG knot

I have used the FG knot for long enough now to find it incredibly easy to tie, and that includes in a decent bit of vile weather and/or at night and so on. Okay, so I need to wear glasses these days to do close up stuff like this, but it’s easy for me to tie this knot as it’s been my go-to leader knot for so long now. I do get that some anglers struggle with the FG knot though, and especially when they first start using it, plus of course a lot of anglers can’t be bothered with the extra bit of effort it takes to tie it when compared to the Uni to Uni or Improved Albright. Who on earth am I to say what you should or should not be using? At least I can try and help with suggesting a decent alternative if I come across it.

And this incredibly easy to tie GT knot might just be another really good alternative to those older style leader knots. There are some serious claims about the strength of the GT knot in this video, but as it says in the info below, “****Please Note•••• all the knots tested and rated by the IGFA were tied to a Bimini Twist mono leader line. There is no guarantee in any of the knot strength ratings unless you tie the knot using a Bimini Twist leader line. In this demonstration, I did not use a Bimini Twist Leader line.”

The GT knot, and bear in mind that for the photo this is tied with 100lb braid and 100lb leader

I don’t actually know a heap of different knots and I stick to the ones which don’t let me down, but I do keep an eye open, and like with the FG leader knot a few years ago, if I find something which is so obviously better than what I was using then I’d be a fool not to change over. The GT knot as per the tying video looks like a cross between the Slim Beauty and a six-turn Uni knot to me, and I simply cannot imagine that there’s an angler out there who would struggle to tie this GT knot in any kind of weather. You might need glasses like I do these days for the close up stuff, and whilst I’m not personally looking for an alternative to the FG knot, I can but hope that some of you here might find this easier to tie GT knot worth a look…………...

The GT knot, and bear in mind that for the photo this is tied with 100lb braid and 100lb leader