How to Tie the Seaguar Knot

Developed by Seaguar, the world’s foremost fluorocarbon line manufacturer, the Seaguar Knot was built around the need to attach tough leaders to your monofilament main line. Right away, that should hint at the limitations of its use: the Seaguar knot is a one-trick pony - and frankly not one you’ll likely grow to love.

Why not?

There are many other knots that do the same job, tie just as easily, hold as well or better, and have a slimmer profile for passing through your guides. That’s not to say that the Seaguar Knot doesn’t work--it does--but rather that it’s rarely anyone’s first choice.

An exception is fly angling, where the Seaguar has proven itself to be an awesome choice for connecting leader to tippet.

How to Tie the Seaguar Knot

1. Overlap the ends of your mono main line and fluorocarbon leader. You want 8 to 10 inches of overlap.
2. Make a loop with both lines, leaving plenty of overlap in both directions.
3. Twist the loop on itself 3 times.
4. Pass the leader and tag end through the loop.
5. Hold the lines on either side of the knot, wet it well, and pull carefully to cinch it down.

https://seaguar.com/applications/knot-guide/seaguar-knot

Why Rely on the Seaguar Knot?

• Strong - In leader-to-tippet testing, the Seaguar Knot has demonstrated 97% knot strength, making it a very secure connection option.
• Fast - The Seaguar Knot is pretty fast to tie, and it gets full marks on this front.
• Easy - Working with low visibility lines can make tying a good knot a real hassle. One advantage of the Seaguar Knot is that by design, you don’t need to see the lines very well to form this knot.

In fly fishing, where the size of the knot connecting your leader to your tippet won’t matter (within reason), the Seaguar Knot is an excellent choice. It holds really well and ties easily.

What’s Not to Love About the Seaguar Knot?

Frankly, a lot.

Outside of fly angling, the Seaguar Knot has some stiff competition: the Surgeon’s Knot, the Blood Knot, and the Double Uni being the big three. Each of these knots is strong and battle-proven, and both the Surgeon’s and Blood knots are definitely slimmer when tied than the Seaguar.

A slender knot will pass through your guides more easily, allowing for better casting. In the salt, that may not matter too much, as the guides on saltwater rods tend to be larger than they are on a bass rod, for instance. But for largemouth, you want a slender knot, and the Seaguar isn’t the best choice for joining a fluorocarbon leader to your mono.

It’s also a very specific knot, designed around the needs of a fluoro to mono connection. Intolerant of radically different diameters, it’s a poor choice for joining lines that are dissimilar in size. It’s also completely ineffective in braid, as it doesn’t provide enough pressure to stop slippage.

The Seaguar Knot in Braid: Just Don’t Do It!

Just don’t.

You might be tempted to use this easy-to-tie knot to connect your braided main line to your fluoro leader, but don’t make that mistake.

Not only is the Seaguar Knot not designed for dissimilar diameters, allowing the smaller line to slip through, it simply doesn’t provide enough pressure to bind the slick Spectra and Dyneema fibers that braid is woven from.

Braid has what engineers and scientists call a “low coefficient of friction,” meaning that it doesn’t like to bite against itself. To overcome that problem, a good braid knot needs plenty of turns and loops, magnifying the pressure points on the line to allow it to bite and grip.

The Seaguar Knot was designed around the high coefficient of friction common to both nylon monofilament and fluorocarbon. It simply will not hold in braid, no matter how well the knot is executed.

When Do Seaguar Knots Fail?

The Seaguar Knot is a reliable way to join monofilament main line to a fluorocarbon leader, but it can fail.

Some of the most common reasons for this include:

• Tying your knot with frayed or damaged line - Damaged line will definitely compromise knot integrity. Always check your line for fraying, abrasion, and nicks.
• Not wetting the knot before cinching - Don’t skip this step! Spit or water helps lubricate the line, allowing it to slide into place and form a tight knot.
• Tying the Seaguar Knot in braid - As we mentioned above, this knot will not hold in braided superlines no matter how well-executed the knot is.
• Radically different line diameters - The Seaguar Knot is designed for lines of roughly equal diameter, and varying your main line and leader size is not recommended.