A Bimini twist is no doubt an excellent knot to know. It’s strong and useful in many leader setups and is perhaps the best knot to use at the end of your backing, but because some find it difficult to tie, a good alternative knot you can use in its place is the spider hitch. There is some controversy as to whether the spider hitch is as strong as the Bimini, but what it lacks in strength it more than makes up for with how easy and how fast it is to tie. Keep in mind that one slight downfall of a spider hitch compared with a Bimini is that it doesn’t have quite as much shock absorption. It’s a great knot to use on the fly, for example, if you lose a fly line on the water for any reason and you’ve got to rerig while fish are busting all around the boat. A spider hitch might get you in the game a little faster.
