#56 NOTHING FUNNY ABOUT KNOTS

Good day everyone and thanks for reading this Blog about Knots, or “Nothing funny about knots”

The reason that I chose this title is when a knot fails there is nothing funny about it. Just last week I did a Video segment for Facebook, and I was fishing big Hoppers at sunset, I was getting a few bites here and there, but at 8:30 I got the bite I was looking for, and as luck would have it the fish broke off, and upon closer inspection I could see the dreaded “Curly Q”. Some may ask what Curly Q is? but others will know exactly what I’m talking about, failure of the knot.

The Curly Q is the reason I thought I would talk about knots and what as fly fisherman we should know. Over the years I have done more than my fair share of clinics on knots and rigging, but I thought we would just talk the knot portion today. If you are new to this sport or need a refresher let’s, get into it.

When I give clinics, I cover the basics of knots and which knots that you should pay attention to, and which knots get a brief look over. In my humble opinion there is two knots that you will need to be able to tie in your sleep, and those knots are the “Clinch knot, and the Double Surgeons Knot”. The Clinch knot is the one you will use most of the day when you are changing flies or replacing lost flies, this is the knot you will use to connect flies directly to your tippet.

The next knot for your consideration is the “Double Surgeons” knot. This is the knot you will use when you connect a new piece of tippet to your leader, or tippet to tippet connection.

I know there is going to be some grumblings out there with folks saying there are three or four more that are important but, with almost 5 decades of fly fishing, the two knots I’ve highlighted are the basics to get you on the water and fishing.

I could have included a diagram of the knots but prior to writing this I found only 13,234 on-line references to these knots, but more importantly than a diagram is how you should be spending your time to learn how to tie these knots. When people are in the shop and we are talking about how to tie the knots, the thing that I try to pound into people’s head is how and where to practice.

When you are on the water and fishing, the very last thing you are focusing on is “how to tie a knot, or for that matter anything, except fishing”. That’s right when we are on the water the furthest thing from our mind is how to tie a knot.

Here is what I preach, learn to tie your knots and practice your knots, “OFF THE WATER”, that’s right do not practice on the water, there is too many distractions, like the fish that just broke off, or the fish that just jump over there. This will only lead to bad knots and result in losing more fish, and bad experiences.

I try instead to have people practice knots at home, when there is no urgency, or distractions, watching T.V. is a great place to practice, that’s right I said it, just have your tippet or whatever you are using to practice with, at the onset of a commercial, you can practice that “Clinch, or Surgeons Knot”. Do this for a few times, then again in a few days, and so on, and before you know it you will be able to tie like a champ and do it on reflex without even thinking about it.

Last week I did a trip with Project Healing Waters, and over the two-day trip I must have tied and re-tied about 50 times in that 2-day span. My person had trouble casting and as soon as I re-tied, this person would almost be in the very next cast either get tangled, or stuck on something, which resulted in me doing a complete re-tie. If I had not tied these knots over 11.5 million times, the trip may have had a different outcome.

 Your proficiency in tying and re-tying your terminal tackle can have a direct impact on your day’s outcome. I can look down on the riverbank and watch the person who is not that good at tying knots. There is a common posture among fly fishermen. We all have seen it or are currently doing it, and that is the “HEAD TILT”. Your buddy got tangles and now has to re-tie, and for the next 30 minutes they have their hands right in front of their face, glasses perched and the process begins. First, you try to untangle the mess, and after 10 minutes of feeble attempts the decision to cut off and re-tie takes place. If you are proficient in your skills this should take about 2 minutes, if you are lacking it can take 3 hours...

So, in conclusion, practice your “Clinch Knots” and practice your “Double Surgeons Knot” until you can tie them in your sleep, and the result will be more time fishing and less time spent on (NODOLOGY)

At the beginning I used the word “Curly Q” this is what will be left at the end of your line/tippet where your fly was, and it is a result of a knot that failed, or was tied improperly, will see a little twisted, and curly segment of tippet. Once you tie your knot always give it a quick tug to ensure that you have a good knot...

I hope this will help you understand better and give you more time on the water.

Cheers

AKA LaMachine