Throughout my angling life I’ve tried many different fishing knots, all knots can have their place but I only use a handful of them on a regular basis, in fact I’d say there are only really five fishing knots I use these days and below are four of the knots used and a short youtube video for each on how to tie them. The fifth knot will be subject to it’s own article and video so please subscribe to this blog via email or rss feed and visit my YouTube Channel and subscribe to that too, that way you won’t miss out when my videos are uploaded. You can also Follow Me on Instagram where you can keep up with the current fishing i'm doing in between YouTube Videos.
Palomar Knot
First up is the Palomar Knot. This is probably the easiest fishing knot to tie. I use this knot for both braid and mono and it’s ideal for tying both types of line to both swivels and hooks. My preference with the palomar knot is to use it for tying mono directly to a hook, either for a surface fishing hooklength or occasionally for those long fluorocarbon rigs I use for my barbel fishing but more so with non pellet hookbaits like bread or luncheon meat. The palomar knot is simplicity in itself to tie, you just thread your line through the eye of your hook or swivel and double it back so the line runs through the eye twice. Tie an overhand knot in the doubled over line then pass the swivel or hook through the loop as per the diagram below then gently tighten everything down, don’t forget to wet your braid or mono as you tighten the knot. Although the palomar knot is simple to tie its extremely reliable and has great knot strength, definitely a knot that won’t let you down. Just click and play the video underneath the knot diagram to see how to tie the palomar knot.
Grinner Knot (Uni Knot)
Next up is the grinner knot, also called the Uni Knot. This is another knot I use for both braid and mono and again its for tying both of these types of fishing line to either a swivel or a hook. I mostly use the grinner knot (Uni Knot) for tying braid or mono mainline to a swivel when I’m making my rigs. I use the grinner knot (Uni Knot) for carp rigs, pike rigs and barbel rigs, again it’s a twice through the eye knot that’s incredibly strong once tied and bedded down. Its not so easy to describe how to tie a grinner knot (Uni Knot) in writing so please check out the diagram below then click to watch the video below that. The grinner knot (Uni Knot) is another ‘non strangulation’ knot that won’t let you down and it's the knot I tend to use most in my fishing.
Braid to Mono Shock Leader Knot
Apart from tying braid or mono to a hook or swivel, a fisherman may on occasion need to tie two pieces of line together. In my own fishing I sometimes need to use a braided shock leader for long range carp fishing or I need to use a fluorocarbon leader with a braided main line if I’m dropshotting for perch. For both long range carp fishing and dropshotting I use a braid to mono shock leader knot. If you follow the instructions, the braid to mono shock leader knot is fairly easy to tie but you must make sure you follow along precisely, on occasions you can wrap the second part of the knot from the wrong direction and it will unravel on you under pressure, which is why I wrap both the mono and the braid round my hands and pull really tight in the video below, the knot needs to be tested properly. This braid to mono shock leader knot works really well, it won’t let you down and its very small so it won’t get caught in the rings of your rod. Have a look at the knot diagram below then click to watch the video of how to tie a braid to mono shock leader knot that's underneath.
Figure 8 Loop Knot
Last but not least is the figure 8 loop knot, I know a lot of people use this fishing knot for easy change of carp rigs but I like it for looping larger items of tackle onto your line, if you make the figure 8 loop large enough you can loop on a spod or spomb, a deeper or even a marker float so the figure 8 loop knot has it's uses and I've never had one let me down. The figure 8 loop knot is very easy to tie, it's a bit like tying an over hand knot except you go round the back and pass the doubled over line through the loop from the other side, check out the short video below to see how it's done.
The above four fishing knots are the ones i’ve settled on using after a lifetime of fishing, none of them will let you down and you can have total confidence in these knots. For those of you who’ve read this far, you will be wondering where the fourth fishing knot is?. The fifth knot I use is the ‘knotless knot’ and this will be subject to an article and video all of its own. The knotless knot is the key knot in virtually all of my carp rigs and I’ll cover it separately at some point in the future. If you’d like to see the knotless knot please subscribe to this blog via email or the rss feed and please visit my YouTube Channel and subscribe to that too, if you subscribe to my youtube you won’t miss out when the knotless knot video or any of my other content gets uploaded.
I hope you find these fishing knots useful.
Until next time, tight lines.
Mark.
