By Andrew A. Cox
Tying knots is an essential skill in fishing. For almost every aspect of this sport, knots are used to attach lures and other terminal tackle, make live bait rigs, attach lines to fishing reels, and joining lines together. Various specialty fishing techniques such as flyfishing have knots specifically used within these angling methods. If you consider the knots used in boat handling, the angler’s repertoire of essential knots is quite extensive.
Though the above sounds like remembering and mastering a large array of knots is required, the angler can reduce required knots used over the course of the fishing day or season to just a few. Most knots can serve multiple purposes.
I have favorite knots that are used extensively within my fishing. The reader can consult knot tying books as mentioned within this article, knot tying websites located on the Internet and YouTube videos for tying instructions and other information.
For attaching lures and terminal tackle, I like the following knots:
- Improved Clinch knot; an extensively used knot within the fishing world.
- Palomar knot; my preferred knot over the Improved Clinch knot. It is easy to tie with practice and can be used to attach lures and terminal tackle to braided line
- Rapala knot; can attach lures with a loop making them swivel better through the water.
I use mostly braided fishing line at this point but like to attach monofilament or fluorocarbon leaders of various lengths to the braid. The UniKnot is an easy knot to join various lines, even those that have different diameters.
The Arbor knot is easy to tie for attaching lines to reel spools. It does not leave a bulky knot that can interfere with casting under the line as it is reeled onto the reel.
With disuse, I experience difficulty remembering the knot tying steps. Accordingly, I made copies of pictures for the tying steps for the above knots, had them laminated between plastic waterproof covers at an office supply store, and keep these laminated knot tying cards in several locations within my fishing boats. Therefore I have a step by step guide to tying a desired knot with me at all times.
Some resources providing details for tying useful fishing knots are as follows:
McNally, Bob, The Complete Book of Fisherman’s Knots, Fishing Rigs, and How to Use Them. McNally Outdoor Productions. This book has detailed diagrams with steps for tying each knot. This is the source for my laminated plastic cards with step by step tying instructions for selected knots.
Budworth, Geoffrey. The Complete Book of Fishing Knots. This book has detailed tying instructions with pictures for a wide range of fishing knots.
Wilson, Geoff. The Complete Book of Fishing Knots and Rigs. Revised edition. Another book with tying instructions with illustrations.
www.animatedknots.com. A good Internet based sources for details on tying knots. This website has videos with step by step tying instructions.
www.netknots.com. Also an Internet based source. This also has detailed drawings and pictures for a wide range of knots to include those used in fishing.
Do not forget about YouTube videos. There are multiple videos providing detailed tying instructions along with the uses for various angling knots. Various angling magazines will also provide descriptions for tying knots and their applications. I have found such in BassResource.com that includes instructions for essential knots.
Take time to learn knots and their applications in various fishing techniques. You certainly do not want to lose the fish of a lifetime due to poorly tied knots.
Dr. Andrew Cox is a contributing writer to outdoor publications and newspapers. He is a member of the Georgia Outdoor Writer’s Association. He has been fishing the waters of Georgia, Alabama, and north Florida for over forty years. Dr. Cox financially supports his fishing habits as Professor Emeritus at Troy University, Phenix City, Alabama. He may be contacted at andrewtrout@aol.com.