Nail knot

Nail knot
Nail knot
Category	Bend
Typical use	fly fishing

Last updated June 07, 2024

The nail knot, also known as the tube knot or gryp knot, is mostly used in carp and fly-fishing. The nail knot was named because a nail was inserted as a guide when threading the line. Today, it is easier to use a small straw. The nail knot is an important fishing knot used to join two lines of different diameters and allows for line diameters to diminish down to the fly. I.E., it is useful for attaching your backing to the fly line, and your fly line to the leader, or tippet. The knot can be tied in multiple ways and is uniform.

Most common uses in fly-fishing are attaching the leader to the fly line and attaching the fly line to the backing. Fly-fishing is an angling method in which an artificial "fly" is used to catch fish. The fly is cast using a fly rod, reel, and specialized weighted line. Casting a nearly weightless fly or "lure" requires casting techniques significantly different from other forms of casting. Fly fishermen use hand-tied flies that resemble natural invertebrates or other food organisms, or "lures" to provoke the fish to strike. Carp anglers use the nail knot to attach monofilament-fishing line and/or braided fishing line to lead core leader material.

To tie the nail knot by hand is very difficult; therefore some anglers use a nail knot-tying tool. It is one of those deceptively simple, clever, useful, and easy to use tools that many seem to own. This tool also seems to fly "under the radar" in terms of public awareness. It allows fishermen to tie any size monofilament, fluorocarbon line or fishing braid to any size fishhook, fishing lure or lead core in just seconds. With it you can tie various knots, but it is best known for the nail/gryp knot. It can't come untied because the untied end is gripped by all the turns of the knot. This knot will not slip, even if you make a hair loop on a carp hair rig, as the tag end goes under all the wraps.

How To Tie the Nail Knot

Method with a nail:

Lay a nail or a large needle or small dowel or similar object along and parallel to the fly line (shown in purple in the illustration) near the tag end of the fly line , with the tag end of the fly line to the right and the working or standing end of the fly line to the left.
Set the leader (shown in blue in the illustration) parallel to and against the fly line and nail, such that the tag ends are at opposite ends of the overlap of the two lines, with the tag end of the leader to the left. The leader is typically tapered and the large end of the leader is the tag end and the thin end of the leader is the working or standing end. Leave an extra 10–12″ of the leader's tag end to tie the knot. The tag end of the leader is assumed to be to the left and the tag end of the fly line to the right, in the next step described. Those who are left-handed may prefer to reverse left and right throughout (the illustration does this, and should perhaps be flipped).
Form a loop of the leader such that a second section of the leader lies parallel to the fly line and nail, holding the fly line, nail and both passes of the leader in your left hand.
Using your right hand, make 6–8 close-together wraps of the leader, using the section forming the right side of the loop, working right to left, back around the leader, fly line and nail and inside the loop of the leader.
Pinch the coils between thumb and forefinger of your left hand.
Pull the working end (thin end) of the leader to shorten and ultimately eliminate the loop in the leader, and snug up the coils.
Remove the nail while continuing to pinch the coils between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand.
Pull the tag end and the standing end of the leader to seat the knot firmly onto the fly line. Wetting the leader while alternately pulling the tag end and standing end of the leader will help dress the knot.
Pull the standing ends of leader and of the fly line to further seat and test the knot.
Trim the tag end of the leader close to the knot. If necessary trim the tag end of the fly line, but leave a couple of millimeters of it.

Method with a tube:

