I still use a 2.5m 100lb twisty with a .6m 200 FC bite leader on my 130lb popping combo, they are a slick caster for '200lb' leader with no bulk and I feel confident when pulling big fish in the shallows, I don' rate the shock absorption factor at all. I have caught GT's on stickbaits with them but am weary of the 'flash' factor below the surface, obviously popping is no Problem. 

Like Falco I prefer a FG Mono combo for anything up to 150lb leader.

Oh!! and the loop to loop connection comes into it's own if rigging on a boat with no spare rigged spools.

Mark, personally I haven't used or bothered to tie one... From what I understand they somewhat have a shock absorbing effect, but one would think the rod is the more affective absorber?

The more I think about it the more silly it seems, mostly when you see a twisty used then a single strand bite leader usually fluro??...why not as Andrew stated step up the leader size for the toothy's and abrasion qualities.

Thanks for that reece...my crimping did suck bit of a prob that my crimps go 1.0,1.2,1.4 etc and the line is 1.1 ...doesnt make me feel good about the crimp.

I have always used the uni/thimble/solid ring for jigging and it hasnt let me down and it doesnt use up much leader(but then i use long leaders)...with sticks the leader is short and certainly an issue is how much line is used up for the join.otherwise,you end up tying another leader too often.

I will go chain knot for jigging and the uni/thimble/solid ring for sticks.Change the knot after a few good fish or a monster.

Can you stick a pic up of how you do your crimp please mate...I will go and practise it and then test 107 kg of LBD on it...the perfect test for any join

 

 

I started out using twistes when I borrowed one of Cams' reels set up this way.

I think my casting is better without them now and also I found while they were fine for popper's on smaller stickbaits the leader was coiling in the water at the end of each sweep,so affected the action and created slack line in the water momenterally.

Twisties are a strong connection that give confidence,but since I have mastered the FG I have 100% faith in its strength,so see no benefit of a bimini twist to twisted leader.

If the terrain was really craggy I would go up in leader size,and for toothy critters a heavier tougher bite leader can still be used.

 

I tied some when I went to Samoa but didnt use them,just went to heavier mono or fluro instead.

 

I think they are a good tool in the topwater arsenal but I havent fount the need for them here on kings.

And thoguhts on their merit?

Mr Konishi San has used a few different systems when fishing with me but i have never seen him use the above one when fishing for kings. The first few visits he done with me he was simply tying direct to the lure, he was primarily using Gamma lures.

On his second visit he was using a lot of the blue fish lures and using a split ring swivel system.

In the best broken english/ japanese the two of us could muster we had a discusion about the changes from previous visits. The information i got out of these discussions was basically the Gamma works at its peak when tied directly to the lure, the blue fish is a more forgiving lure and works well with a split ring system.

 

So far on the days when i manage to get a fish in myself, which is now rare i have found the gamma does perform better tied direct. One thing for certain is the gamma is going to be one of the most difficult lures you are ever likely to swim but get it right and it will be your number one stick bait. So if they are difficult then anything which helps (tying direct) is going to help you out a bit, thats my thoguhts anyway.

Lots of anglers are coming over and fishing the split ring swivel system and it does work well especially if you want to change lures many times during the day.

But things to be aware of are- split ring fatigue, these things will stretch out especially the cheap ones and wiht a bit of pressure in the wrong direction they will straighten out, i have seen it many times jigging with cheaper split rings where the fish comes up and the jig is simply gone. This is not what you want with an expensive stick bait.

The other thiong to watch is leader fatigue, if you can see fatigue on your leader then it is already to late, time to cut off and start again. On some of the big days we have had where huge numbers of fish are caught i have seen a pattern where eventually we will get some break offs on the leader, i feel that the leader is getting stretched out over the day and knots that have held up fine during the whole day will just break with very little pressure.

No syestem will be perfect for every application, i like to experiement and try different things. Jon is on the right track by actually testing his systems. Good bit of discussion here i reckon.

 

 

 

Edit: Im sure Braid to first leader section will be an FG. 

The photos are not mine and are pulled off another forum..Im sure the fishing community it came from wont mind.

They (Mr Konishi and others) were targeting (testing lures and rods) BFT

 

 

 

This is basically the system I use without the bite leader.I have found some baits swim better when tied direct though and some much better with a swivel,but generally Im crimping to a solid ring.