Brett Hite Knot Tip @ ISE SAC 2015

Caudawg · Post by **Caudawg** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 8:09 am

Great tip, Brett! I have never heard of that knot but it looks very fast and easy!

hswarts · Post by **hswarts** » Sun Jan 11, 2015 9:38 am

I now use this knot and its not only easy, its effective. Thanks Brett for the clear illustration of how to tie this knot.

H. Swarts

kopper_bass · Post by **kopper_bass** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 10:02 am

Again, with all due respect to the Pro Anglers and WesternBass, but Brett is NOT tieing the san diego jam knot and is giving out wrong and mis-information.

What Brett is attempting to tie is actually a double san diego jam knot, but what he literally tied was nothing more than a double line cinch knot. This is also known to a lot of us as the fisherman's knot, and its also known to be a very poor knot that is weak and easily un-ties itself under stress. We all know this because there is the much improved cinch knot that helps fix these problems. So, i would strongly recommend you to NOT use this knot he has demonstrated.

To properly tie a san diego jam knot, you need to go thru the bottom loop and then back up thru the top loop. see below for an image of a proper double line san diego.

We demonstrated this knot and tested it with many others for their strengths and weaknesses at the Berkley booth at the ISE show this week. Maybe Brett should have come by our booth and we would have helped him too.

Berkley will be demonstrating knots at your local tackle stores all this spring (Coyote Bait, Fisherman's, Guns & Fishing, Bass Pro, etc). So, if you want to learn from the experts, ask your local store when the Berkley Team is coming to your location.

Good Luck,

Kopper_Bass
Berkley knot guru

Caudawg · Post by **Caudawg** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 10:17 am

OK, Joe...so, how does a properly tied (double?)San Diego Jam Knot rank for knot strength on fluorocarbon lines?

kopper_bass · Post by **kopper_bass** » Tue Jan 13, 2015 9:22 pm

John,
Thanks for asking.
Let me start by saying there are 2 distinct differences in knot testing strength vs. practicality use in the field. Any knot, when tied perfectly, can be a strong contender in knot wars, but what we all are really interested in is whether that knot is strong in practical use while fishing.

The double san diego knot has proven many times in knot wars to be a very, very, strong knot, but in practical uses for bass fishing it loses, because of 2 key things:

1 - the double san diego was designed and is used mainly in saltwater fishing, which is where this knot originated from. In that application you are using much heavier line; 40+ lbs and up. with this heavier line you can easily see and control all those wraps and ensure a good, tight fit. that's what it was meant to do and it works well when executed properly. With lines in the 4 - 20lb range, the double san diego is just too messy and will typically bind up and get twisted within itself. when it does that, it is not very strong at all.

2 - consistency. as mentioned above, the double san diego just doesn't work well consistently with the small diameter lines we use in bass fishing. that is a result with guys not tying the knot correctly and the fact that it easily gets binded up and thus doesn't add strength.

with that said, for consistency and overall knot strength in bass fishing the single san diego jam knot is a much better choice. it routinely out performs the double in the small diameter testing we have done and typically exceeds 100% of line strength. The single san diego knot has performed equal to or better in all line weights, more than 70% of the time over a double san diego. Every now and then we will get a really good double SD, but the single SD is consistently there.

This holds true for mono as well as flouro; there is no loss in strength with either line type. For braid either the single or double works really well and reach more than 100% line strength.

hope that helps.

Kopper_bass