Very Useful Knots ... Part Three

[98Fahrenheit]

FISHING KNOT BASICS

 

1. Choose the right knot and tie it correctly.

2. Lubricate knots with water or saliva before drawing tight.

3. Draw knots as tight as possible.

4. Trim tag ends close to the knot.

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Nail Knot

The Nail Knot is a popular and time tested knot to join fly line to leader. Use of a hollow tube instead of a nail makes for easier tying.

 

Non-Slip Mono Loop

The Non-Slip Mono Loop doesn’t slip and often tests close to 100 percent of the unknotted line strength. For lines testing from 8X to six pounds, use seven turns, five turns for lines in the eight to twelve pound class; four turns for fifteen to forty-pound line; three turns for fifty or sixty pound and two turns for lines heavier than that.

 

Offshore Swivel Knot

The Offshore Swivel Knot is exceptionally strong - if one strand breaks, the other will probably hold regardless of the amount of stress on the knot! Often used in conjunction with a Bimini Twist Knot, it can also be used to attach a hook.

 

Palomar Knot

A popular and easy to tie knot for small terminal tackle connections. It is one of the few recommended knots for use with braided lines.

 

Perfection Loop

This neat and compact knot forms a loop at the end of a line. It can be tied to result in a very small loop.

 

Rapala Knot

The Rapala Knot is popular method to tie a lure (such as a Rapala!) to a line such that it can move freely and unimpeded by the knot. Essentially the same as the Non Slip Mono Loop, the knot has one more step in it’s making. Whether this makes it more secure is still up to debate. It does make it slightly more difficult to tighten down neatly, but with practice can be done. You should know how to tie one or the other for the occasions that you want your bait to swim more naturally.

 

San Diego Jam Knot

As the name implies, this knot was popularized in San Diego, California. Often used by fishermen chasing the tuna on long range boats in Mexican waters, this knot can be tied quickly, especially if tied to a heavy lure such as the “iron” jigs thrown to the tuna. Just let the lure hang down while making the wraps. Then hook the lure to the rail of the boat (skippers hate this!) and pull it tight. It is also now being used with braided lines and has become popular with fishermen going after Peacock Bass in South America with 30-50 pound test braids.

 

Scaffold Knot

This is a much simpler variant. In all likelihood, this Grant's Uni-Knot. I have used it for more than fifty years and it has never failed me, whether tied in 1kg or 50kg monofilament. It was taught to me by the late Wally Kerr, a top flathead fisherman.

 

Pass a 15cm loop of line through the eye.

Lock the upper part between thumb and forefinger, making a loop.

Make two more loops over the double part, holding them too, between thumb and forefinger.

Pass the end through the two loops just made, plus the first loop made in step2.

The formed knot can now be drawn into shape, and worked down against the eye of the hook or swivel.

 

Snell Knot

Considered by many pros to be the best method of attaching a hook to the end of a line or leader when fishing with bait.

 

Snelling a Hook

One small problem is the variety of names that may be applied to the one knot, for example, a Granny is a False Knot, a Clove Hitch is a Waterman's Knot, an Overhand Knot is a Thumb Knot. But when we come to snelling a hook, the length of nylon attached to the hook may be a snell or a snood.

 

I now find that the actual job of tying the snood may be called snoozing, while snelling is often jealously thought of as an art restricted to the fly fisherman. I have fished with bottom-fisherman on the Great Barrier Reef who routinely snell their hooks.

 

Restricted to lines of breaking strength less than about 20kg, the process is a simple one.

 

Pass the end of the line, trace or tippet through the eye twice, leaving a loop hanging below the hook.

Hold both lines along the shank of the hook.

Use the loop to wind tight coils around the shank and both lines, from the eye upwards. Use from 5 to 10 turns.

Use the fingers to hold these tight coils in place. Pull the line (extending from the eye) until the whole loop has passed under these tight coils.

With coils drawn up, use pliers to pull up the end of the line.