Braid Knots For Braid Fishers: 05

TYING THE TUNA LOOP KNOT

Describing this knot is like visiting an old friend whom you haven’t seen in a while. As soon as you sit down with them, it feels like you have never been away.

It all started when I bought some new 10 lb+ braid in a bid to overcome some big line-shy tench I was pursuing at the time. Hook knots were never an issue. However, as soon as I tied my usual loop knot on it and tested it, it straight away gave out without much protest. When tested on my scales, the results confirmed my suspicions. The braid I had bought seemed to have a slicker coating than any I had used previously.

Internet searches proved fruitless and the one ‘beacon of light’ that is the King Sling turned out to be identical to the pattern I had been experimenting with on my own. It is a good loop knot with braid but, in its current state of tune, not quite good enough to meet my exacting benchmark of 90% plus performance.

I fail to see the relevance of the comparison between the King Sling Loop Knot and the (Double Palomar) Nanofil Hook Knot which has been created to cope with Berkley’s new super braid. I think it is to the credit of the King Sling that it should even be mentioned in such distinguished company!

You may wonder why I am talking so much about the King Sling Knot instead of the Tuna Loop Knot. This is because a Tuna Hook Knot or a Tuna Loop Knot starts life just like the King Sling Knot, i.e. with the main line doubled into a long loop and that long loop being twisted up around the double-line main line on the outward leg. In Tuna format, that long tag loop is twisted back over the twists already laid down as it makes the inward leg; the King Sling Knot, however, jumps straight from the outward twists into the ‘tuck’ for cinching.

Some knots afford little opportunity for tuning. The Tuna Loop Knot offers three areas – the amount of outward twists used, the amount of inward twists used, and the amount of tucks used before cinching. I used to think that the amount of inward turns was as important as the amount of outward turns and was left bemused by the inconsistency of my results. Later, I found that the amount of tucks used and the amount of outward turns make the difference between success and failure, and that, depending on the fineness of your braid, it can be a fine balance too.

I have used this knot a lot in my fishing and if I needed to tie a loop knot at the water’s edge on my braid, this would be my knot of choice. Despite my best attempts to make it look difficult to tie with braid, it generally is not, provided that you are not too particular about how big your loop will be. Using your finger as the starting point around which the line is wrapped allows plenty of room for the all-important three tucks to be made. It also allows for quite a long loop once combined with the knot’s stretch upon cinching … This was why I longed for a knot whose loop size I could easily adjust.

Only if you wish to match this loop’s ease-of-tying characteristics with a guaranteed small loop size will you resort to the method I am demonstrating.

I have tended to think of this knot as providing a durable loop for hook-link attachment etc. For use with jigs and lures to run freely inside the loop, the Crocodile and the San Diego Jam Loop Knots will be a better choice.

Right, without further ado, let's see what it's all about.

(click on photos to expand)

Double your line to form a long loop. As knots go, it is 'line-hungry'. It is difficult to measure off exactly the required amount each time but better to have more than you need rather than less

Lay the double-line tag loop across the double-line main line. Where the loop has been formed on the left of shot is where your finger would be.

Ordinarily, you would take the double line around your finger first being mindful to allow enough length in the tag loop to complete all the desired turns and tucks

Here we see a few double-line turns being laid down. Once I have laid down about x6 turns, I push the turns together towards my trapped finger while maintaining a steady tension on the main line. As I add another x6, I will do the same. This keeps everything evenly tensioned

As you add the turns according to the recipe I have supplied or the one of your own that you are following, make sure you keep a tight grip on both parts of the double main line as it is easy to misjudge the length of the single tag line and find it slipping through your fingers as you try to keep the tension constant.

If this happens, just start again giving yourself a longer tag element in the double main line

Notice how the turns are spaced apart. Easy to see with the lace, not so easy with fine braid. This is why I say every few turns you lay down, push them to line up with their fellows

Here, I am making ready to do just that by taking my finger away from 'camera duty' and back to 'loop duty'

Now you can see all the turns neatly lined up. What you cannot see is that as you tie this knot, you will find yourself using the fingers of both hands to manipulate the double-line tag loop around the double main line maintaining the tension and keeping your turns neat

We're on the homeward stretch. Typically, I would grip the last outward turn between thumb and forefinger as I lay down the first inward turn.

Earlier, I said that the number of these inward turns does not matter too much in the great scheme of things. It's interesting to note, however, that during the formation of its close cousin, The Tuna Bend Knot, the number of inward turns seem to be key to the overall integrity of the knot as the overall performance dropped if I cut the number down.

