The Best All Purpose Fishing Knot Is This Knot.

[jewgaffer]

Hi

I have noticed there is always good interest in particular fishing knots for different applications. Fishraider is a very informative site and no doubt fishermen receive excellent advice from members who are truly experts in this field.

To be able to tie a good fishing knot is the most important part of fishing and is so often taken for granted, particularly when tying line rollovers in order and making sure cross unders and overs don't result in stress at a single point, or result in unequal resistance and that the knot in itself does not overlap and create a weak spot in the tackle under pressure.

We all know how easily a knot in a line will break a fishing line. A sudden loss of line strength when a knot is at its tightest point, and where the force is not shared evenly, can actually cost you the fish of a lifetime.

In this topic I want to simply go back to a knot known as the blood knot and suggest an excellent variation of this time proven knot which many Greek fisherman, particularly Mediterranean Islanders have used in commercial fishing and passed on over many generations.

This variation of a blood knot is an excellent general purpose knot, the most reliable and the strongest knot for all applications and I was taught how to tie this knot as a young child. I have used it ever since and have applied this knot to braid lines as have many of my older (and younger) fishing friends and found this knot to be as good as it gets for all braid lines and equally as good for the brand new hi tech mono and nylon lines as well.

The ordinary blood knot with the line passed thru the eye in the form of a loop at least six inches long to provide enough room to work with, is in my opinion the best "knotless knot" there is or ever will be for line strength retention for applications including main line to hook or swivel, for tying paternosta loops to hooks whether they be multi hooks in line or looped paternostas or long line type rigs, bait jigs, or for main line mono connection when used for shark rigs on crimped wire leader.

This knot can also be tied in the form of a two or more hooks snelled in tandem, along the hook shanks simply by passing longer doubled line thru the eye or thru a ring or loop, whatever the case may be.

Having the line doubled thru the eye of a hook tying the blood knot along the line away from the hook by using this method, increases the strength at the eye of the hook as it shares the force at the hook and the doubled line and the hook in itself adds leverage.

You form the loop and pass it thru the eye to tie the blood knot and when you pass the loop back thru the first turn you finish up with three tags ends, two tag ends after you cut the loop at the eye of the hook and one tag end at the top of the knot. If the eye of the hook is too small for the loop size, you can overcome this hiccup by passing the line itself, which would have formed the loop thru the eye of the hook, twice.

Now we come to something very important to your hook up rate, and I doubt many of you have ever struck this method before. I'll try and word this as accurately as I can. You can add a second hook by using any one part of the line from the long left over loop and cut the other end short to become a single tag.

Now here is a secret ingredient. The left over single end tied to the bottom hook temporarily causes the bottom hook to become the control hook during a "bottom hook" hook up. The top hook, when left unbaited, will swing around uncontrolled as such, as it sits at an angle of 45 degrees and it will move around unstable as you tighten the line. This is what you want to achieve when a fish is hooked up on that hook.

So when baiting up, and in order to keep the top hook in line with the bottom hook and stable, you have to turn the line once over the bait which assists you to employ a method which allows for what I call

"the fish pull and slip hook up". That means you can have the barbs of the the top hook and the bottom hook facing one another, with the hook at the head of the bait, ie the the barb of the bottom hook facing towards the barb of the top hook.

This is the method which avoids the jew spit out and a bait drop by other fish as well.

Otherwise there is more chance that the mouth of the fish will roll back over the curve of the hook and miss the barb. Whereas the fish will get caught by the barb and then more than likely by both barbs as the fish attempts to swim away.

Using this method if both hooks penetrate which is very likely, the top hook being at 45 degrees when penetrating the fish, and the bottom hook having more control, the fish will be not only fighting the fisherman and the rod, the reel, the line and the swinging top hook which on hook up reverts to the roll of main controller which now can react with and, as the fish fights and pulls harder against the bottom hook, the fish will actually be pulled into a curve by the rig and the fish will be fighting part of its own body as well.

I should mention that if you are fishing for toothy critters and it should be noted that jewfish do not come into this category, rather than snelling the bottom hook along the shank, the knot should be tied along the line above the eye of the hook using a full loop thru the eye and doing this doubles the thickness of the knot and this being doubled leader material acts as excellent reinforcement for the leader itself.

As I mentioned before, this double line blood knot is an excellent knot for braid lines as well, and I believe it's not just one of the best but the best. As I mentioned it also works great on paternosta loops and this knot is much better then using the old palomar knot to attach a hook to a loop because sharpness or bluntness for that matter, of the rolled over metal at the eye of a hook, where there is direct stress on it for whatever reason, can become a fishing line's breaking point.

This knot forms a doubled line thru the eye, and the coiled turns line up evenly, as you pull the knot tight.

You will notice how even the wraps tighten as you pull the tag loop above the swivel and the single tag above the knot which it is made up of a series of loops with the ends finishing up tucked in and no part of the knot crosses itself or puts force upon the line at any point enough to cause stress as such.

I hope you like this knot. It is one my favourites among very few others depending on what mood I'm in.

