How do I Fish? Lesson 4. Fishing Knots

This lesson requires very little help from an adult to help you find something to practice your knot tying.

You can't tie a bow or a double knot in fishing line and expect it to hold up to the weight of the fish you may catch. It's much too smooth and would unravel before you could pull your fish in. I've listed two knots that you can use to tie your fishing line. There are many different knots, so don't tell your Grandpa that he is tying his knot wrong if it isn't one of these two knots. Each fisherman has a favorite knot that they will use, so if it looks different, ask them to teach it to you. Who knows? It could become your new favorite knot!

You are going to need to practice tying the knots. Ask an adult to help you find something to practice your knot tying with. I used a metal coat hanger that I bent into a hook shape and some smooth rope. Don't forget, when you learned to tie your shoes you had to practice the knots quite a bit. Don't give up if you can't get the knot on the first try!

Palomar Knot

The Palomar Knot is a very strong, simple knot that you can use to tie your line onto the hook. Read through the instructions then watch the video below.

1. Double your line over so that you have one end with a loop (the video calls this a bite).
2. Feed the loop or bite through the eye of your hook and tie an overhand knot. An overhand knot is just the simple single x you make when you start to tie your shoelaces.
3. Take the looped end of your line and bring your hook through.
4. Start to pull your line so that the loop gets tightened around the first knot.
5. With fishing line, you need to lubricate the knot. You can dunk it in the water, or spit on it. This helps soften the line into the knot shape so that it doesn't break as easily later on.
6. Tighten the line and trim off the extra.

Improved Clinch Knot

This is probably the most commonly used knot by fishermen. Read through the instructions then watch the video below.

1. Take the end of the line and feed it through the eye of your hook.
2. Pull it through and make about 5 loops around the line that feeds back to your reel.
3. Feed the end of the string through the loop underneath your 5 coils.
4. Pull the end under the string that goes to the top coil, wet the knot and pull everything tight.
5. Trim the extra line.

Are you ready for the quiz?

Click the link to go to the quiz. There are 5 questions that come from the reading above. When you finish, the quiz will give you three options; "Review Quiz" will take you back through the questions, "Print Results" will open a window with the certificate you need to print to show completion of the lesson and "Finish" will take you to the next lesson. Follow this link to take the quiz now!

Lesson 1. Fishing Rules | Lesson 2. Fishing Types | Lesson 3. Fishing Tools
Lesson 4. Fishing Knots | Lesson 5. Fishing Process | Site Survey