How to Tie Palomar Knots – The Ultimate Guide

After researching a lot about the best methods of how to tie Palomar knots, I found that most online content lacks some details about how it varies from a line type to another (but, to be honest, some of them were great!). In this article, I illustrate 2 techniques for 2 different lines.

The Palomar Knot is strong and extremely easy to tie and while it is best for use with braided fishing line, you can use it with monofilament, fluorocarbon, and braided line, so no matter what you’re using, this knot is a great choice.

Use to tie on hooks, snaps, swivels, and mostly all lures and can be done in only 13 seconds. Keep reading to find out more!

How to tie a Palomar knot using a braided line

Palomar knots are a lot easier with braid, it fits through the eyelet easier and somehow dresses better

Steps 

1. Take the end of your braid and double it over forming a loop (about 6-8 inches)
2. Take that loop and shove it through the eye of your hook and pull it through making a nice big loop. Pinch the end of the loop so that it’s much easier to get the loop through the eye.
3. Try to center the hook in the middle of the loop [1]
4. simply take the loop and do a simple overhand knot and make sure it’s crossed over or twisted before you tie it.
5. You need enough loop (at least as wide as the hook) so that the hook will fit through the loop.
6. Make sure your hook is inside the overhand knot, it’s not below the knot it’s inside the know.
7. At this point you can wet the knot, Lubricating the knot with saliva or water reduces friction in the line, which in turn reduces the chances of having the line break later on.
8. pull the hook through the eyelet and tighten it up by holding the hook in one hand and pulling the mainline and the tagline simultaneously with the other. This step might be difficult with larger lures.
9. pull the tag end and the mainline end again to make sure it’s tightened well.

Note: Make sure it’s not all kinked up.

10. once your hook is tight go ahead and cut the tag and you’re good to go

Pro tips

Here’s a Pro advice: try to tie the Palomar knot by feeding the doubled tag end through the hook eye twice followed by doing a double overhand knot before feeding the hook through the tag loop. I believe this will make it stronger

Here is a photo made by Vaughan Pratt to make it easier to understand :

Tying a Palomar Knot with Monofilament Line

This long-time original Palomar knot proved to be the strongest among variations when it comes to monofilament knots. [2]

Steps

1. Take the end of your braid and double it over forming a loop, but don’t pinch it too aggressively, cuz you might make a weak point in your monofilament
2. Take that loop and shove it through the eye of your hook and pull it through making a nice big loop
3. simply take the loop and do a simple overhand knot
4. You need enough loop so that the hook will fit through the loop.
5. Make sure your hook is inside the overhand knot, it’s not below the knot it’s inside the know.
6. At this point, monofilament dresses a little bit trickier than the braid does, so you want to wet the knot, so it will slide together a little bit better [3]
7. pull the hook through the eyelet and tighten it up.
8. pull the tag end and the mainline end again to make sure it’s tightened well.
9. make sure there’s not a loop snagged on the eyelet by pushing the mono up to the top of the eyelet and then pull it
10. once your hook is tight go ahead and cut the tag and you’re good to go

Pro tips

if it’s kinked up, which happens very often here’s a trick to straightening out your monoline :

• take two pieces of leather (your leather belt will be great) and run the mono through it
• pinch the mono through the leather and pull it through and it will take the kinks out of your mono.

Pro and Cons 

Pros of Palomar knots

• It’s really simple, easy, and maintains almost 100% of line strength.
• you can do it when you’re in a hurry, need to re-tie quickly, or if you’re tying your bass lures directly to your braid.

Cons of Palomar knots

• If your line is thick and your hook is small, it won’t fit in throughout the eyelet because you’ve to double over the line.
• It gets really complicated when you’re trying to attach high-low rigs or cebiche rigs to the end if you’re line (literally it gets really snaggy and crazy)
• When tying The Palomar Knot, you have to pass the fly or the hook through the loop, which can be awkward and necessitates making the loop large enough.

What is the Next step ? 

Go try it and give us your feedback! And if you know someone who needs to learn how to tie this knot, please TAG or SHARE this knowledge with them!