The Half Blood Knot

[Alan Ziobry]

Used as a Leader knot and when tied correctly is as strong as your main line, All too often, a badly tied knot can reduce a 15lb breaking strain line to 8 or 9lb, which will give you an unwanted weak link. This is usually caused by crushed line in the knot, or burnt line because the knot had been pulled tight with no lubrication, This is something very few anglers know about. and apart from upping the breaking strain of your main line is to learn to tie reliable knots. Leaders must be at least 50lb braking strain for the most part the general rule is to use 10lb for every ounce of lead so for a 5oz lead the leader should be 50lb, but this formula does not take into account the baits, All these factors should be taken into consideration but how to construct the knot:

Firstly tie a loose overhand knot in the leader line, leaving about two inches of tag.

Pass the Main line through the overhand knot and tighten the knot down.

Pull the tag through and cut it where it has become crushed by the leader knot.

Use finger and thumb to keep a loop in the main line as it is spun up the leader 5 times.

Now turn 3 times down the leader, in the same direction as the turns going up the line.

Pass the tag through the loop formed by the thumb and finger three times.

Use plenty of saliva on the knot and gently coax the knot up until it is tight..

Trim off the ends and you are done. This particular way prevents crushing of the main line.