Recently someone questioned the strength of a braided mono loop and recommended using a nail knot as a replacement to make the connection stronger.
If one is speaking of commercial loop, then I strongly agree. They are extremely
failure prone. However, there is another option. Make your own braided mono loops from 50# braided mono line. These loops are far stronger than nail knot connections.
A West Coast fly fisherman, Bill Nash, rises above conjecture and uses a knot testing machine to impartially resolve such questions. His testing has shown that CORRECTLY tied Nail Knots break at less than 70% of the strength of the weakest line being connected. HE has found that CORRECTLY made MONO Loops break at 100% of the test of the weakest line - i.e. the flyline.
Dan Blanton and other fly rodders of note use these mono loops to tame marlin well over 100# as well as tarpon appoaching 200#.
Several saltwater flyfishers with 25 or more years experience that I have fished with use these loops or straight shots of the mono braids to join shooting heads to running lines.
You might want to check out Bill Nas's sight at: http://members.aol.com/billsknots/
for further info.
Dan Blanton's sight at: www.danblanton.com also has a lot of good info.
Both are very willing to help and answer any questions. Good luck - hope you put your loops or nail knots to the test.