Bwana's Guide to tying titanium wire leader

[Bwana]

BWANA'S GUIDE TO TYING TITANIUM WIRE LEADER

With the increase in popularity of the new titanium wire a lot of anglers have run out and bought this great product but have ended up frustrated by the difficulty of "knotting" the kink-proof wire. It is extremely elastic, springy and kink-proof and this can make seating the traditional and recommended knots extremely difficult. The end result of blood-knots, uni knots and clinch knots also don't look neat and tidy as the wire's springiness prevents it seating nicely. Having used this wire extensively the past 2 seasons for couta traces I devloped a knot that replicates the neatness of a haywire twist in normal steel wire. Here it is, with a bit of practice you'll have super neat non-fail knots and it can be used for tiger, general spinning, couta and offshore as well.


What you will need:


Pliers
Split ring pliers
Scissors or side-cutters
Titanium wire (either Knot-2-Kinky or AFW in your desired size, this is 45lb)
2 x #8 power swivels
1 x 50lb split ring
Carabiner or fixed wall hook and large split ring
   

[Bwana]

Cut yourself a piece of wire to the desired length plus about an extra 20cm for the tag ends. This wire is very expensive so you don't want to waste, but you do need extra length for the knot. You'll need the heavy duty split ring and carabiner or wall hook to do the next steps. Get your swivel ready.

[Bwana]

Now secure the carabiner and split ring to a secure point (wall hook or d-ring). Next use the split ring pliers to insert the swivel onto the split ring. Now take the end of the wire and pass it through the eye of the swivel twice to make a Flemish Eye Loop. Pull both ends of the wire firmly to close the size of the loop until it is nice and tight (with approximately 3mm diameter).

[Bwana]

Now slide the swivel off the split ring and take your split ring pliers and insert the Flemish Eye Loop onto the split ring exactly as you had the swivel done. This will stop the swivel from spinning when you do your wraps.


Firmly grip the long piece of the wire in your left hand and wrap a few turns around you index finger (this wire is very flexible and the wraps won't damage your wire). Now grip the tag end with your pliers and make anti-clockwise wraps around the main wire, you will need to pull very tightly while wrapping so that the wire grips firmly. The wraps should lie tightly next to each other. Do about 6-8 barrel wraps.

[Bwana]

Next take the finished loop and trim the tag end off with a pair of heavy duty scissors or side cutters. The finished loop and wraps should look similar to a haywire in size and neatness.

[Bwana]

Lastly do the same process for the swivel on the other end of the wire trace or just do an Albright straight onto your leader. You can add a small split ring so that once your trace is on your leader you can swap lures easiliy without having to retie new traces each time. The finished product should look something like this:

[carll]

Hi great post and pictures,thanks !

[isivuba]

  Awesome post Mark. Jeez!!! two in one month thanks. 

[REEFMAN]

Another great post Mark! 

[John F]

Thanks Mark!

[blender]

Much obliged Mark, this should be most helpful.

[AQUAFAN]

Had nightmares trying to tie knots with the titanium wire - this looks promising - cant wait to try it out!
Thank you kindly! 

[Shaun17]

Awesome tut once again Mark!! Think there's a Penn Squall with your name all over it!!! 

[kickass72za]

BWANA ... question

Could you not do with out the swivel on the lure end and do a direct to split ring from the loop.... that loop looks awesome to link straight to lure

My 5c of thought....

Off to go try this out

Thanks awesome tip

[Bwana]

BWANA ... question

Could you not do with out the swivel on the lure end and do a direct to split ring from the loop.... that loop looks awesome to link straight to lure

My 5c of thought....

Off to go try this out

Thanks awesome tip

I am sure there are many variations and a bit of experimenting may come up with the combination that suits your needs. I'd suggest that if you do go straight to a split ring you should make 100% sure the loop thickness is more than enough not to find the gap in the split ring and work its way loose when fighting a fish. You can by all means go directly onto the lure, it just becomes permanent and you can't swap lures in a hurry. If you have favourite lures by all means go straight into the lure with the loop.

[sardinella]

Will have to try this one - Thanks Bwana - now to find and retrieve my wire from the bin!

[Spickerish]

Bought some AFW titanium wire yesterday and last night while fiddling with the stuff thought to myself " how the hell do I tie this stuff up" Did a search and BAM!! Bwana to the rescue again! Have some belated  for this awesome tut! This stuff looks like the future of my traces!

[Bwana]

No prob Spickerish, hope this helps. It can be a frustrating material to work with!

[dodger]

Such a sh1te day weather wise, I dissapeared into my cave and, I have been trying to tie this wire, but my fingers are just not dextrous enough   I made the flemish loop ok, but to wrap it, not a chance, mind you I am working with 12lb wire and minute swivels, so it's not just the fingers eyesight or lack of it comes into play 


I did make a couple of Fig 8's and  ''perfection'' loops, but yeesh it is not (pun) an easy wire to work with, but I will persevere

[jock0]

A bit of a blast from the past...


Having just made up a bunch of these in the garage, using vice grip pliers for wrapping the tag end haywire style made things far easier than regular long nose pliers.

Now slide the swivel off the split ring and take your split ring pliers and insert the Flemish Eye Loop onto the split ring exactly as you had the swivel done. This will stop the swivel from spinning when you do your wraps.


Firmly grip the long piece of the wire in your left hand and wrap a few turns around you index finger (this wire is very flexible and the wraps won't damage your wire). Now grip the tag end with your pliers and make anti-clockwise wraps around the main wire, you will need to pull very tightly while wrapping so that the wire grips firmly. The wraps should lie tightly next to each other. Do about 6-8 barrel wraps.