The following are some of my favorite knots.  Practice all of these.  You will find that they will come in handy one of these days.

 

I have learned that you can strengthen the San Diego and Uni knots even more by simply passing the line thru the hook's eye a second time before starting your knot. It's very important to lubricate these knots before tightening down.

 

FISHING KNOT BASICS
1. Choose the right knot and tie it correctly.
2. Lubricate knots with water or saliva before drawing tight.
3. Draw knot as tight as possible.
4. Trim tag ends close to the knot.

 

The Albright Knot is one of the most reliable connections for joining lines of greatly unequal diameters or different materials (including mono to braided or single strand wire). It is easy to tie and should be in everyone’s arsenal of knots.

 

DOUBLE UNI KNOT(Line to Line):

The best knot for joining together two fishing lines of approximately the same diameter. This knot can be used with braided lines. If you find the Blood Knot cumbersome to tie, try the Double Uni - it doesn't get any easier than this!

RAPALA KNOT:

The Rapala Knot is popular method to tie a lure (such as a Rapala!) to a line such that it can move freely and unimpeded by the knot. Essentially the same as the Non Slip Mono Loop, the knot has one more step in it’s making. Whether this makes it more secure is still up to debate. It does make it slightly more difficult to tighten down neatly, but with practice can be done. You should know how to tie one or the other for the occasions that you want your bait to swim more naturally.

SAN DIEGO JAM KNOT (my favorite):

As the name implies, this knot was popularized in San Diego, California. Often used by fishermen chasing the tuna on long range boats in Mexican waters, this knot can be tied quickly, especially if tied to a heavy lure such as the “iron” jigs thrown to the tuna. Just let the lure hang down while making the wraps. Then hook the lure to the rail of the boat (skippers hate this!) and pull it tight. It is also now being used with braided lines and has become popular with fishermen going after Peacock Bass in South America with 30-50 pound test braids.

TRILENE KNOT:

The Trilene Knot is a strong reliable connection that resists slippage and premature failures.
The Trilene Knot is an all-purpose connection to be used in joining monofilament to swivels, snaps, hooks and artificial lures. The knot's unique design and ease of tying yield consistently strong, dependable connections while retaining 85-90% of the original line strength. The double wrap of mono through the eyelet provides a protective cushion for added safety.

UNI KNOT:

The Uni Knot is a good alternative to the Improved Clinch. It is very reliable and very easy to tie. This is a good knot when it is getting dark or if your eye sight is less than perfect!

HOOK REMOVAL ( Emergency):

The first diagram is for hooks imbedded in loose skin. The hook can be backed out with a loop of strong monofilament pulling on the bend of the hook while simutaneously pushing down on the eye of the hook. The second diagram is for hooks embedded in tight skin such as a finger. Following the natural bend of the hook, feed the hook into the wound until the barb is clear of the skin. (The worst is over now.) Then clip off the hook barb with pliers or side cutters and feed the barbless hook back through the wound.

This knot is used to connect a leader to the main line.

as it's known to some, is a very easy and strong knot to tie when you need to join a doubled line to a single line such as in the diagram above where we show a Bimini Twist and it's resulting double line loop being joined to a heavier duty shock leader. When properly tied, this combination as well as a Double Uni Knot to a Bimini make for a 100% strength knot combination that's as strong or stronger than the main running line.

• 1. Run the shock leader up through the Bimini loop about 10".

• 2. With your index finger and thumb, pinch the leader and the end of the loop and then wrap the leader five to seven times around the doubled line.

• 3. Run the tag of the leader back between the leader and the double lines leaving about 4-5" of leader tag extending from the loop. In our variation please note the leader does not pass back through the doubled line loop itself but instead passes under the leader and above the double lines of the loop. We have found this to be a much better way to finish off this fine knot.

• 4. Cinch the knot down tight by moistening and pulling both the leader and the single line portion of the running line. Do not pull on the tag end! When properly tied, the leader tag will protrude at a perfect 90° angle to the knot as shown and both lines of the loop will be the exact same length. Trim the tag end close.

• NOTE: unlike the Double Uni/Bimini, when using the No-Name/Bristol to connect leader to running line, you must tie the Bimini to the finished length you want the double line loop to be at the time you tie the Bimini. Most prefer that length to be less than one full wrap around the spool of your reel so the two knots don't get caught on each other. With the Double Uni, if you tie the leader around the double line first, you can adjust the length of the doubled line by sliding that first Uni back up to the Bimini and then tying the double line Uni around the leader.