Fishing Knots

Fishing knots are easy to tie with a little practice. They really are one of the easiest aspects of bass fishing. Being the last connection to your lure, a strong knot is essential to landing big bass.

We'll get into the knots necessary to land your bass. If you have done all your homework to find bass and then put yourself on the water at the right time in the right place, don't blow it with bad fishing knots! First some general tips.

Line strength is lost at the knot so you MUST choose the right one for your application. They all need to be tied correctly, but once they are, you don't need to worry about them. Just concentrate on landing some bass.

Lubricate the knot. You can either spit on the line or use some water, but use something! If you tighten the knot and it curls the line, you screwed up. It may play no factor with a small bass, but when you hook a big one, you're done. Can't you see it? The hit, you reel the bass up to the boat...SNAP! All you got was a glimpse at that hog and a story about the one that got away. Don't do it because it will break your heart!

Cinch the knot all the way. If it gets suddenly tightened during the fight, well we don't want that either. You know...SNAP! After you lubricate the line, slowly seat the knot all the way down against the eyelet. Put some pressure on the knot to be sure it doesn't slip and your done. Simple.

Finally, trim the knot. This is very important with flies and small plastic baits. We don't want anything to look out of place. It will also prevent tangles with joining knots.

When it comes time to re-spool with fresh line, you need the

Arbor Knot . New line will keep you casting smoothly and avoid birds nests. Boy they are aggravating!

When tying on a smaller diameter monofilament leader to a monofilament main line, the Blood Knot is the knot to choose. This will retain the line flexibility.

Fishing Knots, Uni Knot

When tying fluorocarbon to mono or braided line, use the Uni Knot . Sometimes a clear leader is necessary in bass fishing, and the rigid nature of fluorocarbon does best with this one.

The Nail Knot serves a similar purpose as the Uni. This is the preferred fishing knot to secure backing to fly line.

Fishing Knots, Nail Knot

After the backing is on, the Loop Knot holds the leader to the backing. Awful lot of fishing knots involved in fly-fishing!

Want to try a drop shot rig? Better learn how to properly tie the Palomar Knot.

Now the last in line ( no pun intended ) are the Cinch Knot and the Trilene Knot. The cinch is just that, and will do fine with most standard line. If you are using braid or fear slippage, go with the Trilene Knot.

A useful terminal knot to get more action from your hard plastic lure is the Rapala Knot.

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