How To Tie Fishing Knots, The Four Knots You Need to Know!

In fishing knowing some basic knots is priceless. Many times on the online forums fisherman ask all the time how to tie lines together, tie a lure into a loop, how to tie in a fly above an ice jig (Michigan rig). If you are fishing for may different types of fish here in Michigan you will need to learn a new knot sooner or later. But with these four basic knots you will be able to rig up for any fish you are fishing for. 

The 1st knot we are going to cover is the Palomar Knot.The Palomar knot maybe the closest thing you ever get to a 100% knot. A 100% knot is a knot that has a higher breaking strength then the line it selfs.This is super easy to tie this is my go to knot for when I am tieing to a swivel, lure, or hook. Another great benefit of this knot is that it requires no modification when tieing superlines and braids directly to a lure, it will not slip! Another Great use for this is tieing your line to the spool.Also if you are tieing a leader to a swivel that is already tied to your mainline is really simple to use this knot still. All you have to do is pass the line and the tag end through the loop like you would the lure. I refer to this as a reverse Palomar knot.

Now this is a another very simple knot that will have many uses. This is the knot I use when I am tieing up the “Michigan Rig”. Just tie this knot in x-large size so you have a huge loop when you’re finished. Then go down about a third of the way down one side of the and cut your line. on that new short part of the line you made tie on your unweighted fly and it will float away from your mainline. Then just tie you jig to the long tag end. For both of your baits use the Palomar knot and you are all set.Noe for you fly fisherman this is a knot for tieing a fly line and tapered leader together. Just inter lock two loops together and then you can change leaders easily without having to cut your flyline. This knot can also be used for tieing right to your baits and lures. I use this a lot when tieing to tungsten ice jigs such has Fiskas. It helps reduce jig spin, when the jig is spinning it looks unnatural and the larger panfish tend to shy away from your jig.

In the age of superlines and fluorocarbon this knot has become a must know.If you have tired to tie a Blood knot and just find it two tough, then you will really like this not. Use this knot when tieing two lines together. One thing that is super important to remember is that the smaller of the two lines in diameter you will want to do a few more wraps. When you are putting two like lines in diameter together make sure that each side of this knot is tied the same way. The neatest thing with this knot is that it will get stronger as tension is put on it. Another use for this knot is the “Michigan rig”, just leave the top tag end long and you can tie the fly on.

Now there is a lot of different Snell knots out there. This was shown to me many years ago by a saltwater buddy of mine.This basic Snell is also the basis of two other knots, the Egg Loop and the Hair Rig. I use this knot for Catfish, Walleye, and Steelhead. When I use this knot for Steelhead and catfish I like to back the mainline back through the eye. I then can then place some Yarn in there or when I am catfishing with liver I will put part of it inside the loop made and pull it tight to help hold it on the hook better in current. For walleye this is the start of making up your own harness and can really save you money on them.

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