Paloma Knot

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The Paloma is a superior knot to the Improved Clinch in that it’s less likely to slip if not properly tightened.  It’s draw back is that you need to be able to feed the entire lure back through a loop in the line prior to tightening, which can be tricky with longer lures or lures with multiple hooks.

Instructions:

  • Make sure you have about 6  feet of slack line from the tip of the rod, and that the reel is not on cast so that you can use the weight of the rod to place tension in the line when needed.  The rod will serve as a 3rd hand.
  • Fold the line over so that you have about a foot of line that’s doubled.
  • Pass the fold of the line through the eye of the hook;
  • Place the index finger of the hand holding the hook over the eye of the hook after the looped line has been passed through the hook.
  • Pinch the loop that was passed through the eye between the thumb and index finger of the same hand holding the hook, leaving about nine inches of doubled-up line hanging free;
  • With your free hand, take the end of the loop and wrap it half way around the doubled-up portion of line running between the rod tip and the eye of the hook.
  • Lift up your first finger on the hand holding the hook to create a loop between the eye of the hook and the doubled-up line.  Pass the tip of the doubled line through this loop, and gently snug up the knot;
  • You should now have about nine inches of the end of the doubled-up portion of line hanging from the eye of the hook. 
  • Pass the hook through the middle of the doubled-up line and begin pulling the knot tight by pulling on the single strand end of the line.  It helps to snug up the knot securely if you wet the knot prior to tightening with your tongue;
  • You should be able to pull all the extra double-up line back through the loop.  Do not pull on the strand of line running between  the rod tip and eye of the hook until the very end, or you will pinch the knot closed making it difficult to pull the loop out of the line;
  • Once you have pulled the knot tight, first by pulling the loop out of the line and then by pulling on the line between the rod and the hook, trim off the extra line leaving at least a half inch of extra just in case the knot slips. 

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