Try it and see for yourself. This is a very powerfull knot which retains the line strength and it will never slip.

But remember form your own opinion about fishing methods. It should always be to each his own and if you get good landing results and feel you are doing it right you can only try this method and judge it only for what it actually does.

Cheers

jewgaffer

Edited February 27, 2008 by jewgaffer

[luderick59]

hi jewgaffer

i am using that same knot for years never had a problem very strong

use it on main line to swivel and swivel to trace but use single blood knot to hook in case i get snagged then only losing the hook

peter

[fishguts]

yeah always use improved dbbl blood....for every thing, cant go wrong!

..cheers!..stevo!..

[slinkymalinky]

That's where experience counts... in the fine detail. Thanks for the detailed tip. Such a simple basic principle in doubling the line before tying the knot yet the benefits are obvious now I think about it.

Jewgaffer, would the same principle work with a uni knot? I'm not certain whether the same double hook set up would work because of where the tag in a uni 'exits' the knot. I only ask because for no partiular reason I have more confidence in uni knots. It stems from my trout fishing days when I went through a period where I had a few leader failures when using double blood knot connections (I'm certain more to do with how I was tying them than the quality of the knot).

If we get a chance to fish together, I'll have to talk to you about it some more and watch you rig up very carefully. I prefer 2 hook rigs with a lot of my bait fishing and at the moment use sliding snell rigs which have their own faults. Always looking for better ways to rig.

Thanks for taking the time to pen the post.

Cheers, Slinky

[Scienceman]

Jewgaffer, I currently just use the single blood knot but lock it by passing the tag a second time throught the loop formed when first making the first pass through the first turn loop - if that makes sense

Using your double method, is it still better to lock the knot or does the effect of doubling the line prevent the risk of slipping?

Do you mainly use this for light line or also heavy leader to hook situations?

Edited February 28, 2008 by Scienceman

[roosterman]

thanks for the post byron,

the common bloodknot is the most used knot by fisherman and one thats got the best % line strength when tied correctly..

i always used this for most applications except it was a locked one, unless very heavy line was being used then the uni for convenience as its easier...... this one you showed me byron is an improvement on this and i will def give it a try as it looks real good and the way it locks doesn't look like line pressure will cut the knot so to speak.....

basically pass a loop through eye and tie a standard blood using doubled loop then pull tight the usual way and trim the 3 tags.or loop + tag i should say....easy peasy.......

will be interested in anyone else who tries this and what they think......

i may try some strength tests over weekend as i cannot get out fishing this weekend and am impatient to wait till then.....

hi Scienceman do not lock the knot... it is just common version with double line so to speak...

pulls down real neat an sweet......

locked versions with heavy line are awkward with large diameter lines......

cheers.... steve

Edited February 28, 2008 by roosterman

[choad]

could someone please post pics of the knot tying process?

[mrsswordfisherman]

Don't forget to check out the KNOTS button at the top of this screen next to Seabreeze, BOM etc

Cheers mrsswordfisherman

[roosterman]

hi choad,

the blood knot has been said to slip when not done correctly so always check knots and if not 100% satisfied re-tie as that fish of a lifetime may hit you next cast....

the link above does not show blood knot to terminal tackle so use google and you should find heaps....

i think proper name is half blood knot... but just loop line so as to double it up.....

cheers...steve.....

Edited February 28, 2008 by roosterman

[jewgaffer]

Hi Scienceman.

Steve Roosterman is quite correct about not locking the doubled line blood knot.

Steve and I went over this knot today and studied it carefully looking for any weak points.

As I demonstrated to Steve, the doubled line passed thru the eye of a hook or a swivel etc instead as using a single line, takes the form of a "sling" to carry the force of weight exerted on a hook or a swivel etc under pressure.

The body of this knot has a degree of minute separation between the "sling" around the eye and the first wrap of doubled lines above the eye where the tag loop passes thru. All the wraps tighten over the tags which, when under load, are tightened gradually from the bottom wrap to the end wrap, which is the point where the knot itself exhausts and the main line takes over.

The top tag does not have a load bearing role as such in that the main line takes over as the pressure on the "sling', and the wraps exhaust.

The load bearing capacity is reflected in the strength of the hook, the swivel etc, the strength of the "sling" and the strength of the main line. The wraps and the tags can be considered to be part of the main line, remembering that the sling and the loops are relatively rigid and the particular main line used on this occasion monofilament, has elastic characteristics.

I believe that when using the doubled line blood knot, the "sling" formed around a hook or a swivel with the pressure being taken up gradually in the even wraps, makes the doubled line blood knot stronger than the single main line itself when using either monofilament lines or braid lines etc.

The line used for the excersize today was 80lb Jarvis Walker monofilament line, with a 10/0 hook, and a 160lb ball bearing swivel.

Hope this helps

Hi Choad as Mrsswordfisherman said there is a Knots button next to Seabreeze and you should find good information on tying fishing knots. This particular knot is a variation of the standard blood knot, and has the line doubled as a loop and passed thru the eye of a hook etc instead of using a single line for which the blood knot was intended.

