Is yours a winning knot?

With different jobs, lines, one won’t get it done

Fishermen know the number of ball bearings and retrieve ratios of reels and the type of blanks, guides and reel seats of rods like it’s common knowledge. They also know that superbraid lines are thinner than monofilament and fluorocarbon lines are the least visible.

I’m constantly amazed at how little they know about knots: which are better for which lines and how poorly so many tie them. The knot is the connection to the fish and often the weakest link in the chain.

Unless you’re using one of the new Tauten Line Welders or mono or fluoro heavy enough to crimp, knots are what allows adding swivels and hooks to line and putting line and leader together. If knots don’t hold, fish aren’t caught, and this makes the soup very thin. Also very important — and this one is heard often in fishing tales — a slipped or broken knot takes away any opportunity for bragging rights.

However, you can’t just jump right into a discussion on knots without talking about fishing lines a little first. There are three basic kinds of line, and while two of them look alike, they have different compositions, characteristics and properties and require different knots for best strength and hold.

Superbraid lines are constructed from aramid, spectra, and micro dyneema fabrics. Their popularity comes because they have virtually no stretch, and diameters roughly one-third to one-half of similar strength lines in mono or fluoro. However, the combination of smaller diameter and the slick finish of the fabrics allow some knots to slip.

Fluorocarbon looks a lot like monofilament but uses a different chemical composition that makes it the least visible of all fishing lines. Fluorocarbon has a slick finish that allows some knots to slip, and it becomes brittle when pinched, so it requires knots with extra cushion and holding power.

Monofilament is the oldest of the primary fishing lines. It has been in use for more than 50 years, and most of the knots you find in fishing books were developed using mono. Because it has been in use for so many years, line companies have worked with mono and have different formulas that highlight different properties of the line. However, all mono has a semi-slick finish and stretches.

While each line has characteristics that work better with specific knots, there are also special considerations when tying one type of line to another.

Fishermen need to be able to tie three types of knots to go fishing. First, they must be able to tie two lines together. This could be for adding backing to fill or cushion a reel spool, attaching a leader, or top shot, and making a repair in a broken line.

The other two knots are for attaching things. A clinch-style knot is for attaching things tightly. Some of the things attached with a tight knot include hooks, swivels, snaps and other things with an eye. A loop knot also attaches things with an eye, but it attaches them loosely. One of the primary uses for loop knots is to give lures more freedom for increased action.

Let’s start with joining two lines. The first thing to know is that mono and fluoro lines need lubrication before being tightened and saliva is the time-honored primary choice. For a mono-to-mono connection, a surgeon’s knot works fine up to about a 1-to-4 ratio in line size. Many folks like to call this a double surgeon’s knot because the lines go through the loop twice before snugging it down.

The knot’s name actually helps me with what to call it when I modify it to connect two different lines. Whenever using a surgeon’s knot to join superbraid to one of the other lines or joining fluoro to mono, the lines should go through the loop three times before being snugged down. Maybe this could be called a triple surgeon’s knot?

The secret to tying the surgeon’s knot correctly is to hold all four pieces of line coming out of the loop and pull them equally. When pulling the surgeon’s knot tight, the knot rolls and makes a Figure 8 with the standard — double — surgeon’s knot and makes a double Figure 8 when tying mixed lines with the triple surgeon’s knot. Another tip for making the surgeon’s knot secure is to make a large loop to double small-diameter superbraid line and use the doubled line to tie the knot.

Back-to-back Uni knots work well for joining longer lengths of line. They are fairly easy to tie and hold well. This is a larger knot than the surgeon’s knot, and many fishermen don’t use it for attaching leader because they sometimes  feel it hit  guides or the rod tip when casting and reduces the distance of a cast.

A basic clinch knot works well to attach hooks, swivels and other things with eyes in mono of 10 pounds and heavier. For smaller-diameter mono, an improved clinch or Uni knot is more resistant to slipping. The Trilene knot is an extremely strong clinch knot, but many anglers find a little difficult to tie. Years back, Berkley offered a bounty if anyone could tie a knot that consistently withstood more pull than the Trilene knot.

Fluorocarbon and superbraid lines are different, and some knots work better than others. The Uni knot has better cushion and grip and works well for tying eyes tight using fluorocarbon.

There are few instances where superbraid is tied to an eye. Most fishermen add a mono or fluoro leader to superbraid and attach it to eyes. When connecting superbraid to eyes, the Palomar knot is hard to beat. It doesn’t break or slip.

Some fishermen don’t believe in using loops to attach lures. They don’t see the increased action and don’t feel it helps increase strikes. Those that disagree, do so strongly.

You can check lure action for yourself by casting a lure in clear water, like a swimming pool. Make several casts with the line tied tightly and then twist the knot to one side or the other, like often happens with tight knots, and make several more casts. Then, tie on the same lure using a loop knot and make several more casts. The difference is significant, especially when the tight knot gets pulled to one side or the other. Unfortunately, this often happens without the fisherman noticing.

There are numerous loop knots, and any will help. I’ll recommend the no-slip loop knot. Seriously, that’s what it’s called. What makes it superior to the others is the tag end points backwards (towards the lure), and it doesn’t snag any weed or trash that might be in the water. The tag end on many loop knots points forward or to the side and will snag things that then fold back over the lure and make it look odd and swim differently.

The no-slip loop knot has enough loops to cushion it, and it doesn’t slip in mono and fluorocarbon. If there were an occasion to need a loop knot in a superbraid line, the no slip loop knot should hold there also.

Don’t let your knots be your weak link.  Learn a few and use them well. The fish are waiting.