The blood knot is a great all purpose fishing knot. It is quick to tie, very stable and extremely easy to tie. This knot is used for joining two lines together of virtually any size or material. There are several common methods of tying the Blood Knot but the key part of this diagram is one strand must lay flat on top of another as shown in
Several variations exists that allow this knot to be tied with different girths or numbers of strands. It also allows an angler some options when using more than two lines at once such as trolling multiple baits behind your boat. I will go over some variations on the more popular methods below but find which version fits your needs best first then master it before trying out the more advanced methods.
1) Pass one line through the loop of another as shown.
2) Take the end of the line that just passed through the loop and make a small overhand loop (or ‘bunny ear’) with it. This is the part you will use to tie the knot.
3) Make a second loop with the same line, bigger than the first this time. Now pass the end of the other line through this new loop.
You have now effectively put two lines together.
4) Take hold of both loops and pull tight – you have now tied the blood knot!
There are a few variations on this knot but the main thing to remember is that there should be two complete twists in one line.
The Blood Knot has many uses around the boat from rigging both live and artificial baits to tying on new line when your old one breaks or becomes damaged. It can be used for tying up leaders on some of the lighter lines so you don’t have to carry a full spool of a different size. The Blood Knot can also be tied at the end of your main leader so you can easily change out various lures without having to retie your whole leader each time. When trolling multiple lures behind your boat you can use two or more different diameter lines next to each other by using this fantastic knot. For example, if you are using a low stretch line such as Power Pro and a high stretch line such as Spiderwire, simply tie the Blood Knot with one on each to make it easier to pull in your catch.
I would recommend practicing this knot until you can tie it once blindfolded! After that, practice some more just for good measure. It is very simple and will soon become second nature to you so that any time there is breakage or you want to change something up just whip out the Blood Knot and before long everything will be back in action.
