Knotty Problems

Apart from lure colours, one of the other contentious arguments big-game fishermen often have is the one about knots. Everyone has their favourites, and will blindly use them for years, often oblivious to the advantages and disadvantages of their particular choice. But very often, when one looks closely at the situation, you'll often find that it is not just the knot itself that is the answer to success, but the way that is tied. And by that, a carefully-tied mediocre knot can often be stronger than a poorly-tied strong knot. Confused? Read on.

Amongst the most obvious disciples of our sport is the one of knot-tying. It's one of the few things we can control, and we should be able to perfect it to such a stage that it really should no longer be part of the "luck" we employ on a regular basis. Anyone who regularly loses fish due to knot failure should really look at their efforts and do something about it. Not only is it not fun to come home with no fish, it's also inappropriate leave fish with hooks and line in them when you don't mean to!

I must admit, that I've reached the stage of my life when I no longer feel worried for my knots when game-fishing. And there's a perfectly good reason for this - I only use a handful of knots and I have the utmost confidence in them. I've tied each of them thousands of times, and I think the last time I broke a fish off at a knot while big-game fishing was over a decade ago. Sure, I've broken line and leader since then, but not a knot, and one of the reasons for this is that primarily I only use two knots when chasing marlin and tunas - and they're a bimini and a cats-paw (also known as an offshore swivel knot). A bimini is a knot designed to create a double line, and a cats-paw is used to connect that double line to a swivel or other connecting device, or to a wind-on.

Now, I'll be the first to admit that a bimini is not everyone's cup of tea. Some people prefer an Aussie plait for their double lines, and I'll state right now that either knot, tied correctly, is as good as the other. But, I learnt the bimini before I ever heard of a plait and so that's the knot I'm most comfortable with, it's the one I tie well, and I don't see it fail anymore. That's the reason I use it. Having said that, I'll also admit that due to the amount I travel and the people I meet, my 2007 bimini is a very different animal now to the 1997 bimini, which in turn was a better animal than the 1987 one.

There are many articles and diagrams available to show you how to tie a bimini, and they all vary. I find it easier to tie a long bimini with two people rather than one, and a fixed point as a third hand makes things even easier. I make my biminis just ten feet long, not only because my marlin leaders are the full 29' feet (40' being the maximum allowed leader/double length for most fishing clubs), but also because it means anglers on the rod cannot do silly things in the heat of battle close to the boat.

So, how do you tie a 10' bimini ? Measure off the length of line required. One person (the "holder") holds the two lines at the 10' mark, and the other ("the walker") then extends the two lines and spins them clockwise with one hand 30 turns. When done, they should put the loop on a fixed point such as a cleat, and then walk towards the "holder", spreading the two lines apart as they do so. The lines should be moistened at this stage as the turns start to tighten. When the "holder' feels the turns are tight enough (PHOTO 1) - they shouldn't be too tight - he tells the "walker" to stop, and the "holder" should manually turn the first line back over itself (PHOTO 2).

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Do not worry about making the turns neat and tight like the books tell you. The first four or five roll-overs can and should be quite spread apart - only as you continue rolling should the turns become tighter. The "walker" should continue at this stage to pull the lines apart to aid the rolling process until the final roll is achieved (PHOTO 3).

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At this stage the "holder" should say STOP, and while the "walker" keeps the pressure on the two apart lines, the "holder" should either take a single half hitch around one strand of the lines to lock the rolls if using a Venezuelan finish (PHOTO 4) or tuck the tag-end down between the two lines of the double if the knot is to be whipped (PHOTO 5).

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Of all the ways of finishing a bimini, whipping the tag-end into the two strands of double line is a very good way to go if you have time. It eliminates the bulk of a bimini and also leaves out a crucial series of hitches that can go wrong and cut into the main line. By using a whipping finish there are no knots at all in the monofilament and the chances of the knot breaking become almost nil.

