I've known and used the improved clinch knot since I was a small kid, but there are things that I hate about it. During this week, some guys suggested a couple of new knots here on roff, so I decided to try to select a new knot.
_Candidates_
*Improved clinch knot* (with five turns)
http://www.globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/knots/
table.php
This is the old faithful
*Palomar knot*
http://www.globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/knots/
table.php#Palomar
Recommended by many
*Weaver's knot*
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/begin/knots2/
weaversknot2.html
The first of the new candidates I found about this week
*Eugene bend knot* (does this sound, hmm, suspicious to you too?)
http://raven-ws.byu.edu/chhp/rmyl/burton/RMYL223/
resources/eugene.html
The second candidate
_Strength test_
The strengths of the knots were assessed pair-wise, by tying a fly at both ends of a piece of 5X Rio Powerflex (coil bought in 2002) using two different knots, and then pulling the two flies steadily apart until one of the knots failed. I decided to run the strength test in cup style: one knot against each other, four rounds, surviver goes into the finals.
Before I started to pull, I checked that all the knots looked like they had been tightened properly. Still, in some cases a knot broke suspiciously easily, so it might not have been propertly seated after all. However, since this is the way that I would tie and inspect the knot by the stream, I did not repeat the experiment: it still represents a failure of the knot, at least to me. I will have a bit more to say about this below.
I also retied *both* knots before repeating an experiment.
*Results of the playoffs*
Improved clinch knot vs. Eugene bend knot: 2-2
The improved clinch knot and the Eugene bend knot really seem to have similar breaking strengths. At least I did not notice easy breaks caused by possibly badly seated knots in these experiments. I selected the Eugene bend knot for the finals, because, like I said above, I wanted to find a new knot.
Palomar knot vs. Weaver's knot: 4-0
The Weaver's knot did not stand a chance.
*The finals*
Palomar knot vs. Eugene bend knot: 3-1
This is where I noticed the tendency of the Eugene bend knot to be tightened somehow mysteriously. In some cases, it just broke very easily, even though I wetted all the knots carefully before tightening them.
_Other observations and summary_
*Palomar knot*
This knot has a superb breaking strength, and it also seats easily correctly every time. It has two disadvantages. First, personally I find it a pain in the ass to tie, although on the Global Flyfisher site it is said to be "easy to tie". Second, I tend to lose quite a bit of the tippet when tying this knot, that is, the tag end of the knot, which has to be cut off, is too long.
*Eugene bend knot*
Easy to tie, and seems to have a good breaking strength when seated properly. However, the way the knot broke in some experiments suggest that I failed to get the knot tightened properly in some cases, although I could not observe this when I tightened the knot. That's a big minus.
*Improved clinch knot*
Easier to tie than the Palomar knot, but not as easy as the Eugene bend knot. In many cases I've been able to get the tippet to curl when tightening the knot (which I really hate), and also in some cases the knot will not tighten but will get stuck and form a small loop. The breaking strength seems to be consistent. Global Flyfisher states that the breaking strenght is relatively low (in "some cases" around 60%, whereas the Palomar knot has a breaking strength of 90%).
*Weaver's knot*
Perhaps the easiest to tie, and seems to seat properly. Inferior breaking strength when compared against the Palomar knot.
*So what*
So, based on this very limited set of observations, was I able to select a new knot? Not really. The Weaver's knot seems to be too weak, the Eugene bend knot seems to be sensitive to the way it is tightened. The Palomar knot is difficult to tie, and shortens the tippet too much. So I guess I'm still left with the good ole improved clinch knot...
more posts...