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What knots do you most commonly use?

For years I used the Improved Clinch Knot, but have recently been using the World's Fair Knot more often.

What do you guys/gals use most often?

Jeff

I use the Improved Clinch knot as well but if there's better ones out there, post a diagram if you have access to one. Thanks!

I use the uniknot on heavier mono and Spectra...teh Palomar on mono under 40#.....the guys that really test knots and gear are the longrange fishermen on Allcoast Sportfishing site....

I have used the Uni-Knot for a few years now and really like it. I am trying to learn how to tie a bimini twist, but have had no luck so far. The people who fish saltwater have some really strong connections and I am trying to learn some of them. Some of the knots are difficult to tie with heavy mono.

FC363,
The Bimini is quite simple when you see it done a few times...getting it to roll over the first time takes some doing...

My most used: Improved Clinch Knot, Rapala Knot, and Trilene Knot.

I like the looks of that World's Fair Knot, though. Will give it a try. Thanks.

For freshwater fishing I use the polymer knot the most. A great website for knots and how to tie them is www.animatedknots.com.

About the same here too.
I have used the Trilene Knot in saltwater for years. With my failing eyes, it's easier to tie with with larger hooks. 40+ # Stripers haven't pulled the knot yet.

I think the strength of a knot is greatly over played. I have never seen a knot break because of the strength of the knot or lack of it. I have seen a knot come undone with the new slippery lines and some heavy lines. Then I have not seen a Palomar knot come undone. If your line breaks, your line breaks, not the knot.

I find the Palomar easy to tie and the cinch. Never found a need for an improved cinch. or making leaders I like the snell loop because of the way it opens the loop.

Don, with all respect, I've had lines break at the knot more than anywhere else. A knot makes a tight bend in the line and that is the weakest spot, most likely to break. Line broken at the knot will often, but not always, have a tiny curl or curve at the broken end. That's why knot instructions include such comments as "this knot retains almost 100% of line strength") etc. If the line breaks from abrasion, you can usually feel that or see it near the broken end.

Three good knots will cover most fishing needs: a knot to tie two lines together such as line to leader; a knot to attach hardware such as snap swivel; a knot to attach a hook. A guy could fish from now on if he only knew the Blood knot, Improved Clinch, and Palomar.

I've used a Blood knot to link two lines, with a pair of Barrel knots a quick substitute when in a hurry or in poor light. It looks like if you are learning new, a double Uni-knot might be better. Palomar to attach hardware when possible, Improved clinch on the other end if needed. I snell on most big hooks with an old steelhead knot I don't find on the net, or use Palomar. For flies, George Harvey.

Beyond these basic three knots uses you can add attaching a heavy line to a light one, dropper knots to add a hook or item off the main line before the end, etc.

I use specific knots for specific applications. Used the improved Clinch for many years and still do on a few applications, where you can't tie a Palomar, such as one end of a swivel between main line and leader (at least I can't tie one in such a place). Used a figure 8 Turl type knot to tie on flies for years but have gone to the George Harvey knot for flies and am trying a super simple knot to tie on flies that I think is called Dave's knot.

Blood knots, the 90 percent knot, barrel knots in tandem, Albright, nail, snell and roe knots, and combos of these sometimes with simple overhand, bowlines etc. when an application calls for them, I use these all for fishing. This year I've fished for trout, salmon in fresh and salt, albacore and usually get in some walleye and pike, so use quite different knots on different rod and line combos.

I need to learn the uni-knot for some of these applications.

When I was a kid, I'd sit with old men who would teach me knots.

Well, I have used the improved clinch knot for awhile and NEVER had a fish on that broke the line at the knot..and that is with lighter line on mostly salmon-steelhead in the 7-35# range using 12-25# line.

Stream fishing( went up on Eagle Creek this AM with youngest son) for fall silvers we lost some rigs, but due to hard snags...not the fish we got on and played and landed.

I like playing with learneing about knotwork and ropework for a variety of reasons and purposes, but any well done properly applied knot that works at 100% of the line's test will do fine..
Get out there and fish..:) Jim

Jim, if you've caught a 35 lb. steelhead, or even hooked or seen one, that is HUMONGOUS!

Good point about fish not breaking the line. I can only think of three fish that broke my line in a lifetime of fishing. My comments on broken lines refer to snags, as you say. Have had some others that cut/wore through the line on abrasive snags, a different category in my mind.

I broke off a big king in Alaska when they were biting well, just to see how hard I had to pull to break the line. 25 lb line in a river. Broke off another +50# king in a small river when I hooked it on light sockeye gear. It had taken nearly all of my line so tried to stop it when it was that or spool me out of line anyway. Also broke a king off about 30 lbs. on a fly rod when it went down the other side of an island heaped with driftwood logs. Once it went down the other side it was goodbye fish no matter what I did anyway.

Have also had a few salmon and steelhead straighten out hooks and bend open snap swivels, etc, even with 12 lb. test line. The hooks on the original Mepps spinners were light wire and would bend open before the line broke. Caught a 26 lb. king in saltwater on a trout rod and I think it was 6 lb. line but we had a boat to follow and the whole Pacific to play him in. Very different in small swift rivers where you gotta bear down with hefty gear or wave goodbye. Broke an older rod one Fall when a bunch of 50# kings came into a small swift river, and I went to 50# line to try to hold one to fight it out in an eddy rather than let him get in the main current. Landed the fish with the stub.

