A fishing hook is one of the most integral parts of fishing. It is what the fish bites and gets trapped. Hence, if it is not sturdy, or if it is, but not snelled tightly with firm knots, any angler, be it a beginner or a skilled one, will lose their prey. The hook has to be robust, and the tied knot has to be rigid enough to hold the fishing line and the fishing hook into a death lock.
No matter how much the gamefish tries to escape and you are in a struggle in pulling and grabbing hold of it, the fishing hook must continue keeping the fish trapped and hooked. So, let’s discuss how to tie a hook for fishing, and there is no one knot to state it loud and clear. Get ready for learning a bunch of them right here.
How to Tie a Hook for Fishing?
Knot #1 – Tying A Hook with A Loop Knot
One thing that is highly noticeable and worth mentionable in the loop knot is that the knot is never tied close to the eyelet. The loop is considerably bigger for a flexible movement of the hook and lure. And those free movements happen due to that loop of the fishing line.
And even if the loop is big enough and lets the hook move freely, the knot is still tight enough to not break with all the struggle a fish can put it through.
- First, hold your tag end and mainline and form a regular overhand knot, leaving 6-8 inches of tag end behind.
- You basically have to cross the tag end over the mainline, create a loop and insert the end through that loop to have an overhand knot.
- Now tuck in the tag end through the eyelet of the hook.
- Take the tag end through the overhand knot directly from the back.
- Pull the end and bring the knot closer to the eyelet.
- Now you have a split overhand knot with a newly formed loop next to the tag end line inside that knot.
- Grab the tag end and turn it 2-3 times around the mainline.
- Then take the tag end through that newly formed loop in the overhand knot from the back.
- Pull the tag end, holding the mainline with one hand.
- The more you tighten the knot, the more the knot will come closer to the eyelet.
- To further tighten the knot, pull the hook and mainline simultaneously.
- Trim off the excess for a neat knot tied to the hook.
Knot #2 – Tying A Hook with A Blood Knot
The blood knot is among the most used, but the easy-to-tie knots among all the knots that are used to tie the hook by the anglers. Heads up, in some cases, the blood knot might not be that strong and need an alternative.
- Pass the tag end through the eyelet of the hook.
- You will have to create a loop next to the eyelet. Either do it gauging the gap through your eyes or just hold a finger next to the eyelet before you wrap the tag end.
- Wrap the tag end 4-5 times to the mainline.
- Grab the tag end and get it through the loop you created with your fingertip.
- Make sure you are passing the end through the loop from the front.
- Lubricate the wrapped portion with saliva.
- Start pulling the mainline and tag end together to tighten the knot.
- The twisted portion of the fishing line will be next to the eyelet, super tight.
- To make it tighter, take the pliers and pull the tag end further, holding the mainline firmly.
- Now push the twisted portion close to the eyelet with the same pliers.
- Cut off the tag end excess with a cutter. If you do not want to trim too close to the knot, leave 1/8-inch of the tag end. Then trim off the rest.
Knot #3 – Tying A Hook with A Uni Knot
You can use a uni knot not only to tie a hook but also to tie lures, swivels, and two completely different fishing lines.
- Start tying your hook with a uni knot by inserting the tag end in the eyelet.
- Continue taking it through the eyelet unless you have enough tag end to work with, perhaps 8-10 inches.
- Hold the mainline and tag end parallel to each other.
- Now pinch-hold both the tag end and mainline close to the eyelet. Then create a loop with the tag end over it.
- The purpose is to wrap the tag end portion and mainline portion both with the remaining tag end.
- Wrap the two lines with the remaining tag end either 6-8 times if the fishing line is thin or just 4-5 times, if thick.
- Pull the tag end firmly with one hand, of course, holding the hook with the other.
- Don’t be too strenuous yet to avoid friction.
- And to avoid friction, you have to lubricate the portion starting from the knot to the eyelet.
- After mellowing it with saliva or water, pull the mainline and get a crisp, tight, and clean uni knot close to the eyelet. This time you can put all you might into pulling the mainline and the hook.
- Finally, trim the excess off.
Knot #4 – Tying A Hook with A Tucked Blood Knot
If the fish is too mighty for the blood knot to grab hold of it, better be extra cautious by tying your fishing line to the hook through the tucked blood knot. It is basically an improved and more potent version of the blood knot. So, the steps, barring the last one goes pretty much the same.
- Take the tag end through the eyelet.
- You have held a finger next to the eyelet and created a loop, remember.
- Now wrap the tag end on the mainline 4-5 times. Your fingertip is still continuing forming the loop.
- Take the tag end and bring it through the front of the loop.
- Here goes the tricky step to make the blood knot stronger. While tucking the tag end in from the front, avoid taking it through the loop entirely.
- Instead, hold the same fingertip as a barrier and create another loop through it.
- Fold the tag end back and insert it through that new/second loop.
- Lubricate the twisted portion and bring it close to the eyelet.
- Now pull the tag end and mainline tightly to tighten the knot, first with hands and then with the pliers.
Knot #5 – Tying A Hook with A Snell Knot
All this while our knot was either a little far from the eyelet or right next to it. But this time, we will tie a knot that involves the hook itself, not just its eyelet. We are talking about the snell hook. To be precise, the snell knot.
- Lay your hook in a way that the eyelet of it is flat and not ascending.
- Take the tag end through the eyelet. Make sure to take it through the bottom then upwards.
- You will need 5-6 inches of tag end to tie the hook with the fishing line through a snell knot.
- Now create a loop with that 5-6 inches of tag end.
- So, most of your tag end is occupied forming that loop, and you have 2-3 inches left from the tag end.
- Now start to coil that around the hook. Basically, you are wrapping the fishing hook and the mainline over it.
- Wrap them up to 5 times with the tag end depending on the thickness of the fishing line.
- After you are done wrapping, check whether the loop you created has twisted. If it is, then just fold it to make it right and insert the tag end from the front in that very loop.
- Lubricate the wrapped portion to avoid the damage from the heat produced through the harsh pulling of the fishing line.
- Pull the mainline slowly, and you will notice how effortlessly the loop created through the tag end disappears to lock and tighten the knot.
- Give a good pull to the mainline and further tighten the knot, and make sure to trim off the tag end excess.
Knot #6 – Tying A Hook with A Double Surgeon’s Loop
Double Surgeon’s knot is one of the strongest knots but super easy and quick to tie your hook and the fishing line. The specialty of this knot is it creates a big loop through which attaching a swivel becomes easier. The loop is way bigger than the one we talked about in the Loop Knot. It, in most cases, connects the swivel and the hook. But if you are tying this knot to tie a fishing hook to the fishing line, it will see some real drastic movements. Be prepared for it, and keep in mind not all fishes require this.
- Hold the tag end and bring it back over itself so that the tag end and the mainline aligns in parallel.
- Pinch-hold them together to keep them closer, almost prepping them to treat as one single line.
- Now you have to tie a regular overhand knot with that double line.
- Hold the looped portion and cross it over the mainline.
- Take that looped portion of the tag end through the newly formed loop.
- Now is not the time to pull and tighten because you have to take the looped portion of the tag end once again through that same loop, almost like wrapping it up around the overhand knot once.
- Hold the tag end and mainline with one hand and the looped tag end with the other, and pull with all you might.
Final Words
There are several other knots to tie the hook and the fishing line. Take the improved clinch knot, Palomar knot, or the solid Rapala loop knot, for instance. However, those work great with the lures, so we decided to talk about six completely different knots for you to tie the hook for fishing.
