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The other day I was out fishing with my buddy Rob Parkins when things took a sudden turn for the worse.

I was making a cast and the line at my feet caught on something sharp. I shot the line with so much power that my eight weight line was cut in two. We were a long way from the car and a spare setup. It looked like my fishing was going to be cut short.

I got the head back. About sixty or seventy feet had been cut off. It was enough line that I could make a short shot but shots were scarce that day and I hated the idea of being limited. I tried tying the line with a blood knot but it was impossible to get through the guides. Rob came up with a brilliant solution.

He suggested that I overlap the cut ends by a couple of inches, then secure them with a series of nail knots tied around the line with tippet material. I tied three nail knots to secure the line and trimmed all of the ends close. To my surprise, it worked pretty well. It took a couple of extra false casts to get the mended section through the guides (not ideal) but it was totally doable. It got me through the day at least.

When I got home I started wondering how strong the field repair actually was. I got out a spring scale and put it to the test. It held about nineteen pounds before it gave. Plenty of pressure to put on most fish. It’s not my first choice for a day on the water but in a pinch, it’ll get you through. If you carry a little UV Knotsence in your kit, a dab at each end will make it a lot smoother to cast.

Thanks for the great idea Rob!

If you don’t know how to tie a nail knot here’s a video.



Louis Cahill

Gink & Gasoline

hookups@ginkandgasoline.com