never tried tying one with mono but try using only your feet with shoes on . that way your legs are nowhere near the line. i thought using mono for this knot you would end up with a fair bit of twist

yea thats the issue im having, I have no problem tying it with braid, but im trying to join mono mainline with heavy mono leader and a south african site I use recomends bimini to double the mainline then a double centauri to join the lines. when it works i get a great join that holds well, but the bimini is kinda hit n miss....

maybe they are using a different kinda mono, I noticed most of the south african mono brands are a heap thicker for the same breaking strain so perhaps that has something to do with it?

I find a plait better in mono, but its a little bit harder to tie. Ive also found that a bimini in mono also causes the line to "crease" a few inches up the line in fround of the knot. Duno if this weakens the line or not?!?

Thanks mate, ill have to look into how to tie a plait. I was testing knots a bit last night and even with a crease in the mono, it works out stronger than without tying the bimini and didnt seem to break around the creased ine, so maybe not a big deal

cheers for your help

yuck, biminis in mono.
I always go the plait, might take a little longer to tie but whenever I've tried to bimini mono it just doesn't look or feel right with creases and hot spots. The plait is easy and I always use it when game fishing.

just tried the plait a couple of times. looks good, just gotta see how it goes casting though, not too sure about that....

I shouldnt see it as a problem. I only use mono for trolling so ive never had to cast a plait. But its not the plait that goes through your guides first when you cast, its the joining knot at your leader. So I dont rekon it will be a problem.

try wearing pants when tying your knots!!  haha

or try pulling the twists down from the top instead of up from the bottom. just depends on how long you want the double to be.

hey mattg, sorry what do ya mean mate, how do you go about pulling the twists down while wrapping the tag end?

Havent had a go from the beach yet this weekend. Hoping to get out tomorrow night with the heavy gear for a bit and see how the plait goes. I reckon your right though cudbfishn, should cast ok as long as the plait is not too long.

nothing less. It would be a weak knot with any less IMO. Plaits are the go as long as they are tied really tight and dont gather with weight on it.

I totally agree about 40 minimum in braid, 40 in mono though seems to become incredibly messy. Probably also depends how you finish the bimini maybe. I have seen people use a pull through method using a seperate loop in which case yea the bimini would be pretty weak with 20, but with a series of half hitches then a strong finishing knot with like 5 turns i reckon it holds > 95%,

I have seen videos from reefman tying his bimini in mono. he's a south african bloke who is an expert in land based shark fishing and he uses 20-25 turns, just cant work out how the hell his line doesnt get burnt to s*!t. His videos all seem to have disapeared recently from youtube and other sites though, I reckon he is probably bringing out a dvd or something....

Gonna have to do some testing and practicing with the plaits i reckon, see how they hold up... they are a bit harder to tie than the bimini though. dont like the idea of tying a plait on a dark beach at night and then having to trust it atm

cheers again for everyones help

Ok found reefman and his videos, think he moved forums, all seems very political in south africa lol

http://www.ultimateangling.co.za/index.php/topic,66.0.html

dont know if you can see the video from the link, but i think the idea is that the innitial twists are not made as tightly in mono and only 15-20 then finished differently.

only took a couple of days of work but finally my bimini is sorted, cheers

Have heard alot of debate on the bimini twist. And the lastest that i have read actually speaks of Less Being More... ..around 20 twists being ideal in mono and 30+ starting to decrease its strength.

I always do a minimum 40 turns for bimini in braid.. and nothing more than 30 with mono. 20 being all that is needed for a good solid knot.

I finish it off via a single half hitch around both strands of line and then 4 wraps of a locking knot with the tag end facing back up the mainline. For braid i will make that 8-10 wraps.

If i want to get really fancy and will add a little araldite or super glue to the lock knot before pulling it up tight. and then even twist a little more glue on to hide the tag making it perfect for feeding through the guides.

thanks mate, good to know im not the only one using bimini in mono. The only thing I do differently is alternating half hitches, 2 on each leg before locking/finishing, dont know why i do this or where i picked it up though. might drop it back to one each. I like the idea of the superglue to hide the tag as well!!

hey buddy i normally sit down on the floor or something and use my knee to make the loop as it doesnt burn as much