The Improved Clinch Knot is one of
the most used fishing knots in the world and maybe the number one because it is
very easy to learn and it’s hard to forget a few simple steps. If you have
a ring you can tie an Improved Clinch knot, which means you can use it for different
purposes, you can tie a fishing hook with this knot but also a swivel, clip, bottom
sinker, fishing lure or even fishing line.
This knot goes in the group of self-tightening knots which means that the knot becomes more tight with pulling the fishing line harder. You can use different types of fishing lines with this knot like monofilament, fluorocarbon or braided line.
Issues with this line is that the line can sleep while it self-tights if the tag end is not long enough. Try to leave at least 5mm or quarter of an inch and don’t worry, like other knots, it’s a small chance that fish can poke on the end tag. In previous blogs you can find articles on how to burn the tag end so it becomes thicker and harder to slip off plus fish can’t poke on tag ends which leads to becoming suspicious and losing interest in bait. Second issue is with lines over 30lbs or 14kg monofilament it is very hard to keep this knot tight because line is harder to be band and the elasticity is much smaller than with thinner fishing lines.
One of the most important things with this knot is to be very well lubricated before final tightening which means the line should be wet even with water or saliva it doesn’t matter. This will reduce friction and protect your fishing lines from damage which means your line capacity will stay as it says on the label.
Improved Clinch knot as it's name says is very similar with Clinch knot (which you can read about on the page before this Clinch Knot tutorial with fishing tips!) and only one additional step at the end makes the difference, but is it a big difference? We will investigate.
How to tie an Improved Clinch Knot?
Step 1. Get the line through the hook for about 15cm or 6inch, a bit more than for a Clinch knot.
Step 2. Hold with thumb and index finger the main fishing line tag end, with the other hand hold the fishing hook then start twisting the hook 6 times if the line is less than 30pounds or around 15kg, if your line is over 15kg or 30 pounds twist only 4 times because it's more than enough. If you twist more than necessary you will damage the line with lot's of friction or it will be unevenly tied and easy to untie.
Step 3. Tag end push inside the loop under the hook eye, look at the orange colored line in my picture ( I know I'm not talented for drawing :) ).
Step 4. Now the tag end goes through one more loop, the big one that you just created like on the picture below.
Step 5. Very important step with all knots, before finishing the knot, you need to lubricate it to reduce friction and damaging the fishing line. You can lubricate with water or saliva it doesn't really make a big difference. After you finish all of these steps, you should get a knot like this one below.
Step 6. There is one more optional step that you can use with all knots at the end. Some old man taught me when I was a kid that I should use a lighter to burn the tag end so fish can't poke on the sharp tag end which could be negative for the fishes interest for our bait. I think there is one more good reason that you should burn the tag end and that is that the burned end becomes thicker and is much, much harder to slip over even when the fishing knot is tied properly. Why not, if you have time one more secure measure can just help in extreme situations maybe with your biggest fish.
Step 7. If you still have some hesitations about how to tie fishing knot? I recommend the Youtube channel How to Fish - Fishing tutorials.
Improved Clinch Knot video tutorial you can watch down here:
Enjoy fishing, tight lines!
@Ivo
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