Cheers

jewgaffer

[jewgaffer]

....the fine detail.....Such a simple basic principle in doubling the line before tying the knot yet the benefits are obvious now I think about it.

Cheers, Slinky

Hi Slinky. The fine detail and the simple layout of the doubled blood knot makes this knot without question the strongest knot of all because it contains a four line "sling" between the eye of the hardware etc and the first wrap and the knot is made up of even double wraps of the actual main line itself without having any crossover points or any singles apart from the main line.

When you look at the actual physics of the doubled lined blood knot, the hook or swivel, ring etc have double line around them in the form of two tightened loops which have no give whasoever like mono or even braid has to some extent.

When the initial contact point in the hardware, the doubled line, is under pressure when pulled by a fish or in testing for that matter, the force is immediately transferred to the four line "sling" and then into the bulk of the knot which is rigid. Therefore the force can only exhaust from the knot and then the main line takes the force and becomes the main pressure point.

It is obvious that the doubled line blood knot when tied properly and tightened is stronger than the main line.

If this knot is tied properly but not tightened as tight as it should be by kids etc, that would not be not a problem, the pull of a fish will only set the hook deeper into the fish should a fishing the knot suddenly tighten.

Slinkymalinky I know you'll get the message and I dont think you'll be tying any other knots and I'm sure we'll see the the doubled line blood knot tied very diligently on your keeper bag.

Cheers

jewgaffer

[Scienceman]

Thanks for the reply Jewgaffer.

Issues with the locked half blood knot have plagued me periodically for years. It is the best I know but sometimes, especially in deep water bottom bouncing, I get breakages at the knot. I think what sometimes happens is that the knot slips around the eye of the hook when hooking a fish and encounters an angular surface where the hook eye end is folded around but is not flush or has a rough corner. To try and counter this I sometimes use the "throught the eye twice" version so that two wraps of the line increase the friction on the eye to prevent slippage - but this has not always solved the problem.

Oath of the double blood knot- "I Scienceman do solemly swear to tie only the double blood knot to my hooks and swivels from this day forward, until I can no longer hold a rod in my hand"

Edited February 28, 2008 by Scienceman

[varos1911]

A simple knot to tie which wont let you down

[Seagoon]

A thousand words is worth a picture ;-) hahaha Thanks for your info and effort in writing that post 'gaffer :-)

[slinkymalinky]

Hi Byron,

I'm not 100% confident interpreting a knot verbally and I just wanted to make sure I understand your instructions correctly. I've just been trying out the knot and I've attached some pics so you can let me know if I've got it right. It certainly looks the goods as a knot... I like the way the tag end comes out of the bottom of the knot once the loop is trimmed to allow for good 2 hook rigs. Let me know if I've done anything the wrong way.

Cheers, Slinky

Pass a loop of line thru the eye of the hook

tie a half blood knot using the doubled-up line

pass the 'looped tag en' of the doubled-up line back through the first loop of the half blood knot

after pulling the knot snug, trim the 'loop tag end' so that one strand of the loop can be used as a dropper for a 2nd hook in a 2-hook rig, trim the other side short.

[jewgaffer]

Hi slinkymalinky I have to give you 90/100 for following my instructions in tying my favourite knot, the doubled line blood knot !!

Although you tied the knot beautifully and absolutely perfectly! as shown in the pics in your reply to my topic, had you followed my hints in the opening post you would have got 100/100 which is honours in knot tying and would be awarded to you for having worked out some of the variations to rigs that naturally follow on, such as leaving the loop longer and having the strongest fishing knot of all to cover all rigging situations.

For example having a very long loop left over gives you the opportunity, to make up the following rigs :-

1 - Bait Jig - The first hook will have a natural standout angle of 45 degrees. You'll see that when you tie it with the single line let over from the loop as I explained in the first post. The other hooks can be spaced and can be made to stand out at 90 degrees! simply by tying a blood knot with the single tag and then simply passing that tag back up over the loop and then downwards ready for th next hook and so on. There is no tag to slip with the common blood knot continuing down to the next hook on the leader using this method.

Use an extra long no8 etc hook on bait jigs at all times especially for toothy baitfish and flathead and other good size fish which adore tiny baits on bait jigs when a well presented full bait doesn't phase them.

2 - Paternosta - Add three way (rated at double the line strength) or tie long liners knot with hooks to suit and achieve ninety degree standout using doubled twisted line keeping the standout fairly rigid but sensibly short

3 - Joining braid to leader (no swivel needed) - two single reverse blood knots pulled in together, overtightened down onto short tag ends

4 - Bottom jewfish Jig . Add heavy sinker to the end of line using no.2 above to achieve a jewfish etc bottom jig ready for a variety of big baits and enjoy a good old game of tug of war to set each hook

Slinky I'll show you more of the variations including my mechano set jew rigs on the water as we monitor the bait peckers on at least half a dozen jew rods

Cheers

jewgaffer