Lay a hollow tube along and parallel to the fly line (shown in purple in the illustration) near the tag end of the fly line, with the tag end of the fly line to the right and the working or standing end of the fly line to the left.
Set the leader (shown in blue in the illustration) parallel to and against the fly line and tube, such that the tag ends are at opposite ends of the overlap of the two lines, with the tag end of the leader to the left. The leader is typically tapered and the large end of the leader is the tag end and the thin end of the leader is the working or standing end. The tag end of the leader is assumed to be to the left and the tag end of the fly line to the right, in the next step described. Those who are left-handed may prefer to reverse left and right throughout (the illustration does this and should perhaps be flipped).
Pinch the leader against the fly line and tube between the thumb and forefinger of your left hand, near the left end of the tube, leaving 10-12″ of the tag end of the leader free to tie the knot.
Make 6–8 close together wraps, working left to right, away from the pinch, back around the fly line, leader, and tube.
Pull the working or standing end of the leader lightly to tighten the coils and pass the tag end through the tube from right to left.
Pinching the coils between thumb and forefinger of the right hand, remove the tube by pulling it to the left with the left hand.
Pull the tag end of the leader to snug up the coils, then alternately pull the tag end and standing or working end of the leader to seat the knot firmly onto the fly line. Wetting the leader while alternately pulling the tag end and standing end of the leader will help dress the knot.
Pull the standing ends of leader and of the fly line to further seat and test the knot.
Trim the tag end of the leader close to the knot. If necessary trim the tag end of the fly line, but leave a couple of millimeters of it.

The tube method can also be used with a nail, passing the leader back through the coils against the nail rather than through a tube if the loop seems challenging.

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The bowline is an ancient and simple knot used to form a fixed loop at the end of a rope. It has the virtues of being both easy to tie and untie; most notably, it is easy to untie after being subjected to a load. The bowline is sometimes referred to as king of the knots because of its importance. Along with the sheet bend and the clove hitch, the bowline is often considered one of the most essential knots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Overhand knot</span> Type of knot

The overhand knot is one of the most fundamental knots, and it forms the basis of many others, including the simple noose, overhand loop, angler's loop, reef knot, fisherman's knot, half hitch, and water knot. The overhand knot is a stopper, especially when used alone, and hence it is very secure, to the point of jamming badly. It should be used if the knot is intended to be permanent. It is often used to prevent the end of a rope from unraveling. An overhand knot becomes a trefoil knot, a true knot in the mathematical sense, by joining the ends. It can also be adjusted, faired, or mis-tied as a half hitch.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Constrictor knot</span> Binding hitch knot

The constrictor knot is one of the most effective binding knots. Simple and secure, it is a harsh knot that can be difficult or impossible to untie once tightened. It is made similarly to a clove hitch but with one end passed under the other, forming an overhand knot under a riding turn. The double constrictor knot is an even more robust variation that features two riding turns.

A shank is a type of knot that is used to shorten a rope or take up slack, such as the sheepshank. The sheepshank knot is not stable. It will fall apart under too much load or too little load.

The clove hitch is an ancient type of knot, made of two successive single hitches tied around an object. It is most effectively used to secure a middle section of rope to an object it crosses over, such as a line on a fencepost. It can also be used as an ordinary hitch, or as a binding knot, but it is not particularly secure in either application. It is considered one of the most important knots, alongside the bowline and the sheet bend.

Although the name clove hitch is given by Falconer in his Dictionary of 1769, the knot is much older, having been tied in ratlines at least as early as the first quarter of the sixteenth century. This is shown in early sculpture and paintings. A round turn is taken with the ratline and then a hitch is added below. The forward end is always the first to be made fast.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Angler's loop</span> Type of knot

An angler's loop, otherwise known as a perfection loop, is a type of knot which forms a fixed loop. Useful for fine or slippery line, it is one of the few loop knots which holds well in bungee cord. It is quite secure, but it jams badly and is not suitable if the knot will need to be untied.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Taut-line hitch</span> Adjustable hitch knot

The taut-line hitch is an adjustable loop knot for use on lines under tension. It is useful when the length of a line will need to be periodically adjusted in order to maintain tension. It is made by tying a rolling hitch around the standing part after passing around an anchor object. Tension is maintained by sliding the hitch to adjust the size of the loop, thus changing the effective length of the standing part without retying the knot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Zeppelin bend</span> Bend knot

A zeppelin bend is an end-to-end joining knot formed by two symmetrically interlinked overhand knots. It is stable, secure, and highly resistant to jamming. It is also resistant to the effects of slack shaking and cyclic loading.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Fly fishing</span> Angling technique

Fly fishing is an angling technique that uses an ultra-lightweight lure called an artificial fly, which typically mimics small invertebrates such as flying and aquatic insects to attract and catch fish. Because the mass of the fly lure is insufficient to overcome air resistance, it cannot be launched far using conventional gears and techniques, so specialized tackles are used instead and the casting techniques are significantly different from other forms of angling. It is also very common for the angler to wear waders, carry a hand net, and stand in the water when fishing.

