Fishing Knots: 10 Knots Tied Step by Step

Any time you tie a hook, swivel or snap link to mono, fluorocarbon or braid. Its only real weakness is practical rather than structural: the whole hook or lure has to pass through the loop, which gets awkward with big lures and treble hooks.

Hooks, swivels and leads on any line type, especially when you need a dependable knot tied by feel in the dark or in heavy mono. Tie two grinners facing each other on overlapping lines and you have the double grinner, a sensible alternative to the FG knot for joining braid to a leader.

Everyday hook and swivel connections on mono and fluorocarbon, especially lighter lines. Use 7 wraps on light line under 6lb and 5 wraps on heavier mono. Skip it on braid, where it has a reputation for slipping; that is palomar or grinner territory.

Every hair rig you will ever tie, which in practice means most carp fishing and plenty of barbel and specimen work. Hair length is the adjustment that matters: shorter for small pellets, longer for big boilies.

Joining braided mainline to a fluorocarbon or mono leader, especially in lure fishing where the join must pass through the rod rings on every cast. Practise it at home five or six times before you trust it on the bank; the double grinner is the fallback while you learn.

Any time you need a loop: hooklength connections, feeder attachments and method rigs. Loop to loop is the quickest way to change hooklengths on the bank; just make sure the loops seat in a square handshake, not a strangling girth hitch, which costs you strength.

Spade-end hooks, where it is the only option, and any time you want the pull of the line aligned straight along the hook shank, which improves the hooking angle on bigger baits. Worth knowing on eyed hooks too.

Joining lines of clearly different diameters: braid to a thick mono or fluorocarbon shock leader for distance casting, or backing to a fly line. For lines of similar diameter, a double grinner or surgeon's knot is the simpler choice.

Joining two lines of similar diameter quickly, attaching tippet to a fly leader, or building a paternoster link, especially mid session when speed matters. It is bulkier than a blood knot and sits slightly off axis, so it is not the join for repeated casting through small rings.

Every time you attach line to a reel spool. One extra tip for braid: put a few wraps of mono backing or a strip of tape on the spool first, otherwise the whole lot can slip on the smooth metal no matter how good your knot is.