fishing doubles

[thumps]

i was doing some reading last night...and after our recent trip ...i wondered this!!

how many people fish with doubles before their leaders???

why do we fish with doubles???

i can see the reasons for fishing them for big saltwater species...but....after not fishing with one for things such as gt's...barra in awoonga....or even fingermark and queenies...what is the point of a double???

if we fish strong leaders ...which take up about a metre of the terminal tackle...then why put a double above it?...isnt it just creating another weak point because of the knot???

are we just overdoing it??

does anyone have a story where the double actually did something??

[Leo_N.]

I have had one strand of the double cut through on mangrove roots and rocks a number of times, and still landed the fish. It also acts as a shock-absorber.

[Panda]

The less terminal gear and the lighter your line the better the chance of a hook up.

I cant see the point of adding extra hardware right at the point of contact where it is likely to put the fish off. My standard terminal gear is a hook tied on the line.
Add the lightest possible swivel and sinker or splitshot if required for casting or to get the bait down. Maybe a heavier mono leader or even wire if there are sharp toothed things around.

[sf17fisherman]

yeh thumps i'm with you

for all my lure fishing apart from the gamefishing stuff i just use a leader on the fireline

with the gamefishing stuff however i still use a couple of meteres of plaited double

bream, bass, jew and what have you no double

[thumps]

yeh thumps i'm with you

for all my lure fishing apart from the gamefishing stuff i just use a leader on the fireline

with the gamefishing stuff however i still use a couple of meteres of plaited double

bream, bass, jew and what have you no double


glad to see I'm not the only one :)

[essky]

I think one good reason for a double is because you are dealing with a 100% knot. While most knots weaken the line a little, double knots like a bimini twist or aussie plait are 100% of the line strength.

So for example, using 8kg line, at the line the weakest point is 8Kg, at the knot it is still 8kg. WHen we get to the business end, the double is then effectivly 16kg, and then your leader which is even more.

If you tied a knot from single strand to your leader, the weakest point might be 6.5 kg as it has been weakend from the knot.

So you have, using above example (without any real data, just approximations) 8kg versus 6.5 kg, so you can see the advantages of using a double.

Having said all that, I only use them when trollling lures or jigging. Never used them for bait yet.