With a 2' piece of waxed twine, take a half-hitch around the two lines through which you have tucked the tag-end of the rolling bimini - this will jam the tag-end from the knot into place (PHOTO 6). Tighten, and then tuck the tag-end down between the two lines and take another half-hitch with the waxed thread. Continue for an inch or so, alternately tightening half-hitches of the waxed thread above and below the tag-end of the bimini (PHOTO 7). Then trim the end of the tag-end, and whip over it and down the double lines, finishing as you want. This will give you a very unbulky and flexible finish to the bimini which will aid considerably the easy passage of line through rollers and rod-eyes (PHOTO 8 ).

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The Venezulan finish is a quicker way of finishing a bimini out at sea on a rolling boat with hot fish in the spread. After taking the half-hitch, simply tie a large and loose uni-knot back towards the bimini across the two double lines (PHOTO 9). Six or seven turns is good. Do not tighten, but when the turns are in place, go back to the beginning of the knot and wrap the loop of the knot back across itself. By doing so, you take the turns out of the uni-knot and create a nail-knot finish (PHOTO 10). I hope the photos explain it more clearly. When done, moisten the knot and pull tight before trimming, and don't forget to keep pressure on the initial half-hitch of the bimini as long as you can (PHOTO 11).

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I like to trim my bimini ends long, and then apply flame to the end until they start to melt at which point I wet finger and thumb and squeeze and pull the melted end out into a long feathery thin feather of line that does not cut, prick, bulk out or any other way be a bone of contention (PHOTO 12). I finish all my tag-ends of line like this if I have time.

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There are advantages and disadvantages to the bimini versus the plait. It is difficult to tie long biminis by yourself, and almost impossible on a rolling boat. The experienced plait man will manage to do his successfully in this situation. However a 10' bimini is a different animal and can be done in seconds. Indeed, smaller biminis can be tied by one person, using the rod tip and reel-handle of a combo in a rod-holder as two anchoring points and a good deckie will tie 5' biminis in four 30lb outfits before the plait man has even finished the first of his. Shorter two-foot biminis can be tied between the knees in the old-fashioned way and as a way of making a small double for attaching leaders or swivels too there is little to better it.

However the plait has a devoted following who love it for its elasticity and flexibleness, something traditional biminis could not match. However, as we go into the 22nd century, creative anglers who like to experiment will continue to devise better means of making the bimini better, something the whipped finish, the Venezuelan finish and the "loose" start as described above have started to do. The fact is, a well-tied bimini and a well-tied plait should both break way above the line's stated test and that is the way it should be. Learn either method, learn it well and worry less!

Having tied your double line, there are many ways to attach it to a connecting device. Some people like a blood-knot, in which case the turns should be immaculately parallel, and others like a uni-knot, which I find is a weak join in comparison. Either way, if tied correctly both knots should outlast the test of the line quite comfortably. Personally, I prefer the traditional cats-paw, and use it to attach double-line to both swivels and wind-ons. I also use it to attach line to line, whether Dacron to Dacron, mono to mono or Dacron to mono. Indeed, a very good way of attaching braid to mono is to tie biminis in both, tie a bimini in the ends of a 2' length of Dacron and put it between the braid and mono, all joined by cats-paws.

A cats-paw aboard my boats is always tied using three turns only. Exhaustive testing by multiple blue marlin world-record holder Stewart Campbell has proved to him this is the best way to use a cats-paw. Stewart has an Instron tester at his house, and his monopoly of blue-marlin records over the past two decades is proof enough that he chooses his knots well (incidentally, his crew use biminis too). A cats-paw basically consists of rotating the article to be joined to the double line through the double line itself three times. Whether the article is a swivel or another loop of line, the process is similar. Put the double line through the eye of the swivel or the loop of the joining line (PHOTO 13), and then rotate it backwards through the double line three times, making sure the turns lie parallel to each other (PHOTO 14). Then snug everything up tight (PHOTO 15). If the turns do not lie tight together it is imperative to whip the two lines together (PHOTO 16 & 17). When done like this you'll have a 100% plus connection to your swivel or wind-on AND you will still be able to land your fish should one strand of the double line be broken for some reason. IT IS VITAL your two strands of double line lie parallel to each other as they go through the joining point (PHOTO 18).

