A boy scout I am not...

[ThatredneckguyJamie]

Anyone else struggle with certain knots? I use one, I think its called a cinch knot for just about anything I need. Now recently I have a dilemma, I've always used a tiny swivel for any kind of fishing that I needed to use a leader for...but that's not always the best choice for many applications...so here I am at almost 41 years old...with decades of fishing under my belt, admitting that I just plain SUCK at tying fancy knots lol. Anyone have a go to line to line knot that is easy to tie and works well??

[Preytorien]

Probably the easiest to tie is the Palomar knot.

 

It works with almost any line, for any lure, it's easy to tie, and easy even in inclement or cold weather, it's strong, and relatively weed-free - it's a great general purpose knot and easy to learn. 

 

I'd take a look over at Net Knots....they have an excellent library of knots to start on for almost any application and include intuitive tutorials on how to tie them.

 

https://www.***.com/fishing_knots

 

 

[TylerT123]

I use tiny bowlines, it’s one of the strongest knots that you can tie. It was really easy to learn.

[Bluebasser86]

2 easiest line to line knots I know of.

Alberto Knot

Double uni 

[NYWayfarer]

15 minutes ago, Preytorien said:

Probably the easiest to tie is the Palomar knot.

I use the Palomar knot exclusively for everything other than tying two pieces of line together.

 

It is an easy to learn, strong knot.

[ThatredneckguyJamie]

I like that site...very nice!

[new2BC4bass]

The OP is not asking about a line-to-lure knot, but a line-to-line knot.  AFAIC none are easy.  I use the Alberto shown above, but I haven't tied it enough to be able to do it with just my two hands.  An easier knot to tie is the Albright Knot which is the knot used to make the Alberto.  Probably not quite as strong, tho.  For me the Uni Knot is easier to tie because I have been using it for decades.  However, I don't use if for tying line-to-line as it isn't as slim as the Alberto/Albright.

[fishnkamp]

The double uni is my go to  line to line connection. I use a lot of braid to leader setups especially on my spinning gear.  Every one of my reels is loaded with 14 pound Stren Mono first. I load half the reel with it, then use a uni to uni knot and fill the reel up with whatever my main line will be.  That allows me to cut the cost of filling a reel up with braid or Fluorocarbon line.  Most of my reels hold 150 yards of line and you never cast that far so the 75 yards of mainline is plenty. 

Pay attention when tying the double uni that each time you wrap around the other line, be careful not to wrap over the previous wrap. If you are careful then when you cinch it down it will pull down nice and smooth. It will go through the guides better that way. 

[BrackishBassin]

The FG knot has a simple way to tie it that can be seen on numerous videos online. It takes a bit to get used to, but it’s amazing. 

[Fishingmickey]

I have used the improved clinch knot for line to lure for decades and the alberto for line to line.

[fishwizzard]

The best advice I have for learning a knot is to practice with two differently colored lines that are around 1/8" thick.  That way you can see what you are doing but the line is still thin enough that the muscle memory will be close to the same when you switch over to fishing line.  

[rippin-lips]

It does not get any easier than this for a line/line knot. I’ve been using it for years and it works fine. Slim enough to pass through micro guides and works with varying line sizes. 

I vary my wraps with line size though. Example 12# leader and 30# braid I only wrap up around 7 times.  6# leader and 10# braid I wrap about 15 times. Thinner lines require more wraps to hold without slipping through. 

[ThatredneckguyJamie]

I'm going to give a couple of these a try, certainly look easier than the one I tried before

[Ratherbfishing]

About the easiest knot I know how to tie is the Palomar knot.  And the most difficult thing about it  (sometimes) is feeding the line back through the eyelet.  But that is child's play in comparison to some other knots and it seldom fails.

[Preytorien]

5 hours ago, ThatredneckguyJamie said:

Anyone else struggle with certain knots? I use one, I think its called a cinch knot for just about anything I need. Now recently I have a dilemma, I've always used a tiny swivel for any kind of fishing that I needed to use a leader for...but that's not always the best choice for many applications...so here I am at almost 41 years old...with decades of fishing under my belt, admitting that I just plain SUCK at tying fancy knots lol. Anyone have a go to line to line knot that is easy to tie and works well??

