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Get extra keen discounts and beat expensive shipping costs by buying books through this site! The free delivery service applies to most established destinations worldwide. Uni knot - how to tie this multi-purpose fishing knot
The uni knot is undoubtedly the most useful fishing knot there is. The fact that its name is an abbreviation of the word 'universal' is testimony to its usefulness. Indeed the uni knot is so versatile that many sea anglers need never learn to tie another. In short it does for almost all purposes, barring a few highly specialised knots.
The traditional armoury of boaters' knots are designed so they can be undone – an essential requirement when it comes to such things as halyards and mooring lines. Unfortunately, they are almost useless when it comes to slippery materials like monofilament nylon fishing line. If you used a bowline to attach a hook, it would almost certainly come undone under load. Not exactly what you want when reeling in your supper! By contrast, once tied, fishing knots stay tied. It's in their nature.
So, here's how to tie a uni knot.
- Pass the line through the hook's eye and form a loop as shown in Figure 1.
- Next, take at least four turns (more for very fine lines) around the standing part and through the the loop (Figure 2). Lubricate with saliva and pull the tag end in the direction of the arrow to tighten the knot around the standing part. It must look exactly as shown in Figure 3.
- Finally, lubricate again if necessary and pull the standing part so the knot slides down towards the hook. Trim off the tag end and you should have a uni knot as shown in Figure 4.
It's time to go fishing!
Related reading: Fish hooks
Saltwater Fishing Articles Uni Knot - how to tie the most useful fishing knot of all