A blood knot is a bend knot most usefully employed for joining sections of monofilament nylon line while maintaining a high portion of the line's inherent strength. Other knots used for this purpose can cause a substantial loss of strength. In fly fishing, this serves to build a leader of gradually decreasing diameter with the castable fly line attached at the large diameter end and the fly or hook at the small diameter end. The principal drawback to the blood knot is the dexterity required to tie it. It is also likely to jam, which is not a concern in fishing line, which is no great loss to cut, but may be a concern in normal rope. "Blood knot" may refer to "a double overhand knot tied in a cat-o'-nine-tails."

The barrel knot, called blood knot by Keith Rollo, is the best bend there is for small, stiff or slippery line. The ends may be trimmed short and the knot offers the least resistance possible when drawn through water.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cat's paw (knot)</span> Type of knot

The Cat's paw is a knot used for connecting a rope to an object. It is very similar to the cow hitch except there is an additional twist on each side of the bight, making it less prone to slipping.

The cat's-paw is the common hook hitch for slings. It is the same basic form as the bale sling hitch but has additional twists. Brady says "two or three altogether," and Steel, who mentioned the name in 1794, says "three twists." It is the best of all sling hitches and is often recommended for a slippery rope. But no hitch can slip when tied in a slings since it has no ends. All that is needed is a hitch that cannot jam, and this requirement the cat's-paw fills admirably. The knot spills instantly when removed from the hook. It is the hitch always used for heavy lifts.

An icicle hitch is a knot that is used for connecting to a post when weight is applied to an end running parallel to the post in a specific direction. This type of hitch will hold its place even when holding a substantial load on a smooth surface. One can even suspend from a tapered post with this knot.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Halter hitch</span> Type of knot

The halter hitch is a type of knot used to connect a rope to an object. As the name implies, an animal's lead rope, attached to its halter, may be tied to a post or hitching rail with this knot. The benefit of the halter hitch is that it can be easily released by pulling on one end of the rope, even if it is under tension. Some sources show the knot being finished with the free end running through the slipped loop to prevent it from working loose or being untied by a clever animal, still allowing easy but not instant untying.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Palomar knot</span>

The Palomar knot is a knot that is used for securing a fishing line to a fishing lure, snap or swivel.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Falconer's knot</span> Type of knot

The falconer's knot is a knot used in falconry to tether a bird of prey to a perch. Some sources show this knot to be identical to the halter hitch, but with a specific method of single-handed tying needed when the other hand is occupied holding the bird.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Coiling</span> Method for storing rope or cable in compact yet easily attainable form

A coiling or coil is a curve, helix, or spiral used for storing rope or cable in compact and reliable yet easily attainable form. They are often discussed with knots.

Rope are often coiled and hung up in lofts for storage. They are also hung over stakes in farm wagons and on hooks in moving vans, fire apparatus and linesmen's repair trucks. For such active storage coils must be well made.

The snell knot is a hitch knot used in angling to attach a fishing line to the shank of a fishing hook. The line may still pass through the eye of the hook, but primarily fastens to the shaft. Hooks tied with a snell knot provide an even, straight-line pull to the fish. It is a very secure knot, but because it is easily tied using only the near end as the working end, it is used to attach a hook only to a leader, rather than directly to the main line.

The shoelace knot, or bow knot, is commonly used for tying shoelaces and bow ties.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Chinese button knot</span> Type of knot

The Chinese button knot is essentially a knife lanyard knot where the lanyard loop is shortened to a minimum, i.e. tightened to the knot itself. There emerges therefore only two lines next to each other from the knot: the beginning and the end. The knot has traditionally been used as a button on clothes in Asia, thus the name.

The Chinese Button Knot is worn throughout China on underwear and night clothes. Buttons of this sort are more comfortable to lie on and to rest against compared to common bone and composition buttons, and they cannot be broken even by the laundry.
A Chinese tailor ties the knot without guide, flat on his table. But one may be more quickly and easily tied in hand by a modification of the sailor’s method of tying his knife lanyard knot (#787). The two knots are tied alike, but they are worked differently.

References

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Nail knot

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