My apologies, I failed to understand that you wanted a line-to-line knot.

 

In that situation I'm afraid none are particularly easy, especially as your line diameter decreases. 

 

I use an Alberto knot, but as many times as I've tied it, I still have to do a couple practice runs before I get one with a nice tiny knot like I want. There's just not a lot of easy join knots unfortunately.

[J Francho]

IF you're struggling with an Alberto or Uni to Uni, or FG knot, try a triple surgeon's.  It's easy to tie, and even though it's not as strong as those listed before, if you tie it well, it's better than a another knot, that is poor and will fail.

[fishwizzard]

I fell that the Alberto is not a particularly difficult not, so long as you don't mind cutting off several inches of tag-end on both the mainline and the leader. If you tie it "big" it's easy to get the wraps right and it still cinchs down pretty well. 

 

The only times I've had issues with the Alberto is when I got stingy and tried not to leave enough tag.  

[Choporoz]

I've tried and discarded a lot of knots.  I still rely on more than a couple, but try to keep it simple:

line/spool: Arbor

line/leader: Alberto

braid/lure: Palomar

mono, fluoro, copoly/lure: San Diego Jam

 

rare, but good know: Loop knot/Rapala

 

When I considered switching to Alberto (and to SDJ), I practiced for hours while sitting in front of TV or while pretending to listen to someone converse....

1 hour ago, Ratherbfishing said:

About the easiest knot I know how to tie is the Palomar knot.  And the most difficult thing about it  (sometimes) is feeding the line back through the eyelet.  But that is child's play in comparison to some other knots and it seldom fails.

True story: I tried learning the palomar from drawings and it took a long time to occur to me to feed the line back through the eyelet (I still remember that light bulb flipping on)... doubling it over and trying to thread the loop is a lot  harder...trust me

[Vinjints]

learning knots, in general, is easier to do with a larger line.  you can see it and handle it a whole lot easier.  My scouts don't learn on anything smaller than paracord, and always different colors for each line.  when you can tie it under the shower head with the lights off, you know how to tie it.

[Angry John]

I was a boy scout and sucked at knots.  The Alberto is my connection knot as the double uni is two knots and takes twice as long to tie.  If you learn the uni it is a good connection and terminal knot in one.  I terminal withe the Palomar and those are the only two I use or know now.

[BuzzHudson19c]

I pretty much use palomar, albert, and loop knots. I'm astounded by how many people I fish with that have never used a palomar knot. One of my fishin buddies finally took my advice and I showed him how to tie it. "Dude it's so easy and it takes like no time to tie! Thanks!" is the usual response.

[Deleted account]

On 1/31/2018 at 2:02 PM, fishwizzard said:

I fell that the Alberto is not a particularly difficult not, so long as you don't mind cutting off several inches of tag-end on both the mainline and the leader. If you tie it "big" it's easy to get the wraps right and it still cinchs down pretty well. 

 

The only times I've had issues with the Alberto is when I got stingy and tried not to leave enough tag.  

Get with me in the spring. we'll catch a couple and I can show you how I tie the mod albright, its really easy and fast, but trying to explain it will just make it seem hard and confusing. 

[WRB]

The old blood knot is nothing more then back to back clinch knots.

If you can tie a clinch knot you can tie a blood knot.

Tom

[Deleted account]

16 hours ago, WRB said:

The old blood knot is nothing more then back to back clinch knots.

If you can tie a clinch knot you can tie a blood knot.

Tom

Not exactly, but I get what you mean. I tie the "blood" knot by tying the ends together, and then tying a dropper loop, which I can tie in like 10 seconds.

[fishwizzard]

16 hours ago, reason said:

Get with me in the spring. we'll catch a couple and I can show you how I tie the mod albright, its really easy and fast, but trying to explain it will just make it seem hard and confusing. 

I would love to take you up on that.  I used to work as a theatrical rigger and teaching new folks knots was one of my favorite parts of the job, and you are correct that a hands-on lesson is the fastest way.  However, having to suspend yourself 50' in the air with a knot you just tied also works well to keep a student focused.