On a recent trip to Florida I managed to bust three rods in the span of a 24 hours. One snapped like a pretzel when I was setting a hook. Another one I broke on a kayak on a first cast by snagging the other rod in the kayak (I never said that I was bright). And last, and the one that bugs me the most, I cracked the tip guide by casting with a swivel inside the guide. How big of a klutz am I? You decide
To be honest, this swivel/guide thing was always a problem with me when fishing 7 foot rods. I never shorten up my leader and therefore I would hit the tip with the swivel more time than not. Laziness, stupidity, ignorance, you can call it whatever you want.
Crazy Alberto stood behind me while I busted all these rods and finally he said something that I knew it was coming “Why are you still using swivel”?
I don’t know, because that it the way I was thought?? Because that is the only way I ever fish? What about a line twist, it’s that suppose to make a mess of my line?
Not according to Alberto who has been using his ,what he calls, Alberto’s knot for years. He tried to explain it to me, something about Chinese finger trap, seven times around..to be honest, I envision my fingers tied to the lure which was tied to the pliers which was tied to the rod…you know what I mean. It sounded complicated.
So, while we were doing the interview on camera in my hotel room, I asked him to show me the knot. Hey, not only was this quick but even I could do it! ok…maybe
[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J56O3CZVu7M[/youtube]
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Sweeeeeeet!! Ive been waiting for a video of this. I hate swivels sometimes. I agree that twist isnt much problem with braid…..Question if I may though Z: does Al use this knot when surf fishing as well? or just lighter tackle stuff
↓teach me to ask dumb questions….shoulda known tha man would answer that one for me. Thanks!!
↓Wondering if ALberto uses a longer leader that goes through the guides and winds onto the reel? I am asking about spinning gear for surfcasting. Also does he use mono or flouro for leader and what pound test for a 10 ft stick on beach vs rocks?
↓Lee S
I use this knot a lot and it is funny this came up because I said to myself main line, swivel, 4 feet of flouro, swivel, alberto clip is just unnecesary. This year direct tie to clip and only one swivel on the main to leader. I still believe line twist exists and I just keep one swivel as I believe it is good measure. Not sure why I had 80,000 barrel swivels,
↓Casting will be better without the extra barrel and I trust my knots enough to say I may have a more reliable setup because iof it
↓Although I use long leaders I don’t think i would ever cast a knot through my guides no matter how low profile it is. Especially lowrider/Legend?mojo guides. On the retrieve I can see the advantage of not smashing a barrel swivel into your tip top every time you reel in in the middle of a pitch black new moon but I am not sure if i would cast it through the guides. Lob cast short distance with a live eel…possibly.
↓I agree, casting a knot through the guides sort of gives me the heebie-jeebies, but I think that’s the point. With this knot, you can use a 15 foot mono shock and crank your leader right onto the spool, no worries.
Lord knows at night I have discovered wind knots in my line after having cast them through the guides. A wind knot is much larger than the Alberto twist.
↓One day in MTK I noticed Paco’s rod didn’t have a swivel attached to the TA clip & I immediately asked Al to teach me this knot! I use it to connect power pro to power pro also.
↓Holy cow! I was going through my gear this past weekend and decided to use some left over Power Pro on a small conventional I use for fluke et. al.. Found Alberto’s Knot and decided to try it to join the mono backing and the PP. It took only two practice knots before I had the confidence to tie up the real thing. Easy and seemingly very strong and smooth through the guides. Thanks Al and Z.
↓I have found one problem with this knot.. If you don’t pull it tight ( and I stress tight) you might find as I have that the knot will untie its self when using 20# pp with 40# floro as the leader. the floro tends to want to straighten out and forces the knot open if you do not tighten and tighten and tighten the knot before snipping. I also use 9 turns of pp before going back up. but that’s just my experience. I use this knot and the uni uni only no swivels.
↓this is an excellent knot. don’t worry about it passing through guides. tournament distance casters cast knots through guides all day at extreme velocity , not necessarily the Alberto knot but knots nonetheless and some of these casters also use lowriders without a problem.
↓Lots of great discussion here, I’m in! j/k. So this looks like a variation of an Albright knot right? Is there still benefit to the swivel for line twist? Knot seems simple and expedient…
↓No line twist problems with the above knot or a stren knot to join line to leader, with the end of the leader tied to a swivel attached to the split ring on the lure
↓I like this knot alot. My reccs are to make sure you keep “sliding” the knot down and tighten as Al was a few times and when you think it’s good, then wet it and do it again. It really locks in this way.
↓Great video & a funny story. I use Al’s knot on all my customers setups. Best knot around for attaching the leader & braid. Happy to see it shown here by the man himself. Makes night fishing one step easier, thanks Z
↓I have being using this knot from a year now…..perfect for rod tips….thanks for the video.
