The Eddie Benham Leader Knot
Let’s start with a few inspiring pic’s…
Weighed in at 29lb. 14oz by the carp angler in the next swim
Caught on tench gear using my home made boilie specials and the set up incorporating my knot.
An early May tench of 10lb 14oz (caught on mono)
Followed half an hour later by this one.
Another cracking tench at 10lb 13oz
Another whacker caught on Eddie’s Super-Bait
The Braid Buster referred to in my previous article. A very useful little tool if you do find yourself snagged
As I mentioned in my recent article ‘Hooked on Braid’ I was unable to settle on a leader knot that I felt was completely reliable and met all my needs.Of all the knots that I looked at, and I looked at a lot, the ones that stood out were the Mahin Knot and the Grinner or Uni knot (which are very similar, if not the same)
THE MAHIN KNOT
BACK TO BACK GRINNER
In the description for the Mahin Knot it states that it works best when a very thick or very stiff leader has to be connected to the main line. This was not the case in my circumstances. I liked the forward facing taper on the Mahin Knot and I thought that if I omitted to tie the single overhand knot (which I thought might be unreliable) in the leader and instead tied a Grinner/Uni Knot in the Leader it would make it a better, stronger, more secure knot.
Tying it this way also meant that both the tag ends were coming out at the rear end of the knot. With the tapered front and the tag ends at the back I reasoned that the knot would pass more easily through the rod rings when casting.
After a few attempts at tying the new knot I was very pleased with the end result and have used it on every leader I have tied since and it has never let me down.
Here’s how to tie it
I have used fuse wire to demonstrate tying the knot so it does look a bit crude. Also I have taken fewer twists than I have recommended due to the difficulty of working with fuse wire. BROWN represents BRAID and BLUE represents the FLUOROCARBON/MONO leader.
The first thing is to tie the Grinner Knot on the leader.
Illustration 1
Start with both lines parallel
Illustration2
Make a loop in the leader and pull the line though the loop four or five times
Illustration 3
Moisten and pull the knot tight, but not too tight. You should be able to slide the Leader along the braid without forcing it. This will allow you to adjust the length of the tag end so that you can tie the Mahin style knot.
Illustration 4
Twist the braid 9 times over and down the leader, making sure you leave the first twist open
Illustration 5
Then hold it and twist it back up and over 6 times (avoiding the last two or three down twists) and pass the tag end back through the open twist.
You can choose to use more twists if you wish to, but they should always be in a ratio of twice as many down twists as up twists, which will help to keep the cone shape of the knot.
Illustration 6
Moisten around both knots and gently(and I do mean gently) pull them together, making sure that the braided knot retains it’s ‘cone’ shape. Then pull both knots tight.
If it doesn’t retain the cone shape or is bunched up in any way or shows signs of ‘pinching’ then scrap it and start again.
You will know if you have tied it correctly as the result will be a very tidy knot that will not yield to any pressure.
It is very important to be careful when bringing the two knots together as if you pull too tightly without first moistening the knot there is the possibility that the braid could bite into the leader and damage it. This has never happened to me but I thought I should point it out, although of course any badly tied knot will let you down sooner or later.
Illustration 7
This shows the finished knot tied in wire (with fewer twists) and in 30lb mono and lead core (with the lead removed so that I could tie it easier and for illustration purposes only) It looks a bit bulky here, but tied in 20lb braid and a fluoro/mono leader it is a very tidy knot. Trim both the tag ends for a neat finish.
And there you have it: a lovely, neat, strong knot that I think is an improvement on the Mahin Knot for joining fluorocarbon / mono to braid.
Finally to protect the knot I apply a smear of Knot Sense.
Knot absolutely necessary but you know it makes Sense
(Sorry…………..I just couldn’t resist saying that)
27lb 12oz mirror – The biggest carp in the lake
Ok…so it’s not a tench.But it’s January so what do you expect? I caught it using Powerpro Braid with a 15 foot leader made up from 15lb Rio Powerflex Tippet tied using the aforementioned knot. If the knot can deal with 27lb+ carp without any problems then it should easily cope with any tench you or I are likely to encounter.
I’ll finish off with a couple more of those lovely Tincas.
Eddie with early Spring biggie
Eddie with yet another huge tench
Part of a 17 fish catch (all caught during the day time) that included another 10lber and three nines. Two of the tench on running leads and fifteen on heli rigs.
All caught on my home made Boilie Specials, prepared and hand rolled the day prior to fishing and used fresh, not frozen.
Tight Lines
Eddie Benham