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When it comes to lighter lines and the dirty world of snapper and kingfish fishing, you have to think differently from the traditional double-line knot. One of the most important knots is one that joins light line to a heavier section of leader for casting or biting purposes. My favourite knot is one I learnt many years ago on the surf beaches of the UK. I use it almost exclusively for all situations that warrant joining dis-similiar lines together. In some parts of the world it is actually even known as the Roddy Hays knot, but that is only because I happened to be the one who showed it to a US writer called Tony Pena - I certainly do not call it that ! In truth, it probably belongs to some gnarly old cod-fisherman from the beaches of north-east England.

Here's how to tie it. Simply tie an overhand knot in the heavy line and pass a small length of your of lighter line through it (PHOTO A) so it lies parallel to the leader (the line can also be doubled using a knot such as a spider-hitch, bimini or even plait if needs be). Now moisten the knot and tighten it as HARD AS YOU CAN with pliers.. Then pull enough of the rest of the doubled smaller line through the knot to complete the main knot. Twist the doubled line eight times around the leader away from the overhand knot (PHOTO B), and then come back seven times, inserting the end of the doubled line through the last loop before the overhand knot (PHOTO C). Now gently pull the knot closed, aiding the loops to slide along if need be. Carefully trim all the extraneous line, and you will have a stream-lined and 100%-proof leader knot (PHOTO D) that casts well and has accidentally caught fish up to 800 lbs or so for me on 50 lb tackle ! The photos illustrate the knot tied with a single strand of line for simplicity purposes.

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This knot is similar to many UK surf-casting leader knots, but I have actually not seen this particular variation of it since I was taught it. It is certainly very strong and has won many converts from the Albright and Yucatan schools for its simplicity, streamlined shape and durability. A point to remember is that I increase the number of turns for lighter line, and decrease them for heavier line. If I'm connecting 80lb line to 200lb leader for example, I might only go 'up' four times and 'down' three, and I will only use a single strand of the lighter line. I do not remember why I always come back 'down' one turn less that going 'up', but it is something I have always done - it might not matter a jot and I have not had a chance to test it to see if there is any difference.

To round out my knot selection, I also use an ordinary blood-knot to join hooks to mono, or a Palomar if I can. The Palomar is consistently higher than almost every other single-strand connection in the business and has the added advantage of being extremely easy to tie in the dark. I use a nail-knot for lures that require a loop, and a uni-knot is always at hand for various purposes if things need to be done in a rush - it's overall strength is not up to other connections, but it is easy and quick and in some circumstances is a better option than a poorly tied "better" knot.

To those who do not have the benefits of an Instron testing machine, I simply say test your knots to destruction. Put a hook in a wall in your shed, and sink it tight so it will never come out. Attach a swivel to the hook. To test knots, tie a 2' length of mono to the swivel using one knot, and the other end of the mono using (a different knot) to a large hook (say, a 9/0) from which you have snipped the point. Put a glove on your pulling hand, and pull on the hook, using a piece of dowel if needs be. Pull hard, pull soft, pull swift, pull slow. Note all the results you get, using different knots, and ultimately you'll find one of the knots you use will consistently outperform all the others. Now, it may not be the best knot known, but it may be just the ticket for you as the way YOU tie it is the most important thing if it leads to success and not failure. Try it - it's a great way to spend a wet afternoon or evening in the shed. And don't forget, a knot tied with five turns, for example, is totally different from a knot tied with three turns. So first find the optimum number of turns for a knot before pitting it against another knot. The results may surprise you.

Oh, and don't forget - get your boating crew-mates to come and practice that double-line knot in the shed too. Sort out who does what, and how, before you transfer the system to the boat and a pitching deck in 20 knots of Easterly!