Northwest Fishing Reports

do the number of wraps on a knot make a difference in strength? for example the improved clinch knot, i usually do 7 wraps with mono or fluoro and 8 wraps for braid, will more or less wraps make it better or worse?

6-8 is good, any less and you risk a slip (probably wouldnt happen tho) and any more and you start to burn/kink your line at the knot because it has a harder time tightening down all the wraps, so your looking good the way your doing it. Generally if i have a smaller line, 6-15 lb test i do 8 wraps, and the heavier line, 20-40 i use 6 wraps

thanks man, what if my leader and main line are the same pound test? 15 big game for my main and 15 maxima for my leader, cuz i wont get too much line on a reel if i put 20lb main and im scared a 12lb leader will snap on a decent king

if you are ok with the fact that when you snag up, you are going to lose everything, every time, and not just your hook, then go ahead. Having a smaller leader than mainline will usually result in losing the leader only, not the weight, but if they are the same, your probably going to lose it all. Other than that, there is really no problem with it. I would personally suggest 20 lb mainline for chinook, but if your reel is too small than your prob just gonna have to do the 15 on 15.

its a curado 300ej, with twenty i can get about 120-130 yards of line, probably not enough right?

hatinthekat wrote:its a curado 300ej, with twenty i can get about 120-130 yards of line, probably not enough right?

Fish get's 100 yards of line on you in most cases the fish won.
That is enough, like FF said use a lighter leader than your mainline, then you won't be loosing your mainline.

agreed with gringo, if your out 100 yards on a king your not getting him back anyways, lol, go 20 main 15 leader you will save gear and have power for those big strong chinook

hatinthekat wrote:do the number of wraps on a knot make a difference in strength? for example the improved clinch knot, i usually do 7 wraps with mono or fluoro and 8 wraps for braid, will more or less wraps make it better or worse?

For the braid I don't think I'd be worried about the number of wraps on a cinch as it's really not the best knot for braid. I'd be thinking more along the lines of a Palomar for braid. Any line of any size looses considerable strength when it makes a hard turn around the eye of a hook. The Palomar will double the contact area for you. For any other one knot guys, there are a lot of better knots for their intended purposes. Another one that comes to mind is the perfection loop for tying lures and jigs to your line.

Lots of better knots out there for their intended purposes, study up!

If you are planning on using this setup on salmon, go with braid and you'll be able to put well over 200 yards of 30lb line on that reel. As FF mentioned the number wraps I use varies by the diameter of the line. Thinner line gets more wraps than thicker line. With braid I use a Palomar Knot to a swivel/snap and attach the leader to the hardware.

yeah now that i look at it, 100yds is a whole freakin football field, with the combat fishin goin on, ill step up to 20lb main and crank the drag down so it wont get the chance to run that much, ill mucle him in =) maxima here i come!

You BETTER go with maxima!! All ive ever used for my steelhead, chinook in fresh and salt, all of it! Its SO super strong, abrasion resistant, worth more than its rated, and totally worth a few extra bucks. I mean, so you spend 100 $ on gas, but you lose your fish cause you saved 10 $ on line, not worth it!

exactly! trilene is 8 bucks, maxima is 12 bucks, a salmon is worth waaaaaaaaaaay more in any store, but the best tasting fish is the fish you catch! plus maxima lasts quite a while so its no question that its a MUST HAVE lol, i just hate when people always nag all day about bad line or bad gear when they bought cheap zebco or danielson mono and a 30 dollar walmart combo lol

hatinthekat wrote:exactly! trilene is 8 bucks, maxima is 12 bucks, a salmon is worth waaaaaaaaaaay more in any store, but the best tasting fish is the fish you catch! plus maxima lasts quite a while so its no question that its a MUST HAVE lol, i just hate when people always nag all day about bad line or bad gear when they bought cheap zebco or danielson mono and a 30 dollar walmart combo lol

No kidding! With all the gas and time i spend on fishing, it pays off in the end to have good, effective reliable gear so you can bring home some fish!

With braid I always tie a palomar knot( very simple and strong ) but with mono of ten pound and above I always use 7-10 wraps but when going down in size( 4-8 lb ) I will put a couple more wraps just due to it slipping easier....

for kings should i go with 18lb maxima or 20lb maxima? just wondering cuz my local stores reps are split in between lol

Honestly even for kings I fish with nothing heavier than 15 lb unless I am plugging or down rigging... Fishing from shore or casting you shouldn't need heavier.....

Depends on the rivers you plan to fish. If you aren't going to hit anything large, then stick with 15lb. If you plan to hit larger rivers with heavy current, you may want to step it up to 20lb.

hatinthekat wrote:for kings should i go with 18lb maxima or 20lb maxima? just wondering cuz my local stores reps are split in between lol

go 20, there's really no downside, 100 yards is plennnnty and if you get yourself into a 30+ pounder your gonna be SO GLAD you had it

To save $$, on my float/jig setups I backfill with bulk 20# mono, then tie just 50 yards of braid, never have gotten to the mono..

+1 Gringo..... I always back fill a bit anyways just because braid will slip on the spool if given a chance.