sports

"• outdoors with Lou Rodia Don't Lose Big Ones: Tie Proper Knots

It is always the big fish which get away. The little ones never break lines, strip reels, throw the hook or drop off just beyond reach of landing net or gass It is the big one which does that to fishermen The most logical reason is that the big fish strain tackle beyond its breaking point and lost fish result. In practice, however. ; carelessness, failure to keep, equipment in shape.

i and improper use of drags play a part So does failure to sharpen hooks Bad guides, rollers, and tips I which chafe line cause line ■ breakage. So does line which has been subjected ■ to excessive heat or to constant exposure to the ultra violet rays of the sun. Old line gets brittle and stiff. DRAGS WHICH stick and do not slip contribute to lost fish. Improper use of the drag also contributes to

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fish loss. Rods that are too stiff for the line test being used cause line to pop Chafing from shells, the boat bottom, wreckage, rocks and even other lines cause line lo break. But with all of these contributors to line breakage, by far and large I he biggest culprit in the loss of big fish to line breakage is bad knots. Monofilament line is strange material. As the name implies, it is a single ^ strand o f . s y n t h e t i c material. It is virtually indes true table In addition to all ot the items listed above which attack monofilament line.' add battery acid and, excessive twisting MONO LINE was developed originally as an offshoot of a search for synthetic material to replace natural fibers in manufacturing clothing A handlul of scientists on their lunch hour tried some of the new material to catch fish in Brandywine Creek near the DuPont factory at Wilmington From this early beginning. DuPont began testing and monofilament line soon found its way into the market. Today, a number of companies manufacture it. It has been a real boon for fishermen, since it all but totally eliminated use of linen line. Few anglers fishing today would remember linen line and none we know would want to go back to it. FROM THE beginning, manufacturers of monofilament preached one constant message. If you fish mono line, learn to tie good knots Knots weaken line to. some degree. Badly tied knois or improper (for monofilament, anyway) knots cause line breakage. A bow-line, one of the early knots taught to Boy Scouts and sailors, is a good knot for rope but a bad one for mono A square knot is a great knot for man\ things, but it will not work with mono Half hitches are worse. A simple overhand knot tied in mono line reduces line strength to almost zero. There are scores of sources for knot informa-

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0 tion which the companies g spend lots of tijne and i. money to produce. Some e anglers pay attention. Others do not. And they pay s the price They lose fish. usually the big ones. - ONE MOHT we watched a "veteran" fisherman lose t at least a dozen big bluefish 1 to bad knots on a chumI ming trip. After a while, we 9 offered to help and got a ? sound "mind your bus- -• iness" rejection. A while later, however, the rejection turned to a re- > quest for help when the "veteran' realized that t others were catching fish i, while he was losing rigs. fish and his patience. A ; short lesson in tying an im- ' i proved clinch knot paid off for him and he started to > catch fish with the rest of i us. i He later admitted that i these big blues were the • biggest fish he had ever i tangled with and his knots had always held before. But. he had never caught fish which really tested his tackle and his sloppy knot tying could work for him on i small fish. THERE ARE many stories such as the above. It demonstrates some basic i rules in human behavior. One is that when one knows everything about something. he stops learning. I Our fishing acquaintance in the above story had been a navy veteran with 30 years of service prior to retiring. He had probably spliced rope big enough to tie up an aircraft carrier but he never learned good knots with monofilament . When he needed to know, he didn't want to admit his f lack of knowledge and tried to bluster his way through It was only when he swallowed his pride and admitted he could really learn from someone else, that he allowed someone to show him a basic fishing knot WE OFTEN SEE pride turn to stupidity when people are too sure of them selves to ask even a simple question In our many years of dealing"*1 with fishermen, we have tried to offer advance only to have an all-knowing angler point out to us very quickly that he already "knew' what we were offering to tell him The smart alecs who were in the navy before we were born invariably were the ones we had to rescue from a sand bar or mud flat after their boat ran aground at low tide August marked 32 years of chasing fish up and down this coast and a host of other places for this angler The knowledge which is out there in fishing is endless. We have fished with a lot of good fishermen We know a lot more AFTER A half-century of angling in fresh and salt water we can say with great authority that we know only one or two people we would consider experts. We know a scad of people who think they are and we'd be the last to argue with them The better fishermen we know have lots of knowledge But they have something going for them that the self-styled experts do not have They listen intently to any and all fishing conversations They read incessantly They ask a

million questions. They readily admit that they have a lot to learn. And because they do admit to a shortfall in the information department, they constantly learn and in turn, constantly get to be even better anglers as a result A N D . THE BEST fishermen we know all learned to tic good knots. There are four basic knots which all anglers should learn. The most important is the improved clinch knot This knot ties something — a lure, a snap, or a swivel — to the end of the line. The second knot is used to tie two pices of monofilament together. This knot is called the blood knot The third basic knot which is important is the dropper loop. The fourth knot is some type of an end loop There are several and any one will do. These four knots, learned well, can carry most fishermen through 95 per cent of all of the fishing situations they will meet anywhere in the world. There are lots of other knots. Most have been developed in the search for the ultimate knot which tests at 100 per cent. All are good knots and if you are comfortable with them, use the ones you like instead of the above four. But be sure the knots you do tie are designed for mono line. ONE THING to remember If you get someone to teach you to tie knots.

' enver try to learn by facing i the teacher. Always learn knots by looking over the teacher's shoulder Otherwise you will learn the knots backward. I Why are knots important right now? There are some big fish around. Several big stripers have been hooked (and lost) and a few have I been caught. Some bigger blues have moved into Delaware Bay and inlo the I surf. These fish will test your | tackle. Drags should work Line should be in good shape. And. the knots you tie may save a big fish for you. Or it mav cost vou one REPORTS: C a p t Charles Selby of the Rain bow is sailing Saturdays through November at 7:30 a.m. from Wildwood Yacht Basin. He told us of a good catch of tautog at Cold Spring Jetty. John Willie of Wildwood and a buddy boated 97 tautog up to seven pounds. They were fishing from an outboard boat. Fred Maugeri of Philadelphia was fishing with his brother. Ben. in Ben's outboard, the Ben Blue. They were fishing for tautog at Cold Spring Jetty. Fred caught a 12-pound fish on crab bait. .. Robert Jackson of Court House caught a 12-Ib. bluefish from the surf on spinning gear. ...Ed Davis of North Wildwood caught a sevenpound blackfish from the surf at First Avenue on mullet bait. . Donald Kohn of Schwenksville. Pa.. (Page 35 Please)

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