The Albright Knot vs. Nail Knot

[Acristickid]

Which type of knot do you utilize to connect your leader to the fly line?

I have been using the nail knot. Recently had a guide at a fly shop here in Florida tell me to use the Albright knot. He said he has seen some bigger fish rip the plastic coating right off the fly line tied with a nail knot. I guess it might not be that be a deal in PA- I was thinking about you striper and musky guys.

Also- anyone ever use shock tippet?? I have not but again the shop dude said I could be sorry I did'nt depending on what I fished for (Snook in particular).

Just when I was getting comfortable in tying the nail too.

Here some animation of the various knots.

http://www.animatedknots.com/albright/index.php?LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

Best wishes,
Paul

 

[tomgamber]

Forget it man, You're hooked...in it deep...we won;t expect you back anytime soon. Have a nice life. Invite us down sometime.

 

[Acristickid]

Hi my name is Paul and I am a flyfishing addict.

See I can admit it- they say the first step is to admit to yourself you are and addict. Ha.

Not planning on staying but I am looking into moving my flight back a couple days. The weather while 50 or so degrees warmer than home- these cool temps negatively effect the fishing for sure here.

This salt stuff is a whole new ball game and I enjoy learning these new techniques and species.

Any old salts out there?

 

[YoughRiverGuide]

Although I've never had one pull on me, the nail knot does eventually crack floating lines. For this reason alone, I would go with the albright—even on my freshwater rigs. The problem with the albright is that it tends to be a bulkier knot and it can hang up in the guides—not something you want with a big fish on the end of the line. The thing to do is coat the knot with something like Loon's knot sense: it will still be bulkier than the nail knot, but it does the trick.

Still, I have guide buddies who still use the nail knot on their lines. If you make sure you check the coating and retie the knot occasionally, I'm sure you'll have no problems with it. One word of caution—don't use the nail knot with sinking lines, especially mono-core lines. This is where the advice of your shop friend will come true.

Here's one more to add to the confusion: for the last few years I have been using a whipped loop on the end of my fly lines. You can pull on these with a pick-up truck and they won't come undone, and they go through the guides cleanly.

As for shock tippets, he's right about using them on snook. Snook have extremely sharp gill plates that will cut your leader. Most of the time though, I find them unnecessary.

Good luck and have fun in those southern latitudes.

 

[Acristickid]

YoughRiver- Thanks for the input.

Got my Snook spot scoped out- waiting till after the weekend (less boats and fisherman to go after them). It is near a lighted bridge.

Learned 2 things today-

Fished Lemon Bay Park- big flats area with a stable enough bottom to wade. Simply a beautiful area and day today.

Waded out into the bay and within 2 minutes I had several Redfish working 50 feet away almost right in front of me. I made a couple casts and think I spooked them- never saw them again all day.

Note to self: take your time with your casts and wading.

The oyster bars are also no joke. I frayed my fly line preety good today on one. Lessons learned.

Mother nature 1 Paul 0

Still think it is a great learning experience as this is going to be more difficult than I had thought.

Changes in latitudes = changes in attitude.

* Sorry got nobody here that can appreciate this stuff and I just finding it too exciting to just sit down and watch TV. My family justs says that's great and then it's quickly on to the next thing. Thanks for listening. Paul

 

[David]

acristickid wrote:
The oyster bars are also no joke.

Especially after a couple beers! But remember:

Eat seafood, live longer...
Eat oysters, love longer!

 

[dryflyguy]

Paul, maybe you oughta stay in florida for a few more weeks, and find your way to Tampa

 

[albatross]

AcristicKid wrote

* Sorry got nobody here that can appreciate this stuff and I just finding it too exciting to just sit down and watch TV. My family justs says that's great and then it's quickly on to the next thing. Thanks for listening. Paul

Paul,

That's one of the most important reasons I love this site. There are other people here that really undrestnad the things that get me excited about fishing. My family will humor me and listen to my stories, but they don't really appreciate them.

P.S. Greetings from California to Florida.

 

[jayL]

I knew the albright knot from my saltwater spin fishing days. One day, one of those orvis connectors failed on me, and I've never learned the nail knot well. I tied an albright on the shore of the stream, and have been using it ever since. I buy fly lines with loops, but if I need to tie a leader to a line, I use the albright. I honestly thought I was one of the only people that did that.