Essential knots

Correctly-tied knots will keep weak points to a minimum to ensure you don’t lose hooked fish

Tucked half- blood knot

1 Thread the line through the eye of the swivel or hook

2 Make five to seven turns around the mainline

3 Take the tag back to the turn nearest to the eye

4 Pass tag through the loop, moisten and pull tight

Twizzled loop

1 First create the length of the loop that you require

2 With the two lengths of line in between finger and thumb, twist the line clockwise with the right hand and anti-clockwise with the left

3 When you have around six inches of doubled line, tie it off with a normal overhand knot and trim off the excess

Use to create a boom & prevent tangles

Knotless knot

1 Tie a bait band or loop for your hair rig at one end of the line. The knot shown above is best for fishing with a pellet band

2 Pass the opposite end of the line through the back of the hook’s eye and out of the front. A small piece of rig tubing can go on the shank to keep the hair straight

3 Take the loose end and make several wraps around the hook shank. WInd the end over the shank and poke it through the eye

4 While holding the loop end in its desired position, pull the free end tight while working the wraps up to the eye of the hook through the back of the eye