What fishing knots do I actually need to know?

Most fishing line failures happen at knots, not in the middle of the line. The good news is that you don't need to learn fifteen knots like the diagrams in the back of a tackle catalog suggest. Three knots handle almost everything you'll ever do on Watts Bar.

Before you start: wet every knot before tightening it. Dry monofilament line generates friction heat when you cinch a knot down, and that heat weakens or breaks the line right at the knot. Saliva works fine. This one habit prevents most knot failures, regardless of which knot you're tying.

1. The Improved Clinch Knot (the workhorse)

The default knot for tying line to a hook, lure, swivel, or jig head. Strong, simple, works on monofilament and fluorocarbon. Less reliable on slick braid (use the Palomar there).

Steps:

1. Pass the line through the hook eye. Pull about 6 inches of tag end through.
2. Wrap the tag end around the main line 5 times. Keep the wraps loose and even.
3. Pass the tag end back through the small loop right above the hook eye (the one created by where you first passed the line through).
4. Now you have a bigger second loop. Pass the tag end through that bigger loop.
5. Wet the knot with saliva.
6. Pull the main line and the tag end at the same time, slowly. The wraps cinch down evenly into a small barrel.
7. Trim the tag end about 1/8 inch from the knot.

The knot should sit tight against the hook eye with the wraps neatly cinched. If the wraps look loose or stacked unevenly, untie and re-tie. A bad clinch knot looks like a tangle; a good one looks like a small clean barrel.

2. The Palomar Knot (stronger, especially on braid)

Even simpler than the Improved Clinch and stronger on most lines. The default knot for braided line, and a good alternative for everything else.

Steps:

1. Double about 6 inches of line over to make a loop. Pass the loop through the hook eye.
2. Tie a loose overhand knot with the doubled line. Don't pull tight yet. The hook hangs from the bottom of the overhand knot.
3. Pass the entire hook through the loop you just made.
4. Wet the knot.
5. Pull the main line and tag end together to tighten. The loop cinches around the hook eye and the overhand knot snugs up against it.
6. Trim the tag.

The Palomar is faster than the clinch once you've practiced it a few times. It's the right knot if you're using braid (the slick coating on braid causes clinch knots to slip). It also works fine on mono and fluoro.

3. The Loop Knot (for lures that need to swing freely)

Some lures (jerkbaits, soft jerkbaits, topwater plugs) work better when the lure can swing freely on a small loop instead of being snubbed tight to the line. The Loop Knot creates that small loop. Skip this knot for hooks, jigs, and most baits; use it specifically for hard-bodied lures with action.

The simplest version is the Non-Slip Loop Knot:

1. Tie a loose overhand knot in the line about 4 inches from the end. Don't tighten.
2. Pass the tag end through the lure's eye.
3. Pass the tag end back through the loose overhand knot, going the same direction it came out.
4. Wrap the tag end around the main line 4 to 6 times.
5. Pass the tag end back through the loose overhand knot one more time.
6. Wet, then pull main line and tag together to tighten. The loop ends up about the size of a pencil eraser.
7. Trim the tag.

This is the trickiest of the three knots. If the diagram description doesn't make sense, the Improved Clinch will work for any lure too; the loop knot is just optimization.

How to test a knot

After tying, give the knot a sharp pull with both hands (carefully; it's fishing line, not rope). It should hold. If it slips, untie and re-tie. Better to find the bad knot now than when a fish is on it.

Pay attention to where knots fail. If your line keeps breaking at the hook, the knot is wrong or the line is old. If it keeps breaking 2 to 3 feet up the line, you have an abrasion problem from rocks or wood; check the line by running it through your fingers and re-tie above any rough spot.

When to re-tie

Re-tie any time the line near the hook looks frayed, scuffed, or feels rough between your fingers. Re-tie after any fish bigger than a pound. Re-tie if you've been fishing rocks, wood, or thick brush for an hour. Re-tie at the start of every fishing day; the knot you tied last week may have weakened sitting in the rod.

Replace the entire spool of line once a year if you fish regularly, more often if you fish a lot. Old monofilament gets brittle from UV exposure and breaks unexpectedly. A spool of fresh line is $4 to $10.

Lines: which one to use

For Watts Bar's beginner setups (bluegill, crappie, catfish, dock bass), 6 to 10 pound monofilament handles everything. It's cheap, easy to tie, knots well, and forgives mistakes. Berkley Trilene XL or Stren Original are the standard cheap monos at every bait shop.

Skip braid and fluorocarbon until you have a specific reason to use them. Braid is great for thick cover but it slips at knots if you don't tie it correctly, and it costs three times what mono does. Fluorocarbon is nearly invisible underwater but expensive and hard to manage on a beginner reel.

Related videos

• How to spool fresh monofilament onto a reel
• Knot strength tests (which knot to trust on which line)