↓As a kid we always got those Chinese finger traps for Christmas and our parents delighted in seeing us stuck and would never give us the solution.Despite them being paper they would not tear.So i have ultimate faith in how strong a knot this is.
↓i have been using that knot to tye my fly line to my backing when i salmon and steelhead fish….the knot is shown on cortlands fly line web site and it comes in a card when you buy their line
↓I’ve been using this knot for 2 seasons whenever i go swivelless and need a wind-on … Its a perminent fixture on my lighter reels for fresh and salt. In that time i hadx one fail my first trip out using them i chalk it up to a bad tie i havent had one fail since. FYI Als smallest tac clips flat out kick ass for fresh and light salt applications hands down my favorite size no one else makes them that small.
↓Wow.
↓i’ve been using this knot for a year on my bait outfit. i love it! no issues with the knot passing through the small guides on my conventional rod. i’ve been considering using it on my plugging rods.. but it seems like it’d be difficult to tie out on the beach in less than ideal conditions. i may set up my back bay rod with this knot though.
↓Lost the fish of a lifetime with Albert knot, I literally tied it a hundred times before I used it in the field. I perfected it, and it failed. The main line came out of the knot causing me to lose a high 40’s fish, I’ll just stick with my swivel on my leader!
↓Yep, as it passes through the guides it is possible that it loosens (rare but can happen).
↓He makes it look so easy!!!! wonder how easy it is on a new moon with wind and surf!!!! But worth a try-since it means one less thing to fall in the water at the wrong time!! and the sound of the swivel hitting the guide always makes me cringe.
↓Love it, goodby swivels
↓Ok, what am I doing wrong. Watched video a few times, followed instructions… Tried it a few times. Each time I test it my braid slips. I’m using 30 lb braid on 30 lb mono
I really want to lose my swivel, but want a 100% or close to it knot
↓Great job. I learned something today that I’ll use for years. Video is the perfect medium for teaching knots, I could never follow those multi step diagrams with the dashes and arrows. Does Alberto have any easy knots for neck ties? 🙂
↓Bruce and Striperguy This is why I commented to make sure the knot is tight, tight , tight. I have used this knot for years ( I hate swivels and they really don’t work)You have to make sure it is so tight you think you might snap it. And if not on the beach a drop of fishing or super glue makes it 100%.
↓P.S. I changed all my rod tips to SS tips so if I do use a swivel and crank it through the tip It wont brake the guide.
Just my .02.
Woodwker99 – thanks for the reply. I’ll
Continue to try the knot and test. I tighten and pull to the point where I have to use a device other then my fingers or I’ll cut my fingers on the braid. I’ll try super glue but… If you think about the knot, the braid is really biting against the leader and not the braid. So maybe it is more like a jam knot rather than a Chinese finger like-knot.
I desperately want to lose the swivel… Back to the work bench and continue to test
↓I use the uni-uni, never had one fail, while this know had failed on me several times, especially when using an uncoated braid like Jerry Brown to 80 or 100lb leaders.
↓This knot is one that I have been using for a while now, but I have always known it as the Improved Albright, and then I put a three turn lock on it when we are using these scary-thin 8 strand braids for “our” saltwater bass here in the UK. I did a blog post on the knot I use last year, please have a look here if you are interested http://www.henry-gilbey.com/blog/search/albright/
↓Sorry, check this link here for the knots http://www.henry-gilbey.com/blog/knots_ok_not_that_gripping_but_they_do_need_to_grip_the_new_injection_.html
↓I use this knot for backing to braid but prefer the Palomar to swivel for the leader end. For me, I find the Palomar quicker and easier to tie in the dark and cold.
Besides, blues need something to aim for.
↓We use this knot everyday at the shop to join mono backing to braid and also join leaders to braid.It works best when the braid and the mono are close in diameter and the mono is a supple type.I like it better than the Albright,although we find its not as effective with flouro as its stiffer and resists the knot tying process and tends to pull free.For flouro I would still use the trusted palomar knot from braid to a swivel but use a good strong low profile one like Spro.I used the Alberto knot this past year on a long range tile fish trip joining 80#pp to a long wind-on mono leader ( just plain 60# Ande)and cringed every time I hauled a heavy fish and 2lbs of lead up from 600ft down but it held fine.As far as long wind-ons for surf fishing I’ve tried them and personally dont like the feel of the knot bumping thru the guides.
↓Thanks for sharing Z and Al!
↓This is not SOL or noreast …leave that crap there
↓OK – I’m back. I resolved my issue with the knot and I’ve got it now. I did a slight modification and used a bimini on the braid before tying the knot. Using the double braid line from the bimini seemed to resove the problem. tried it multiple times with no slippage
Whooo hoooo no more swivel….
thanks guys!
↓Just noticed Zeno’s post –
sorry if I offended anyone with questions or my posts. Not my intent.
↓Nah Bruce, that was somthing else..no worries
↓