Tactics & Tackle
The No Name Knot
by Mark Sosin
Something seemed wrong. Captain Orlando Duran finished attaching 80-pound monofilament leaders to an armful of 20-pound outfits in the time it took to load and store the rest of the gear aboard the boat. The resulting connection looked small and questionable, prompting me to probe for answers.
"What do you call that knot?" I asked, trying to mask my concern. Orlando smiled warmly, pleased that someone had noticed. "I don't know its name," he replied. "Is it strong," I countered. "We've been using this system for about a month and it hasn't failed yet."
The scene was Cancun, Mexico where anglers routinely challenge sailfish, white marlin, and oversized dolphin on light tackle. The action can be so frantic in March, April, and May that one can go through a 100-quart cooler full of rigged baits in a day. Long leaders streaming from baits cause tangles in the cooler and are much more difficult to handle in the cockpit. The Venezuelans came up with a system of looping an 80-pound or 130-pound Dacron leader to the fishing line with a small snap swivel at the terminal end. Baits rigged on 3-foot leaders could be hung on the swivel quickly and easily.
The fish in Cancun suddenly became fussy feeders, forcing fishermen to abandon the Dacron and switch to 80-pound monofilament leaders with the same swivel arrangement as the Venezuelan rig. The problem centered on the connection. It had to be strong enough to withstand the impact of a billfish, but small enough to slip through roller guides or wind on a spinning reel.
Orlando learned this knot from an American sportfishing captain on the next dock. In deference to those who have been using this knot and don't know what it is called, I decided to refer to it as the No-Name Knot.
There hasn't been time to run extensive tests on a machine, but I can report that we never broke one in a week's fishing using an 80-pound leader tied to 20-pound and 17-pound line. For the angler who enjoys casting tackle, it could prove to be an ideal method for attaching a shock leader to light line. This knot passes through the guides better than most other connections.
Copyright 1998 - 2008 Mark Sosin's Saltwater Journal
All rights reserved.
Web design by
