The Albright knot is a great knot to learn if you plan on tying a custom leader using materials of varied test and tensile strength. We’ll cover the Albright knot in five easy steps.

On our upcoming trip to Andros South Lodge next month, our primary target is going to be BIG bonefish. A secondary sight fishing target on the flats is going to be barracuda. If you have ever seen a 25 lb ‘cuda hit a top water fly... you know why. This is part two of a three part series that is designed to help you tie your own custom barracuda rig.

In the first part, we showed you how to create a perfection loop so you can connect your fly line to your leader. Now, we’ll show you how to connect leader materials of varied size and tensile strength. In this case, we’ll be using five feet of 50 pound fluorocarbon leader material and connecting it to three feet of 30 pound fluorocarbon leader. To make this connection, we will use an Albright knot. From here, we’ll then connect a 12”-18” piece of 20 pound wire tippet using another Albright knot for the terminal section that connects to your fly. For your final knot that connects to your fly, we’ll be utilizing a non-slip loop knot.

The Albright knot can be tied in five fairly simple steps.

Step 1: Form a loop with the larger diameter monofilament or fluorocarbon leader material. Pass the smaller diameter material through the loop, leaving a tag end about 6″ in length.

Step 2: Wrap the tag end of the smaller diameter leader material around the loop and itself 10-12 times.

Step 3: Once your wraps are complete, pass the tag end of material through the loop on the same side that it entered in the first step.

Step 4: slide the coils of the smaller diameter leader material together, and gently move them towards the end of the loop.

Step 5: tighten the knot by pulling all pieces of the material in opposing direction with equal pressure.

To finish, trim all of the tag ends cleanly.

Stay tuned as we put the perfection loop and Albright knot together with a non slip loop knot to complete our Bahamas bonefish rig.

This same rigging and approach can be used for other toothy species like pike and musky. If you ever have questions about saltwater rigging or knots, stop by the shop or give us a call at 303.733.1434.