Fishing Knots All Kids Need To Know - Part 1 of 6

Knot tying is one of the great skills every person, not just every kid should know!  In 4-H, knot tying would not be considered a life skill, because we learn that true life skills, are skills that carry over in to multiple areas of our life.  But tying  represents a greater ability to utilize raw materials (such as rope or twine) to fashion it together to perform a useful service (hold something together).  So instead of knot tying being the life skill, it is actually a sub-skill of being self-sufficient or self-relient.  Got it?

I think my first knot was learning to tie my shoes when I was just a wee lad.  Later on in life I realized it was a skill that set me apart from my buddies when it came to making neat things such as slingshots, tree swings and bridges to cross the creek without getting my shoes wet.  Two of the best books out there on knot tying include The Ashley Book of Knots, by Clifford W. Ashley, 1944, ISBN-10: 0385040253, and the Little Red Knot Book, by Harry Nilsson, 1995, ISBN-10: 0969873409.  As far as I'm concerned a person needs no other knot books than these two, to get 99 percent of all things accomplished with rope string or twine.  With the permission of Mr. Nilsson, I have obtained the right to reprint some of his images for this non-profit use of educating the public.  I won't be featuring all of his knots in this series, but just a few to get the average angler started.  Go get your self some 1/8 inch densely woven cord and try your hand at some of them.