Fishing Basics – Loop Tying
While fishing recently I was asked by a young angler if I would tie a hook on to his rig. On handing over his rig, and having a look at his set up I was alarmed at how his whole rig was set up. After a brief conversation I persuaded the young angler that some of the knots I knew may mean when he hooked a fish it was less likely to get away and over the next 5 minutes I slowly deconstructed his rig and then carefully put it all back together in a way which (he assured me) made sense and was helpful. But it got me thinking and on speaking to another of my angling friends I found out that only a few knots were consistently used while fishing. So I thought I may do a few posts, hopefully to try to demonstrate what I find the most useful and practical knots and how to tie them; with the hope that some people will find this information of benefit.
Starting with the 2 variations of the “Loop” – an essential in most coarse anglers knot tying repertoire as it allows the quick and easy attaching of a lighter hooklink to the main line whether you are fishing on the float, ledger of feeder.
Figure 8 Loop.
I find this is loop is used more widely and is often used to link between mainline and hooklinks on float fishing set ups. It can be tied down to a very small size and when pulled tight can be made very streamline. The knot is also smaller than the figure 8 loop so may offer a slight advantage in the presentation stakes. However I have generally found that this type of knot reduces line strength as the knot “bites” into the line which means an increased likelihood of line breakage. Never the less it is still widely used and to great effect and it is tied as follows;
Additional (optional) Steps
4. For match and pleasure anglers alike, catching more fish is something we all think about. One key point of catching more fish is presentation. If you are of this line of thought and like your rigs and knots to be perfectly uniform in size and shape, then when using this loop I do the following. Once the knot has been formed but not tightened down get a Seymo Loop Tyer. Place what will be the knotted loop over the shorter of the two pins, and the final loop on the end pin and carefully tighten down on to the loop.
The loop will then tighten around the pins becoming much smaller than it would have otherwise been.
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