Easy fishing knots for beginners: 5 to learn

Each knot below has numbered steps. Practise at home with thicker line or a bit of cord before you try at the water with cold fingers.

Before you start: three habits for every knot

Most failed knots aren't the wrong knot. They're a good knot tied badly. These three habits fix most problems.

• Wet it. Before you pull a knot tight, wet it with water or saliva. Dry line heats up from friction as it tightens, and that weakens it.
• Pull slowly and fully. Tighten with a steady pull until the turns sit snugly together. A half-tightened knot will slip under load.
• Trim neatly. Cut the tag end (the spare bit) about 2 to 3mm from the knot with clippers. Don't use your teeth, and don't cut flush.

Then test it, which is covered near the end of this guide.

Steps: improved clinch knot

Use it for tying a hook, swivel or lure to monofilament line. It's the classic first knot.

1. Push about 15cm of line through the eye of the hook.
2. Hold the hook and twist the tag end around the main line. Make 5 to 7 turns. Use 7 for thin line and 5 for heavier line.
3. Bring the tag end back towards the hook and pass it through the small loop just above the eye.
4. Now pass the tag end through the big loop you've just made. This extra tuck is what makes it "improved".
5. Wet the knot.
6. Hold the tag end against the main line and pull the main line slowly. The coils should slide down and sit neatly against the eye.
7. Trim the tag end, leaving 2 to 3mm.

If the coils cross over each other or bunch up, cut it off and tie it again.

Steps: palomar knot

Use it for hooks, swivels and lures, especially with braided line. It's very strong and simple once you've seen it.

1. Double over about 15cm of line to make a long loop.
2. Push the loop through the eye of the hook. If the eye is small, push the line through one way and back through the other.
3. Tie a loose overhand knot with the doubled line, so the hook hangs from the bottom of it. Don't tighten it yet.
4. Pass the end of the loop right over the hook, so the loop goes all the way around it.
5. Wet the knot.
6. Pull on both the main line and the tag end together, so the knot tightens down onto the eye.
7. Trim the tag end, leaving 2 to 3mm.

The palomar uses quite a lot of line, and it can be fiddly with big lures with lots of hooks. For small hooks and swivels it's excellent.

Steps: uni knot

Use it for tying on hooks and swivels, and for joining two lines. It's one of the most useful all-round knots.

1. Push about 15 to 20cm of line through the eye of the hook.
2. Lay the tag end back alongside the main line so you have two strands side by side.
3. Bend the tag end back towards the hook to form a loop that lies over the two strands.
4. Wrap the tag end around both strands, passing through the loop each time. Make 5 or 6 turns, working away from the hook.
5. Wet the knot.
6. Pull the tag end to tighten the turns into a neat barrel.
7. Pull the main line to slide the knot down onto the eye.
8. Trim the tag end, leaving 2 to 3mm.

To join two lines, overlap the ends, tie a uni knot with each end around the other line, then pull the two main lines apart so the knots slide together. This is called a double uni knot.

Steps: surgeon's loop (and the overhand loop)

Use it for putting a fixed loop in the end of your line. It's handy for attaching hooklengths, feeders and rigs.

1. Double over the last 10 to 15cm of line to make a loop.
2. Tie a simple overhand knot with the doubled line.
3. Before tightening, pass the loop through the overhand knot a second time.
4. Wet the knot.
5. Hold the loop in one hand and both strands in the other, and pull firmly in opposite directions.
6. Trim the tag end, leaving 2 to 3mm.

If you stop after step 2 and tighten, you've tied an overhand loop. It's the simplest loop there is, and fine for light practice. The extra pass in the surgeon's loop makes it stronger and less likely to slip, so use that one when fishing.

Steps: loop-to-loop connection

Use it to join a hooklength to your main line, so you can change hooks quickly without retying everything.

1. Tie a surgeon's loop in the end of your main line and another in your hooklength.
2. Pass the main line's loop through the hooklength's loop.
3. Pass the hook end of the hooklength through the main line's loop.
4. Pull the whole hooklength through, slowly, until the two loops meet.
5. Ease the loops together so they sit interlocked like two linked fingers, each loop lying flat over the other.

If one loop has pulled tight around the other into a tight noose, it can cut itself under load. Undo it and seat it again so the loops sit square.

Testing every knot

Test each knot before you cast. It takes a few seconds and saves a lost fish or rig.

1. Wrap the main line around a pen or short stick a few times. Don't wrap it around your bare fingers.
2. Hold the hook or swivel with forceps or between thumb and finger, keeping the point away from you.
3. Pull steadily and firmly. Don't jerk it.
4. Look at the knot. It should be neat and tight, with no gaps between the turns.
5. Look at the tag end. A tight little curl, like a pig's tail, means the knot slipped. Cut it off and tie it again.

Check the first metre of line too. If it looks kinked, flattened or rough, cut that bit off and retie on fresh line.

Common mistakes

• Tightening dry. It's the most common reason a good knot breaks. Always wet first.
• Too few or too many turns. Too few and the knot slips. Too many and it won't seat neatly. Stick to the counts above.
• Using a clinch on braid. Braid is slippery. Use a palomar or a uni with extra turns.
• Trimming too short. Leave 2 to 3mm. A flush cut can let the end pull through.
• Not testing. A knot that fails a test at home would have failed on a fish.
• Leaving line behind. Cut-off line tangles birds and other wildlife. Put every scrap in a pocket or bag and take it home.

Children can learn these knots quickly with a big practice ring and thick line. Supervise when they move on to real hooks, and teach them to hold hooks by the bend, not the point. If you also like knots off the water, the tarp knots guide uses many of the same skills.