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Today we're here with Dan and we're going to talk about the importance of tying knots.
A lot of people when they start going fishing, they go out and they buy the perfect rod and reel, they get all the right baits but they forget one important step.
And that is how to tie the knots. If you don't tie a proper knot you can catch one of the biggest fish ever and lose it.
So Dan is gonna show us today how to tie two really good knots.
Alright well before we get to knot time we need to talk about some lingo that I like to use when I'm tying knots so you'll understand what it is when I say tagging or cinch things down,
But just for instance the end of your line, you got to pretend this is a line coming from your rod and reel,
The end of your line, I consider the tag end and also when we cinch things down that means to pull things taut or tight like that, that's cinching down.
I'll use those terms throughout this segment.
When I was growing up I didn't have anybody teach me how to fish.
So the best knot that I learned was that I knew that if I tied my shoes a certain way I could never untie them. So I said that was a good knot.
So what I would do is I would simply take my tag end of the line go through the eye of the hook and I would do what's called a half hitch.
I don't know what a half hitch was back then but you simply just like you're tying your shoe, and then I would do it again and then I would do it again.
I thought that the more of those half hitches I would do the better the knot.
Well there were several fish when I was growing up that I lost and it was because of that knot.
Because guess what, this line which is called monofilament line the thing that they hate the most this line is going to be friction.
And friction as you rub your hands together they heat up guess what monofilament line hates that.
And guess what that line also hates this knot.
So what I did was when I bought my next spool of monofilament line they had this handy guide on how to tie something called the improved clinch knot.
It's a really simple knot and I'm gonna show it to you today.
What you need to do is you take your tag in of your line and you go through the eye of the hook,
You simply pull it through like this and you bring it back over.
Now there is a controversy of how many times you go around your line that's going to you rod.
I just like to say five times and we can break all that controversy.
So you simply take your tag in and you go around five times. One, two, three, four, five.
And once you've done that, at the base of the eye, not the eye itself, but you formed this little loop right here,
Simply take your tag in and put it through that little loop just like this.
Now if I cinch this down that's called the clinch knot.
Clinch knot is a really good knot if you're hanging up your clothesline but it's not a good knot for fishing.
What you need to do is to improve the clinch knot.
So what you do is once you have it just like this,
You take your tag in and you form this big loop right here.
All you have to do is take your tag in, pull it through there and then this is the most important part of tying any knot,
Is that you must wet your line and the way you do that is that you can dip it in the water but that's kind of defeating the purpose of putting a little luck on it.
And you've always heard you spit your hook well I like to lick my line.
So what I do is I will lick my line, I always make that noise.
And I will cinch it down, I just pull it taut and the main thing is whenever you're centering this knot down always hold it by the line that's going to your rod.
You're used to when you're tying your shoes to hold both lines.
You don't do that, just hold that knot, excuse me the line that's going to your rod,
And just cinch it down and what you form is this nice perfect looking noose of a knot.
This is a very very strong knot, you've got very little friction when you're making this because you have licked that line.
And you're ready to go fishing, that's the improved clinch knot.
Now let's go ahead and transition into what we call the Palomar knot.
A lot of people like the Palomar knot because it seems to be a little bit more simple to the novice angler out there.
So what I need to do first is to untie this improved clinch knot and we need to remember our anatomy of knot tying.
We got our tag in and we've got the eye of the hook right here.
The first step is to simply take your tag in and go through the eye of the hook,
And the second step is to take your tag in and go back the opposite way.
Make sure that you form a loop on one side and you've got your tag in and your line that go into your ride the other in the other hand.
Now with this one I like to have a lot of slack, it makes the knot really easy to tie when you have a lot of slack.
I like to hold it just like it's one piece of line just like this and you need to do what's called the half hitch just like we were tying our shoes earlier.
Now you simply go over and under and what you have formed is a loop right here.
And notice I did not cinch this part down all the way, that's very important.
Now you form this big loop, you still have your line, your tag in and your line going to your rod, you're still holding it just like this.
Now you take your loop and go around the hook just like this, and now it's time to cinch it down. Remember we have to wet our line, alright.
So I just give it a little lick and when you're cinching it down make sure you grab both your tag in and the line that's going to your rod and you simply cinch it down like this,
Just like that and another important with any knot is that there's going to be some slippage in the knot.
So whenever you cut off that little tag in, don't cut it right there at the knot because if you get a big fish it can slip a little bit and you've lost your fish right there.
So you always want to leave about a quarter inch from your eye or from the actual knot to the end so it'll be about right there.
You clip that off and you're ready to go fishing.
Thanks Dan for showing us those two great fishing knots.
Well I'm glad I had a chance to do that Laurieanne.
These two fish and I said I just showed you, the improved clinch knot and the polymer knots can satisfy most of your angling needs.
Now you guys need to get out there practice those knots and get on the water.
And guess what we'll catch you next time.