You Don't Know KNOTS! (and that's okay)

• Posted on 2 July 2025
• By Jason Perkins
• Posted in Fishing, Knots
• 0

You don't need to be an expert at all knots. Just the few you need.

You Don’t Know Fishing KNOTS!  (and that’s okay)

In a world where everyone is vying for your attention, it’s hard to know if you’re falling behind in keeping up or if it’s all just for clicks.  Do you really need to know every saltwater knot if you live in Northern Ontario?  Maybe if you’re going south. But not likely if you’re heading to Simcoe or Temagami.  Does tying a snell in record time mean a higher success rate of slot size fish?  Nope.  So why worry over being good at all, when you can master a few and keep your line in the water longer.

Now this isn’t for the charter captain who knows the value of using a double uni to extend the life of their braid while keeping line visibility to a minimum by adding flouro.  No, this is for the many weekend warriors and new anglers to the sport who already find the fishing section (and lack of good knowledge) in their mega sports store overwhelming. 

Knowing knots is good.  Being proficient at one (per application) is better.  We’re not here to show you how or to validate the myriad knots available to you.  That’s already been done.  You can hop online and find way more videos and how to GIFs showing you how, when, why and where you need this knot or that.  That part is easy.   We’re here to help you have confidence in knowing that having the largest knowledge base of all knots is not necessary.  I would argue, it’s a hinderance. 

Be proud to know one knot per use!  Do mostly wacky rig and crank bait fishing?  Use the Palomar Knot.  Like live bait rigging or flipping/pitching?  Use the Snell Knot.  Knowing how to do the same thing in eight different ways is great.  But it’s knot (lol) necessary.  Knowing one knot well has just as much, if not more, value than knowing a lot and getting hung up on which one to use. 

There is something to be said, in the modern age, for practice makes perfect.  If you want to be great at anything, practice.  It’s cheap.  Need to respool (or know someone else who does) keep the line and use that to practice with.  Set up your device to a favorite show to binge and tie the same knot over and over until you can do it with your eyes close.  Also, feel free to recycle that line when you’re done.

If you’re having issues with the dexterity of a knot, size up.  Grab a shower ring to act as the eye of a hook and some para cord (or other rope) and start there until you get the mechanics.  Once you’re there, scale down until you have mastered the size of line you’ll use while fishing.

Life, in any hobby or passion, can get overwhelming and expensive.  But it doesn’t have to.  Keep it simple, don’t try to keep up with the latest trend and just tie knots.  You may be surprised how Zen you feel when you do!

Our advice for knots, keep it simple.  Tried and true knots, often provided by the manufacturer, that you know and trust.  After that, go fishing!

Snell, Palomar, Trilene and Uni.  Go find them, then practice.