Notes from the crew — by David Jones
Now we’re talkin’. Knots are where the rubber hits the road. One of the sure ways to tell an experienced fisherman from one less so is by his knots. It took me four years of fishing in La Paz as a customer of Fishermen’s Fleet before the Captains would leave my knots alone — for four years they’d look at them, shake their heads, and bite them off. It wasn’t that I tied them poorly, it was that I was using different knots than they used. In a world where most customers tip on tonnage, the Captains wanted knots in which they had faith. You also need to have the faith that comes from having tied knots that don’t let you down.
My strong advice is that you learn 2-4 knots, learn them again, and stick to them. You should tie on instinct, not thought. When there’s a hot bite, people are yelling, and the boat is going up and down is a very bad time to try and remember how to tie your knots. Practice your knots in front of the TV at night — it’s that important.
I used Sr. Howard Hada, one of the best fishermen I know and a ProStaffer at Izorline, to back up my opinions on knot tying and which knots to recommend. When it comes to knots, HH is the man — he officiates for Izorline at the knot tying contests they sponsor at all the big sports shows, testing knots for the percentage of original line strength they hold before breaking. He advised me that there were knots that did consistently 100% or better (double line), but that these contest winners were large, bulky things with no practical use. We agreed on three basic knots that you should learn to tie, and a fourth that you can work around but should know if you want to wow the Captains. I did not include diagrams or pictures because you can look up any of these knots, but I’ve tried to describe the when and why of each.
Uni Knot
This is the first knot that you should learn. It’s a very good knot for tying mono to a hook — easily tied, and it never lets you down when tied properly. You can either cinch this knot down tight against the hook, or if you tighten it away from the hook (leaving a small loop in the end of the line) you’ll let the hook move more easily.
This article runs longer in David’s original notes than what survived in the archive — if you have questions about knots, just get in touch.
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