Getting into bass fishing and I'm not sure what line and especially knot I should use. I'm currently using 10 lb copolymer line. I thought it was straight fluoro but then I got home and read the box lol. The knot I'm using is just a simple overhand knot. 

Can I get some suggestions for what to use please? I lost a good fish yesterday which would've been my second bass if it wasn't for my terrible knot tying. Thank you!

A Uni knot is a useful knot, and it's strong:

http://www.animatedknots.com/duncan/index.php?Categ=fishing&LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint

A Palomar is another:

http://www.animatedknots.com/palomar/index.php?Categ=fishing&LogoImage=LogoGrog.png&Website=www.animatedknots.com#ScrollPoint

Avery- first of all, welcome to bass fishing - you have chosen wisely!

Now on to your question, I assume you are using spinning gear. I like braid for spinning gear, it has no memory and casts like a dream. 20# Power Pro. It will take some getting use to, but the benifits outweight the negatives IMO.

With braid comes awesome knot strength and I use a Polamar knot. It's probably the easiest knot to learn and has great breaking strength. Overhand knots are not going to work (as you found out). 

I would not use straight Flourocarbon with spinning gear, it's to stiff (although some do). If you feel like you need to use flouro for abrasion resistance/invisibility, then you can tie on a flouro leader. Then you would need to learn how to tie another knot that joins the two line together (Alberto knot). But that may be down the road a bit. 

When I got into fishing, I just had to sit at a table with some spare line and put time into practicing knot tying. You will feel awkward at first, but with practice you learn where to put your fingers and you'll become much better at it in no time. Google and youtube are your friends.

 

 

#6 Yo-Zuri Hybrid line tied with a Duncan Knot

 

What lure/bait are you using?

I always go with a San Diego Jam knot with fluoro line.

I use either the uni or improved clinch for mono/fluoro/copoly. 

I really like the trilene knot, easy to tie, very strong,,,, 

uni

For braid I like the Palomar.

For mono, copoly, flouro, I like the San Diego jam.

Here is a great site with animated knots for you: http://www.animatedknots.com/indexfishing.php#ScrollPoint

Note that knots that may be effective on one type of line may not be good for another. For example, an improved clinch knot is great for mono but not so much for slick coated lines like braid. 

12 hours ago, swandog said:

Avery- first of all, welcome to bass fishing - you have chosen wisely!

Now on to your question, I assume you are using spinning gear. I like braid for spinning gear, it has no memory and casts like a dream. 20# Power Pro. It will take some getting use to, but the benifits outweight the negatives IMO.

With braid comes awesome knot strength and I use a Polamar knot. It's probably the easiest knot to learn and has great breaking strength. Overhand knots are not going to work (as you found out). 

I would not use straight Flourocarbon with spinning gear, it's to stiff (although some do). If you feel like you need to use flouro for abrasion resistance/invisibility, then you can tie on a flouro leader. Then you would need to learn how to tie another knot that joins the two line together (Alberto knot). But that may be down the road a bit. 

When I got into fishing, I just had to sit at a table with some spare line and put time into practicing knot tying. You will feel awkward at first, but with practice you learn where to put your fingers and you'll become much better at it in no time. Google and youtube are your friends.

 

 

I actually am using a baitcaster more than anything, but I have a spinning rod. I will take the advice on the spinning gear, but what do you suggest for the casting setup?

Welcome to the forum!  Now, prepare to get 100 different answers...

- To tie line to the spool, an arbor knot is simple and does the trick well.  

- To tie to lures/bait, Trilene knot, improved clinch, uni, Palomar, several loop knots and San Diego Jam all work well and have their applications. What's more important, is learning one or two that you can tie well/quickly on the water, and checking the knot and the line directly above it for damage regularly, and especially after snags/fish.  For most applications, I use either a Trilene knot or Palomar because they're strong and very fast to tie on the water.

- If you plan on fishing braid, you're going to want a leader most of the time.  Uni to Uni (double Uni), Alberto, blood knot, and a handful of others are built for this purpose and do it well.  It can get trickier when you're tying lines of much different diameters, but since most sensible leaders for bass fishing are going to have similar diameters to the braid main line, Uni to Uni and Alberto are the most common because they can be tied fast.   

@swandog is spot on about practicing your knots. It's worth it spend the time at home to not lose fish on the water.  

Hi, Avery...

I've been fishing longer than you, but knots are definitely among the weakest part of my fishing kung-foo.

You mentioned that you're just tying an overhand knot... For that reason, I'd suggest the Palomar knot that's been mentioned above.  It's what I use because, like you, I know the overhand knot and the Palomar uses that same 'shape' as the foundation of the knot (just with a doubled line instead of a single strand).

Pretty much the only knot I use... I fish with mono on all my current setups (4lb, 8lb, and 12lb test).

Learning more knots is on the winter to-do list.

Lots of good answers. Here are my choices;

Berkeley big game monofilament 

Power pro braid

Uni knot for connecting lures

Uni to uni knot for leader connections

Utube!!!! Some really great vids on tieing knots just search for the knot you want to use. That easy.

Whatever knot you use, lube it with spit as you tighten it, and make sure you really do tighten it down .  

As you can see in this thread, guys use all kinds of knots. I am not convinced that it makes any difference as long as the knot is properly tied, but "If it ain't perfect, it ain't good enough!"