Fishing knots for hooks, lures and leaders.

Which fishing knot should you use?

Pick the knot by the job and the line. A well-tied knot keeps about 85 to 95 percent of the line strength; a badly tied one can lose half.

• Hook, lure or swivel on braid: Palomar knot.

• Hook or big lure on mono or fluorocarbon: improved clinch knot.

• One knot for hooks, loops and the reel spool: uni knot.

• Lure that needs free action: non-slip loop knot.

• Braid to a mono or fluorocarbon leader: double uni knot, or the FG knot for the slimmest join.

• Two lines of similar diameter, such as fly leader and tippet: blood knot.

• Carp hair rig: knotless knot.

Four rules for a strong knot

• Wet the knot before you pull it tight.

• Keep the wraps neat and side by side.

• Use more turns on thin or slippery line, fewer on thick line.

• Seat it fully, leave a 3 mm tag, and retie after a big fish or a snag.

Knot guides

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  Palomar Knot: How to Tie It, Step by Step

  The Palomar is the strongest easy knot for tying a hook, lure or swivel. Four steps, about 90% line strength, and it works on mono, fluoro and braid.

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  Clinch Knot and Improved Clinch Knot: How to Tie Them

  The improved clinch knot is the classic way to tie mono or fluorocarbon to a hook or lure. Five turns, one extra tuck, and it holds.

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  Uni Knot: The One Knot That Does Almost Everything

  The uni knot ties line to a hook, makes a loop, joins two lines and attaches line to a reel. Learn it once, use it everywhere.

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  How to Tie a Fishing Hook: 3 Knots That Hold

  Three ways to tie a hook to fishing line — the Palomar, the improved clinch and the snell — and when to use each one.

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  The Strongest Fishing Knots (and When to Use Each)

  Which fishing knot is strongest? A plain comparison of the Palomar, uni, improved clinch, FG, double uni and blood knot by job and line type.

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  Non-Slip Loop Knot: The Best Loop Knot for Lures

  A loop knot lets a lure swing freely so it swims with more action. The non-slip loop (Kreh loop) is strong, fixed and easy to tie.

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  Knotless Knot: How to Tie a Hair Rig for Carp

  The knotless knot is how carp anglers tie a hook with a hair for the bait. It turns the hook as the fish takes, for more solid hook-holds.

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  Braid to Mono Knots: Double Uni and FG Knot

  How to join braided main line to a monofilament or fluorocarbon leader. The double uni is the easy, reliable join; the FG knot is the slim, strongest one.

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  Blood Knot: How to Join Two Fishing Lines

  The blood knot (barrel knot) joins two lines of similar diameter with a slim, neat join that runs through rod rings. The classic for fly leaders and tippet.