The three fishing knots that actually matter

Why knots break, which is not what people assume

A knot is the weakest point in your system by design — the line is weaker where it bends sharply around itself. A good knot retains most of the line’s rated strength; a badly tied one retains a fraction.

The three causes of a bad knot, in order of how often they happen:

1. It was tightened dry. Line cinching down against itself generates friction heat. Monofilament and fluorocarbon are both plastics, and heat damages them. Saliva or water is enough, and it costs nothing.

2. It was tightened too fast. A sharp jerk concentrates that heat in one spot. Pull steadily instead.

3. It had too few wraps for the line. Slicker line needs more wraps to grip. This is why braid slips out of a clinch knot that holds monofilament fine.

If your line consistently breaks at the knot rather than somewhere along its length, it is one of these three, essentially every time.

The improved clinch: your default

For monofilament and fluorocarbon, tied to a hook, lure or swivel.

1. Pass the line through the eye, leaving about six inches of tag end.
2. Wrap the tag end around the standing line five times.
3. Pass the tag back through the small loop formed just above the eye.
4. Then pass it through the large loop you just created — this is the “improved” part, and it is what stops the knot slipping.
5. Wet it. Pull the standing line steadily until the coils seat neatly against the eye.
6. Trim the tag close, but not flush.

Five wraps for line up to about 12 lb, four for heavier line where five will not seat cleanly.

The palomar: for braid

Braid is slick enough that a clinch knot can pull through itself. The palomar solves that by doubling the line, and it is also simpler.

1. Double about six inches of line and pass the loop through the hook eye.
2. Tie a loose overhand knot with the doubled line, leaving the loop hanging.
3. Pass that loop completely over the hook.
4. Wet it, then pull both the standing line and the tag to tighten.

The step people get wrong is the third: the loop has to pass fully over the hook, not catch on the point. Check it before tightening.

The double uni: joining two lines

You need this the moment you fish braid with a fluorocarbon leader, which is the standard upgrade from a first setup.

1. Overlap the two line ends by about six inches, running in opposite directions.
2. With one tag end, make a loop back over both lines and wrap through it five times. Wet and snug that half down.
3. Repeat with the other tag end, wrapping five times the other way.
4. Wet both, then pull the two standing lines apart so the knots slide together.
5. Trim both tags close.

Two things make this knot work. Match the diameters — 30 lb braid at 0.011 in joined to 12 lb fluorocarbon at 0.011 in is a knot between two lines of identical thickness, which is exactly the condition line-to-line knots like. And use more wraps on the braid side, six or seven, because it is slicker.

There is a better knot for this job — the FG — which is slimmer through the guides and stronger. It is genuinely fiddly to learn, and the double uni is adequate. Learn the FG when the double uni’s bump clicking through your guides starts annoying you.

Habits worth more than a better knot

Re-tie often. The first few feet of line take all the abrasion. Cut back and re-tie after a fish, after a snag, and every hour or so in rough cover.

Check the tag end length. Trimmed flush, a knot can slip. Leave roughly a sixteenth of an inch.

Run the knot between your fingers. If it feels rough or the coils are crossed rather than seated in a neat spiral, cut it and tie again. It costs a minute.

Test it before you cast. A steady pull, well short of the drag setting. A knot that fails in your hands cost you nothing; the same knot fails on the best fish of the day otherwise.