I came back from my first fly fishing trip ready to go again as soon as I could. But it was a couple of months before I was able to arrange a chance to get away. This time I wanted to go on my own. I had only the one experience with fly fishing, but I figured that after six years of fishing for trout with a spinner rod I should be able to handle going fly fishing by myself. I stopped to get a couple of new leaders and some other trinkets and then headed out of town. A couple of hours later I was at Maramec Springs Park just outside of St James, MO.
When I got to the park I drove around for a few minutes to scope out a good spot to fish. There were people fishing everywhere and I was buzzing to join them. I parked. I got my waders on. I put my rod together. I strung my line. I put a new leader on the end of the line and started to tie a perfection loop on the end for a tippet. Loop, wrap around, pull through, tighten and nothing. It didn’t work. I tried again. Loop, wrap around, pull through, and tighten… still didn’t work.
I sat down in the back of my Jeep. I knew how to do this. My brother had shown me this knot in Gatlinburg. I had tied loop after loop without a problem. Why couldn’t I tie one now? What was I forgetting? After 45 minutes of trying various tweaks to the knot I finally got “something” that worked. I was ready to fish. But my knot tying issues were just the beginning of my problems that day. I’ll save the rest of that story for another time.
I sat down in the back of my Jeep. I knew how to do this. My brother had shown me this knot in Gatlinburg. I had tied loop after loop without a problem. Why couldn’t I tie one now? What was I forgetting? After 45 minutes of trying various tweaks to the knot I finally got “something” that worked. I was ready to fish. But my knot tying issues were just the beginning of my problems that day. I’ll save the rest of that story for another time.
It’s easy to say to yourself, “It’s just a knot. I know how to tie a knot!” But the right knot is important. Let me say it another way. Tying the right knot is vital if you want to catch fish. You must be able to tie good knots. If your fly is not secured with a strong knot then the fish will take your fly with him. If your tippet is not secured to the leader with a strong knot then he’ll take your fly AND your tippet. Your fly needs to stay on your tippet and your tippet needs to stay on your leader. But you can’t go overboard either. If you secure your fly to your tippet with a big jumble of line you won’t have a single fish come near it.
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There are other books and resources out there that you can use. With THE LITTLE RED FISHING KNOT BOOK for each knot you get a picture of the knot and quick description of how to tie it. I was able to reacquaint myself with the perfection loop and learn a new knot in a few minutes. Granted, I wouldn’t call this the best resource you could find for learning how to tie knots quickly. But for less than $10 it’s hard to beat. Combine it with a $4 spool of fishing line and you’ve got a great start for practicing your knots. And “Practice Makes Perfect.” This is a inexpensive pair of items that will give you plenty of line and time to get your knots as close to perfect as you can. 30 minutes of practice the night before a trip will ensure that you don’t waste valuable fishing time the next day.
One final thought about your knot practice supplies: Get a heavier spool of line to use for knot practice than you will use for fishing. The heavier line is easier to see and hold when learning new knots. If you don’t have to worry about seeing your line or having it slip from your fingers you can focus more on learning the knot. Definitely don’t get tippet line to practice tying knots. It’s too expensive to waste.
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