The loop knot

Every other hook knot holds the line rigidly. The loop knot does the opposite: it leaves a free ring between the knot and the eye, and the lure moves inside it on its own.

Why it is needed

A light lure tied rigidly loses part of its action: the line passes on every movement of the rod and damps the lure’s own wobble. In a loop the lure hangs free and works the way its maker intended.

It shows most on small plugs, on flies and on light jigs — that is, where the built-in action is weak and any interference eats it.

In current the loop adds one more thing: the lure turns with the flow by itself instead of hanging at the angle the knot fixed it at.

How it is tied

The simplest way is a knot you already know: the uni, tied but not drawn up to the eye. Leave a few millimetres and you have a loop.

There are dedicated versions in which a simple overhand knot is made further up the line before the wraps, and that overhand holds the size of the loop, keeping it from sliding closed as you tighten.

The main thing while tightening is to hold the loop with a finger so it does not travel to the eye. The knot seats abruptly, and without holding it the loop disappears at exactly that moment; that is the commonest failure with it.

The size of the loop

A few millimetres is the working guide. A small loop gives the lure freedom and is barely visible in the water; a large one catches the leader more easily and tangles on the cast.

Size is matched to the lure: the bigger and heavier the plug, the more travel it needs, and the more obvious the difference between a rigid knot and a loop.

It closes up under load

This is the main thing to know about it. The loop is not permanent: after a serious fish or a snag it draws up to the eye and stops being a loop.

So you look at it after every decent bite and retie it, rather than waiting until the lure starts hanging dead on the line.

Who does not need it

Fishing a heavy spoon, jigging with an active retrieve, bottom tackle with bait — there the action is either given by the hand or absent altogether, and a free ring adds nothing.

Nor is it needed when a snap already sits between the lure and the line: the snap gives the same freedom, and a loop on top of it is a redundant link.

Not to be confused with a joining loop

The word «loop» means two different things in fishing. Here it is the loop at the end that the lure hangs in. A loop-to-loop connection between two lines is a different task, and it lives in the line-to-line knots section.