It's important to recognize that very few fishing knots work well with all types of lines. In general, you can assume a knot that is good with monofilament is also good for the various fluorocarbons. But don't assume the same hold true for braids.
In fact, during the weeks of testing we've conducted for Knot Wars on North American Fisherman we noticed that many of the best knots for mono failed miserably with braids.
The issue became very apparent when we watched knots fail in slow motion. Unless the failure was catastrophic (and failed instantly) most knots with braid didn't; they slipped—usually when about 7 pounds of pressure was applied (we did tests with 15-pound FireLine Tracer Braid).
In most cases, at least with a number of species in freshwater, seven pounds of pull is generally enough to land a hooked fish. This has lead many anglers to believe knots like the Improved Clinch work just fine with braids because they have yet to experience a failure.
In true, they should be expecting 20 pounds or better knot strength when using this same line and tying a solid knot (see
www.fishingclub.com for animated instructions on tying the Fishing Fool to Palomar Knots).
We did learn an easy way to strength an knots that slips with braid—use heat to cut (and melt) the tag end of the line. We used the Berkley TEC HotWire Line Cutter early in testing for the last Knot Wars series and learned the device lead to significantly different results than those achieved when cutting lines with a scissors. In some most cases, knot strength for even bad braid knots like the Improved Clinch increased 30 percent or more depending on the knot because the little glob of molten line that formed prevented the knots from easily slipping. I don't smoke, but I would imagine a lit cigarette, cigar or match would allow you to enjoy the same improvement.
The results still don't come close to the best braid knots, but then I know how hard it is to stray from tradition.
Steve