With the help of Brett Rathe from warkworth boat and fishing today we tested a few knots.Thier is alot of information out thier for fishos and unfortunatly alot of it is not 100% true.

Case 1 was on gone fishing where we were told a spiders hitch was better than a bimini.

Case 2 was Geoff thomas telling people on the radio that s/bs dont work in winter.This will be proved wrong manytimes this winter.

So armed with lots of braid and fluorocarbon we tried a few knots

1st was strait 6pd fireline off a new spool


The 3 tests were 8.4kgs 8.5kgs and 8.9kgs

The Bimini twist tied in 6pd was 8.0kgs ,7.9kgs and 8.0kgs (20 turn)

The yucatan joining knot was 6.4kgs,5.5kgs and 5.7kgs (12 turn )

The back to back uni was 5.4kgs,6.2kgs and 5.9kgs ( 5turns fluoro 8 turns braid)

Surgeons knot 6.2kgs,5.6kgs and 5.9 kgs

Rapala knot 6.1kgs ,7.2kgs,7.4kgs

Spiders hitch 4.7kgs,3.4kgs,and 3.8kgs

Next was 4pd fire line .

Strait  4pd fireline broke at



6.2kgs,6.6kgs and 6.8kgs

20 turn bimini in 4 pd fireline

5.5kgs ,6.0kgs and 5.8kgs

Back to back uni 5.4kgs,6.2kgs and 5.9kgs

Yucatan 5.5kgs ,5.5kgs and 6.1kgs

Spiders hitch 2.9kgs 3.0kgs and 2.8kgs.

We did  tests with 50pd whiplash to test the knots only.

Heres the results

 bimini tied on whiplash 50pd that broke at 24.2kgs,24.7kgs and 25.7kgs

20 turn bimini 20.6kgs,20.5kgs 21kgs
25 turn bimini 19.6kgs 19.9kgs and 20.5kgs

Spiders hitch
13.1kga 11.9kgs and 12.1kgs

We used the whiplash with a swivel on the end to test the lefties loop knot


The lefties loop knot using BM 20pd fluoro

5.9kgs ,5.4kgs and 5.9kgs

Tied with vanish  6.5kgs 7.2kgs and 7.1kgs

Using 20pd mono 5.5kgs ,6.8kgs and 7.4kgs (a huge amount of stretch with mono before it broke)

The loop knots broke on the mainline and no evidence of the knot was to be found anywhere,the mono was hard to test as it had an amazing amount of stretch .If the tag end of the lefties knot was passed back thru the big loop when tying it gained Strength

Tests with tag passed thru loop using fluorocarbon

7.2kgs ,7.4kgs and 7.7kgs

Heres a few tests with different braids and fluorocarbon

BM fluorocarbon 20pd 10.9kgs11.2kgs and 10.6kgs

Vanish fluorocarbon 13.1kgs ,12.6kgs,14.1kgs and 14.4kgs

Suffix 20pd  fluorocarbon 10.7kgs ,10.1kgs and 10.9kgs.

Plait tied in 6pd fireline  broke at 6kgs


Cortland blackspot 37kg broke at 43.5 and 39.9kgs (cheers bushpig)

25pd suffix braid 13.7kgs and 13.1kgs

Suffix 6pd braid5kgs and 5.4kgs

Jarvis walker braid 8pd  9.6kgs and 9.7kgs

leader tied strait to jighead using bm 20pd fluoro and a UNI knot broke at 9.1kgs and 8.9kgs





Heres a few spools brett opened up to test showing totall disregard for the price he kept opening them up and testing



Lots of the biminis broke on the mainline,this we put down to line abbrasion from when the knot was pulled up tight.Some broke in the middle of the knot and some broke a single strand of the double.




PR knot tied in 24kg master braid and 130pd bm trace


This PR knot was tied then locked with super glue,it broke at 15.7kgs and the mainline broke at 24.7kgs.This is not a good example as ive not been tying pr knots for any length of time.It broke then unravelled eventually parting

For me the out come proves that the spiders hitch is a below average knot,the original knots that we were told to use with s/b fishing (bimini,bak to bak uni and lefties loop)are still very good knots to use for learners and experienced anglers alike.These knots will test differently with different people tying them and with slightly different variations to the knots(like more or less turns etc) The fused lines broke at well above the stated strength,the woven braids broke very close to stated  usually higher by 2 to 4kgs.

Cheers Brett for the use of the line tester and your time.


This what a wall of s/bs should look like..every colour gulp you can think of and the other brands as well around the cnr.

If any body wants to try thier knots out on the line tester just give Brett a call and he will happily help you out.Hes a book of knowledge when it comes to s/b fishing and good to ask questions to as he wont treat you like a complete twit (unless your acting like 1 )
His in shop demonstrations are worth watching as well if you need a few pointers.


So that was a good way to spend the day instead of watching DVDS on the couch.
Cheers Wayne .

thanks wayne... that was very informative, interesting about the 4lb breaking at 6.2 kg's that's crazy.. i find that with the 4 lb i only use the blimini because the spiders hitch is crap. graeme is is on drugs.

Great info, the results were interesting. Because I really only fish with 4kg of drag from the Kayak I might be able to get away with the Surgeons knot.   

I wonder if testing the Knots in a 'soaked' condition vs dry would show any differences in breaking strain. 

Militaris wrote: Great info, the results were interesting. Because I really only fish with 4kg of drag from the Kayak I might be able to get away with the Surgeons knot.    I wonder if testing the Knots in a 'soaked' condition vs dry would show any differences in breaking strain.

Surgeons knot is not something i use so Brett tied them all,they tested well.
Soaking the braid may make a difference but i didnt think to try

Cheers for that Wayne, good info there.

brown wrote: great stuff Wayne and Brett...definetly answered a few questions for me especially where the bimini and lefties was concerned. Onya for putting the time in and sharing the info   did you suss out the hot bread shop on the main road...mean as home made pies

Going cold turkey on the pies....time to give up ...got the shakes going past and had to pull over

The lefties was an eye opener as the knot totally dissapeared when it broke leaving just a strait piece of mainline.Ill definatly be passing the tag end thru when finishing the knot as this made the knot stronger.
The bimini done in heavy braid should be lubricated to help stop abraision or heat damage when pulling the 4 pieces outwards tightening the twists.This will help the knot keep maximum strength  even tho it breaks above the maximum drag settings of most reels when tied in 24 and 37kg braid

Good work Wayne. Obviously too much time on your hands.  Will send along some PR's.

Really good read that Wayne enjoyed it and learn't a few things cheers, food for thought ...Nice one mate  

Very informative Wayne and Brett, it is very true that advice is the most expensive thing in life.  Cheers boys.  How many turns did the surgeons have? was told that 3 turns is stronger than 5.  I still do 5.

Cheers guys excellent information.Put the coffee on Wayne i am coming around for some Hands on training