OT: knots

A guide taught me the Palomar and said that's the only knot I'd ever need (in a bassboat). He was right!

Later that day,when I lost a fish because my Trilene knot failed, he squinted at me and said in his Missouri accent: "Dawn, did ye use a Palomar knot like ah showed ye?" (Sheepishly) "No,Russ, it was a Trilene knot." "Dawn, you deserved to lose thet fish."

I've tried it in fresh water, but that's of little interest to me because at least 75% of my fresh-water fishing is done with a fly rod. In salt water, things can get complicated. Relatively few of the jetty fishermen around here have switched, but maybe half of the surf fisherment have.

The casting advantage is the whole issue here. But, as I say, it's a bit complicated because of the specific circumstances of shore fishing here. And ordinary aluminum oxide guides allegedly don't hold up well to the heavier loads imposed in salt water. Silicon carbide is the preferred guide material, and I'd have to put new guides on my surf rod and my favorite jetty rod. In addition, I'd have to convert my surf reel with a roller guide of SiC.

It's not a trivial thing, if you cast heavy metal or fish from high jetties and rock walls.

Gee, thanks, Dennis!

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Yes. It's a subtle variant of the square knot, used to detect if a thief had been into one's kit and then retied it.

If you have a few minutes to spare sometime, get some big hooks and tie your favorite knot and others, wrap a damp cloth around each for a half-hour, and then test them by clamping the bend in a vise and wrapping the other end multiple times around the hook on a big spring scale. I've done this, with various line types, spaced decades apart.

Make sure you tie your Trilene knot correctly -- don't let the loops in the hook eye overlap, and make sure you make enough wraps. Then compare it with a Palomar knot and see what you think.

You may also want to try loading them with a shock load -- dropping weights from them.

An old sailor's tale, but true. It can still be used today. If you know rope, you can tell a lot by just looking at it. A lot.

Steve

visit my blog at

That's a very good suggestion.

I know the results in my case. If tied on shore, my trilene knot is superior. In a 25 knot wind in 200 feet of ocean, go with the Polomar or clinch. (You can't tie a Polomar in every spot) Also, tie up as much as you can ahead of time.

I do a lot of blood knots for yellow tail, the last six feet pure fluorocarbon. In rough water, I go surgeons knot.

BTW, has anyone else noticed they keep making the eyes in fish hooks smaller every year?

Karl

Fred was my neighbor. Nice guy. I was just a kid then, but was in the

4H archery club, and the PAA (Professional Archers Assoc.)

Fred would go on a hunt someplace, like Africa, and when he came home, would have his staff have a big BBQ/feed for his factory and neighbors. Ate elephant, bison etc etc ..which was quite a treat for a 13 yr old

Most of the kids shot latest greatest archery equipment in the leagues. Dad would mention their son or daughter needed a new bow and the foreman would pick what Dad was looking for, off the line, mark it "2nd" and either sell it for a sawbuck or simply give it to Dad. Arrows, etc etc...same deal.

Going down to Cobol Hall in Detroit for the tournaments was interesting...only the rich kids down there had the Good Stuff..and a bus load of nose pickers from the piney woods would show up, toting state of the art Good stuff and kick their asses.

God I loved growing up there....sigh That and having access to all the national Guard ranges in the county. Everything from C-rats to 81mm would be buried by the guards during their 2 week training sessions. Fun stuff!!!

Gunner

One could not be a successful Leftwinger without realizing that, in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of Leftwingers, a goodly number of Leftwingers are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid. Gunner Asch

Hell yes! Don is a marvelous writer and Id read his stuff regularly!

Gunner

One could not be a successful Leftwinger without realizing that, in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of Leftwingers, a goodly number of Leftwingers are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid. Gunner Asch

I enjoy messing around with knots too, been watching for a copy of Ashley's to turn up at a used book sale for years now (no I don't want to order one, too stingy...).

Have you read "Shipping News" by Annie Proulx? See:

I rather enjoyed it, but others I know didn't like it. At any rate, she begins every chapter with a brief quote from Ashley's.

Took a look at the Hunters bend, which is what I thought it was. I found that knot to be very difficult to remember, no matter how many times I've tied it. Works well though under the right conditions.

That's also my experience. I think that people sometimes tie Trilene knots, and clinch knots, with too few turns. They either slip out or they pinch off the standing end.

The Palomar knot seems to depend on the line. I've tried them with Ande, Trilene, and fairly recent Stren, but not with the new lines.

Get a magnifying glass. Without my glasses, I need binoculars.

For lashing loads, you need to learn a truckers hitch. Only thing that you need to know to lash a load.

Learn a "San Diego knot". Is sort of an upside down trilene knot. Is what

90% of the lures on a San Diego fishing boat are tied on with.

Uncle, back in his young Marine on a ship days, liked to tie knots to kill time and for entertainment. He got to be pretty good at it. Better than those sailors. ;)

I don't like the words Lois and deceased in the same sentance. My moms name is Lois and so is my sisters mother in law.

You got me searching for my book of rope climbing knots. Haven't found it but I know it is here somewhere, maybe next to Ivan's book on gears I can't find.

Wes

On Wed, 21 Jul 2010 16:29:21 -0400, Leon Fisk wrote the following:

OMG! The prices they're getting for those now ($53-115) are unreal. eBay has a used one for $20, not too bad.

-- Exercise ferments the humors, casts them into their proper channels, throws off redundancies, and helps nature in those secret distributions, without which the body cannot subsist in its vigor, nor the soul act with cheerfulness. -- Joseph Addison, The Spectator, July 12, 1711

Anyone have about 100 megs of freespace to host books on knots?

Ah...I have a few...ahum....

Gunner

One could not be a successful Leftwinger without realizing that, in contrast to the popular conception supported by newspapers and mothers of Leftwingers, a goodly number of Leftwingers are not only narrow-minded and dull, but also just stupid. Gunner Asch

Jeez. That's a backwards Uni Knot.

Here's the San Diego (jam) knot:

Here's the Uni Knot:

I used Uni Knots for a season, but then went back to the Trilene Knot, and back to the improved clinch for small flies.

I have some PowerPro and some SpiderWire braided line. Both good line BUT they take a little time to get used to. The SpiderWire seems to stay tighter on the spools and casts a little smoother but it's not a huge difference. Knots are a whole new item with braided. Many of the standards won't hold.

Spent a few hours on vacation playing up in the Salmon River. Didn't get much worth keeping but one kid down under a bridge was having a blast pulling in small Rock Bass and Bluegill. He was about 6-7 and every time he asked his dad "Is this one big enough to keep?" He did get a good sized Bluegill just before we left.