If you are on the breaking edge of line or knot strength, you either need to go to heftier gear or maybe back off the pressure a little and let the fish tire out rather than haul him in immediately. Folks trying for light line species records etc. push the edge constantly but that's not for most of us.

I use the uni or the double uni the most. It seems to work well with braid.

Okanagan, :
"Jim, if you've caught a 35 lb. steelhead, or even hooked or seen one, that is HUMONGOUS.."
_____________________________________

Didn't mean to infer-imply I'd ever caught a steelie that large here in the Oregon rivers or creeks..

Biggest steelhead I ever saw and landed( had some hard hit I wondered about but those crafty fish threw my rig) was just at 17#s...om Eagle Creek off the Clackamas in the fall two years ago after the rains..( early October)/ about a half mile below the hatchery.

The 35#er I mentioend was a spring run Chinook..:) Jim

I have never found a line (other than the original Stren Prime - the green stuff that was the absolute single worst product ever put out by the fishing industry) that a Trilene knot would not work fine with. My son favors Palomars. Best, John

Most freshwater fishing will not test a knot or line to the breaking point.....most of the time you don't get enough line out to experience excessive linear friction in the water....the guys that fish 300# tuna with several hundred yards of 80# line are the guys that experience knot and/or line problems....the drag of the water or a belly in the line compounds the strain a great deal....that's why big game fishemen usually set real drag at 25% to 33% of line breaking strength.....

I've seen far to many times when the hooks straighten out before the line breaks. I think fishermen just like to debate knots more than anything. But for those slipry lines, I do favor the palomar. I've also read about the importance of knots when attaching light line to heavy line. Don't understand why anyone would attach a 4# leader to 20# main line?

I agree, I use the trilene on everything from trout and fly gear to my halibut gear and haven't had a problem, even with Powerpro. I hooked a 150-200lb halibut trolling for kings a couple years ago and the leader broke long before my knot gave out.

A good point on hooks Don....

The light line to heavy line splice again is mostly a saltwater issue....splicing heavy fluorocarbon leaders to Spectra line is the norm.....while maintaining a splice that will pass through the guides.....albright knots are mu favorite for this...

It depends on what task the knot is addressing. Hook to line or leader, leader to line, backing to a fly line, droppers, etc. In nearly all instances when I've tested knots, the break will occur at the knot. It's a rare knot indeed that can match advertised line strength.

A Bimini twist seems to be the only exception I've tested, as it always breaks in the running line between the loops. Likely the knotted parts have enough material stacked up that they may actually be 1.5 to 2 times stronger than the original material. That's not a configuration often seen in freshwater though.

As mentioned above, it's the big fish guys and climbers that really study knot issues. You would too if your life depended on it. There are many interesting books available that include history, tying instructions, and appropriate uses in their text. Surprisingly, there are new and effective knots showing up all the time that are simply the cat's a-- for a given material or application. They are great reading as well as an excellent way to constructively pass some time on a cold, wet, winter day.

I think most guys overdo the knot thing too, Here's mine, and I can tie it in the dark, although it at times it looks different....



It works on 13# walleyes !!

What is wrong with the improved clinch knot??? Looking at yours, I doubt if I could tie it in the day looking at the picture...wow...glad it works for you.


BTW , nice fish..

Hardwater....Great knot!

That would certainly reduce the number of real fishermen on the water.....heh heh!

VernAK,
Here's the name on my boat....

Hardwater....you have it figured out ...no doubt....this retirement stuff gives a guy lots of time for trying new knots....

Agreed on the notion that the knot thing can be overdone, although it does probably deny us membership in the "real man" club and give rise to suspicions that we cannot tie each and every knot known to man when told to do so. This leaves us to slink off and sharpen our knives with the help of a Gatco or Lansky instead of bringing it to a razor's edge using a stone expertly picked from the bed of a stream and stropping it on a piece of leather taken from a grizzly that we killed with our bare hands. Best, John

5sDad,
I'm not sure I could duplicate your knot using 1/4" rope thru a 1" eyelet in broad daylite..but it looks sexy..:)

Inasmuch as the improved clinch knot gives 100% of the line strength, what is the advantage to your know over that for fishing?
Regards, Jim

Jim, I don't think that I could either - I just quoted the knot. Sort of reminded me of the Bimini Twist when I saw it illustrated in InFisherman. I think it was Larry Dahlberg that looked to be trussing up his own legs with clothesline rope. Best, John

I was (once upon a time) on the pro staff for a fishing electronics company and attended many, many, sports and fishing shows where I had an opportunity to visit with the Stren reps. They had a machine that tested breaking strength of different line/knot combinations. I spent hours and hours with that machine and tested thousands of knots that I tied. What I found was that the Palomar knot was consistently the strongest knot that I (emphasize I) could tie to attach lures and hooks to monofilament lines from 6 to 25 lb. test.

My advice is to find a knot YOU are comfy with and can tie well.

+ 1 on the Palomar knot. Easy to tie and won't fail with braided line.

30lb'er caught on 8lb test with a Palomar knot.