But with this Tuna Loop Knot, the number of inward turns is usually governed by being able to leave the tag loop sufficiently long enough to make the three tucks and not be too long afterwards

Here I have started to lay down some turns on the inward leg. Try to keep the lines that form the double tag loop together as you do so

Here, we are getting ready to make the first of two tucks

Take the tag end loop through the gap vacated by your finger and, if necessary, pull it back towards the body of the knot to make room for the second tuck

Here we see the completion of the second tuck

Taking the main loop with your left hand and maintaining a slight tension, move the main body of the knot towards it.

Then, hold the main line and tag end with one hand and pull the main loop to cinch it. If this was fine braid, I would put the main loop over the hook of my scales before pulling tight

And here is the other side. Hopefully, the loop size will not have grown too much during the cinching process ...

Here I am forming the first 'over' hitch of the ubiquitous Crocodile - with fine braid, x20 will suffice, with thicker lines, a smaller number

And here comes the first 'under' hitch to complete the first Cow Hitch

I present to you the finished Tuna Loop Knot. Not, perhaps, the prettiest knot you have ever seen, but I like to think that it looks 'purposeful' like the Tuna after which it is named

Now, you are ready to exercise your new-found skills with your chosen braid. As I detail the steps to follow, you will see that I will introduce two 'hacks' that will help you to better control the size of the loop you produce.

You may, like me, be thinking that you can control loop size by using your finger to wrap the line around and keeping the tag loop as short as possible once the prescribed tucks have been made. Unfortunately, this will not work as the diameter of your finger is still too large to keep the loop size small.

Although this knot will never match the adjustability of the Crocodile and SDJ Loop Knots, with a little preparation and practice, you can still produce an acceptably-small loop size.

RECIPE

x25 outward turns +x4 inward turns +x3 tucks = 90%

x30 outward turns + x4 inward turns + x2 tucks = 90%

x30 outward turns + x7 inward turns + x3 tucks = 100%

(click on photos to expand)

Hack #1

Moisten and lightly tie a short piece of mono or braid (with an Overhand Knot) to the end of your tag end loop. This is to help you make the third tuck more easily as space will be tight and the tag end loop will be necessarily short. Usually, the light braid or mono is released as the third tuck is completed.

I did try alternative methods but they all relied upon the tag end loop being easy to pick open at the critical moment - which, sometimes, it was not. With this way, you don't have to worry

Hack #2

Use a small length of plastic - like part of a cotton bud. It does not need to be hollow. It just needs to be about this diameter as any thinner and you won't be able to make all your tucks

Lay your piece of tube on the inside of your finger as shown. Then lay your double line across it about three quarters of its length. Take the tag end loop back under your finger and over the double-line main line to make the first of your 30 plus outward turns.

Notice, I took this frame without my piece of braid tied to the end of the loop. By now, this should already be in place

As you can see, I have been laying down the outward turns remembering to push them up every so many turns to keep it neat and tight

Look closely, and you can just make out the first of the inward turns being laid down. The inward turns serve two purposes:

1. To provide additional friction binding to the knot

2. To use up the tag end loop so that there is just enough to make the required number of tucks

If you are batch-tying, it would probably pay you to record the length in millimetres you need to leave yourself to make your chosen number of turns. For, it might be many months before you want to make a fresh batch (bit like baking, eh?) and by then you will have forgotten.

Precision will reward, inattention punish ...

We're on the homeward stretch. You can just make out the twists in your double tag end line. Try to lay your turns untwisted if you can - but it will be difficult!

Well, quite a bit has happened 'Off Camera', hasn't it? By sliding your piece of tubing out from under the line, you make it easy to slide the line off your finger. Re-insert your tubing into the space occupied by your finger, moisten the line, and slip the turns up tight to the tubing as shown.

Just noticeable is the 'magic appearance' of my fine piece of braid attached to the tag end loop

A close fit! The tubing has been slipped out, two tucks have been made deftly using my fingers because the tag end loop was long enough. The third tuck, however, has just been made by use of the fine braid attached.

Now pull gently on your main loop as you push the knot up to 'swallow' up the space you have been using to make your tucks

TIP

If your fine line has become detached after completing your last tuck leaving a tiny loop to cinch with, thread a piece of line through the loop so that you can pull it out until it will admit something solid like a knot puller or the hook of your scales