Whats Your favorite knot for when casting hard baits..?Lost A Few lures this weekend going again Saturday and I do not want a repeat of that . Either

bait was to much for the line or my knots weren't up to par...

Palomar knot for everything. For mono and fluorocarbon line I always moisten the line before tightening the knot.

Improved clinch for mono/copoly/fluro. Palomar for braid.

I use a palomar most of the time.  I like the San Diego Jam knot with fluoro but I waste too much line tying it.  

the old faithful Palomar knot 

Usually the improved clinch knot for me. Never had a problems with it.

Palomar for everything unless it's a flipping hook.

Based on the replies so far it looks like it really doesn't make a difference as long as it works.  I always use leaders and connect most of my lures with a loopknot.  Jigs and jig heads I use an ordinary clinch, braid I use an improved clinch, for my rarely used line to leader connection it's an alberto knot.  I do not use any other knots.

San Diego Jam with fluoro, Palomar for everything else. 

Palomar knot for everything. For mono and fluorocarbon line I always moisten the line before tightening the knot.

 

Always moisten the line when tying all knots.

 

I tie my line to a snap as it is easier to change crankbaits when using a snap.

Some other suggestions.

 

1.  Always run about four or five feet of line between your thumb nail and forefinger from your rod tip down to your bait to feel for any knicks, cuts, abrasions, etc. Cut out any damaged line and retie. Do this after ten casts or if you catch one or two in structure where the line can be damaged.

 

2.  Leave a little over a 1/4 inch tag line on your knots.

 

3.  Retie all knots after catching two or three bass.

 

4.  Double check your line after tying a knot and if the main line is wavy cut it out and start over. You have just burned your line. Use more liquid on the next knots to avoid burning your line.

 

5.  Never put pressure on your line when removing a backlash. You can cut the line and never know about it until you throw your favorite lure into the wild blue yonder. Take you time removing backlashes.

 

6.  Always take one additional reel ready to go. One baitcaster and one spinning reel. Change out if you get a backlash or too much line twist.

 

Just some suggestions from over the years to help you avoid line and knot problems.

palomar!

 

San Diego Jammin' Man!   For all hard baits. 

Tip- when cinching, start by pulling the tag end to bring the loops up snug with each other. Then let go of tag end while drawing the knot up fairly tight to the lure eye or split ring. I then make micro adjustments to get the knot tight by pulling on both the tag end and lure tie alternately.

I use the improved clinch for everything. If you look at the results on Tackle Tour's Fc shootout, I believe they said the improved clinch held up better than the palomer knot, this is for .011 to .010 diameter. I feel like when i use braid the I have to use the palomer knot, because with 832 I have had the knot slip using the improved clinch knot. 

Palomar knot for everything never fails me

miller knot for fluro palomar mono and double palomar for braid..

Trilele knot with Fluorocarbon and Mono

 

Palomar with Braid.

As mentioned earlier a high quality snap, not a snap swivel, is good for vibrating lures like crankbaits, lets the lure wiggle without knot wear. If you like the Palomar knot it's easier to tie on a hook or snap, then larger size lures.

The Millers fishing knot is a complex knot to tie on the water and takes lots of practice. Knot test show the Miller knot slightly stronger than a standard San Deigo jam knot. The SD jam knot is easy to tie, the double SD jam knot, 2 wraps through the hook eye is stronger than the Miller knot. The Palomar knot can slip on both FC and braid, the double Palomar resolves that problem; 2 overhand wraps, like the surgeon knot, in lieu of the standard single wrap, improves the Palomar knot.

Whatever knot you choose, wet it and clinch it down slowly and evenly. There isn't any reason to have more than an 1/8" of tag end left after trimming a knot. If your knot slips when tightening it, retie! Look at the finished knot for any flattened line next to the knot, if you see it, retie!

Tom

Palomar, Uni, and Improved Clinch all work well for me.

Trilene knot for fluorocarbon to lure, Palomar from braid to lure, Alberto from braid to leader. Those are the only three knots I know and use.

Improve clinch for f/c and palomar for every thing else.

fluoro and mono-san diego jam

braid-palomar

Improved clinch for all baits and all lines, 6 wraps.   Never had a problem with braid slipping.

Surprised to see the lack of use with the loopknot for hard lure use, especially when using a leader.  With the more seasoned fishermen and guides I've been with that's pretty much what me and them use.

Palomar for 90% of my applications.  for flipping the snell with 7 wraps and 1/4 inch of tag.