Practical Fishing Knots

Here are just about all the knots the fisherman will ever need.

• Improved Clinch Knot,
• Palomar Knot,
• Uni-Knot,
• Snelling a Hook,
• Blood Knot,
• Surgeon’s Knot,
• Nail Knot,
• Albright Knot,
• Surgeons End Loop,
• Spider Hitch,
• Dropper Loop,
• Bimini Twist.

I suggest you carefully read the section on why fishing knots fail. When you tie a knot in monofilament or fluorocarbon line there is a good chance that you are going to reduce the breaking strain of that line by as much as 50 per cent, or even more. That’s why it is critical to practice tying knots in monofilament and testing them by tying the end of the line around something solid and giving the other end a sharp tug. This simple test will soon reveal if you are doing a good job of your knots. It is also silly to use the really light line when you don’t need to – especially when just starting out. Why lose a lot of fish needlessly fishing with ultra-light line. This is important to consider if you don’t get many opportunities to go fishing.

On my trips down to the Twizel Canals I have seen so many big fish break the line off at the knot. Possibly because the angler has applied too much drag pressure and didn’t have the patience to play the fish out, or possibly because the knot was poorly tied – or a combination of the two. If too much pressure is applied something has to give somewhere. It might be your knot, or the hook might straighten, or your hook could pull out of the fish. If there is any stone bruising or nicks in your line that could be the weak point where it snaps when the pressure comes on.

Experience has also shown that you are best to keep the number of knots between you and the fish to a minimum. Learn how to tie one or two knots really well and you are on the right track. Grab a spool of mono and get practising. I reckon if you can do a good uni-knot, and a good blood knot, then you are covered for almost anything. With these two knots, you will be able to get by without even learning the others.

Finally when you do manage to hook a good fish, and you can feel it is very heavy on the line; try to relax. Keep a bend in your rod. Never allow your rod to straighten. The bend in the rod acts as a shock-absorber. Eventually, the fish will tire. Try to resist the temptation to tighten your reel’s drag. If you apply too much pressure and your line breaks it will be a long drive home thinking about what might have been if you hadn’t been so impatient.