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Posts: 2752
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | The fluorocarbon knot thread got me to thinking about this subject, i.e. that some of us whether due to age or something else, may find tying fishing knots a bit of a challenge. Since I was ~ 21 years old I have had a problem doing very fine detailed work with my hands (I'm now 57). This has been a constant problem for me, i.e., something similar to someone who has a stutter, but only with my hands. It also appears that the harder I try to concentrate the worse it gets, this is especially true when it comes to trying to tie complex knot's for fishing. Over the years I have discovered some very useful tools which help me quickly tie reliable knots. I thought I would share those with the rest of you here on MF....
The photo below show's the tools I have found so far, including one I made myself for tying fluorocarbon leaders.
Starting from the bottom -> I discovered the Tie-Fast tool ~ 12 years ago at a fishing show in Seattle WA. The tape on the smaller one is only to make it more comfortable to hold. These are my main knot tying tools in the boat. Since I have started using the cinch/"Gryp-knot", I have not had any knot failures  It is an excellent knot for attaching lures and leaders to your line. add a drop of superglue and you have a no fail knot. For more information on the Tie-Fast here is their website.
http://www.tie-fast.com/Magnum%20Knot%20Tyer.htm
The brass one -> second from the top is a "Cinch Tie Knot Tyer". This one I found out about in 2004 while fishing for pike at the local river. An local older gent (~80 years old) was fishing with jig's in a rocky area and had just lost a jig. I was parked next to his car and was just unloading my poles from the truck. Naturally we struck up a conversation, re. how's fishing etc. He reached into his trunk and got out a new jig and proceeded to tie it on using the "Cinch Tie" tool. I asked about his knot tool. He said if he didn't have that tool, he wouldn't be fishing because he just couldn't tie good knot's anymore. Then he quickly cut off the jig & tied it on ~ three more times in a row to show me how easy it was. He couldn't remember the name of the company, but he had gotten it from his son in-law who had gotten it at a fishing show. That winter we had a booth at the Madison Fishing Expo, and I found the vendor at the show. I paid ~ $10-$15 for it at the show. The manufacturer web site is->
http://www.cinchtie.com/
It's a very well built/machined knot tool that ties a variety of knot's including the knot he was tieing, "clinch knot", Trilene knot, Rapala knot, nail knot/cinch knot, snell knot's, etc. It's ideal for smaller lines, i.e., less than 20lb mono diameter. So it's not real useful for 50-130lb fluorocarbon.
The top one is my home made cinch knot tool for making fuorocarbon leaders. The large Tie-Fast also works fine, but I find the homemade tool more comfortable to use when tieing a lot of leaders.
So that's it, I hope this helps you or someone else you may know that is struggling tying fishing knots.
Do you have another knot tool that you use and recommend?
Good luck in 2006
Have fun!
Al
Edited by ESOX Maniac 3/24/2006 9:43 AM
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 Knot Tool 005A.jpg (34KB - 364 downloads)
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Posts: 1936
Location: Eau Claire, WI | Al,
Good information and tips for others...
Thanks |
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Posts: 2865
Location: Brookfield, WI | Al,
I too have shakey hands, as did my Dad. On a putting green that's called the yips. I am very familiar with the yips. One of the reasons I'm giving fishing a try. Thanks for posting this info. Between my vision and the yips, being able to tie knots efficiently has been one of my concerns.
Kevin
Little things can be easily added to the plan. |
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Posts: 55
Location: Nekoosa, WI | I would have to say the easiest knot to tie and one of THE best is the simple Palomar. I have tied the Power Knot for the last 15 years or so and thus is my favorite and the only one I tie for muskies. It is however not as easy as the Palomar. We have tested many different knots with a scale and weights and these two that I mentioned were the strongest among the ones that most muskie fisherman tie. The Bimini Twist is another real strong knot but I just never found an application to warrant tying it. If I were you I would give the Palomar a try as it is very simple yet very strong. Good fishin' Jason Bovee |
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Posts: 2752
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Jason- Thanks. I do know how to tie both a palomar and a bimmi twist. That really wasn't the point of this thread. You would have to have my particular disability or something similar to understand. My intention was to help others who may be having similar problems just tying knot's.
I agree the palomar is a good strong knot simple knot to tie. It, however only has three wraps gripping the tag end. IMHO, the cinch knot tied using a tool like the tie-fast is a stronger knot because it has 5-7 wraps gripping the tag end (number of wraps needed depends on line diameter). Plus it's easy for someone like me to tie using the tie-fast tool.
Joe Buchers Power Knot looks like a extremely strong knot. However, I find it virtually impossible to tie with my shaking hands and I also can never get it to tighten up properly. Maybe I'm missing something. I watched Ranger (Rick) & Muskie Fool's ( Paul's old board name) impromtu knot tying class in our cabin at the first MF Cass Lake outing in Sept 2002. They were going through contortions that looked like a combination of Tai Chi and Kung FU. I think one of their knot tying kata's was how to tighten the "Power Knot". Never-the-less it's beyond me, as I bet it's also beyond some other folks capabilities.
Have fun!
Al
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Posts: 115
| I picked up a Tie Fast tool at Bass Pro in Gurnee. It was real easy to tie 100# fluoro leaders using the tool. Thanks for the recommendation.
Johnny B |
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Posts: 2091
Location: Stevens Point, WI | I think this is probably a problem for a lot of anglers out there. I'm sure there are many people for reasons such as age, bad eyesight, and other disabilities who could use these or maybe even a newer yet to be invented model that could work with very small to larger diameter line. I'm sure with all the tinkering brain power on this site there could be some really cool ideas. There are many people who would probably fish more if they were able to have tools such as these and other "assist" devices. Maybe we can have a contest to see who can come up with the best devices to help anglers or would be anglers such as disabled children and adults muskie fish easier. Cool stuff Al. |
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Posts: 2752
Location: Mauston, Wisconsin | Just noticed I forgot the web link for the cinch tie tool ->
http://www.cinchtie.com/
Have fun!
Al |
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