Thursday 12 April 2012

Spit on the 4-turn half-blood knot before tying

They say Jesus was a fisher of men.
Good Friday religious observances come in rainbow variety. Here your intrepid reporter has gained foot-hold in Reid's Reserve out past Caves Beach, where the Swansea Channel heralds the entry into Lake Macquarie.

The chat is of lures and lines, of swivels and sinkers, of wire tracers and bait jigs. The quarry perhaps flathead or flounder, bream or whiting, luderick or tailor, jewfish or kingfish. The mood a focussed contentment.

So, to the post title. You need to spit on the 4-turn half-blood knot before tying. Or any knot really. Wet it with saliva before pulling it tight. Tying a dry knot can halve its breaking strain. You need to know this.

10 comments:

Jim said...

Great catch. :)

PerthDailyPhoto said...

Jim beat me to it haha! Beautiful B&W silhouette Julie, love that you captured the hook. line and sinker!! Good to know about the spitting on the knot before tying thing, but believe me it's never going to happen.. by me that is.

hamilton said...

spitting does have its place.
nice catch.

Kay L. Davies said...

I can't think how many times my dad had to tie knots for me. I've always been a fumblefingers. He never did manage to make a real fisherman out of me.
Wonderful photo. I love it.
K

Carole M. said...

oh well done Julie; excellent post. Love your commentary to match this brilliant photograph

Stafford Ray said...

I never knew that about blood knots. My younger son, just gone with his family after a two day stay always puts the knot in his mouth, but he never said why!
Swansea Channel is a special place for me. I first saw it in 1943, when we crossed the Swansea Bridge, on the way to Toronto for a camping holiday with my dear uncle Owen in his charcoal powered 1926 Chalmers.
Being a country boy, I had never seen water that colour, a clear green of blue water over yellow sand.
I still see it with the same eyes. It has changed little, except for the removal of the old coal loading ramp on its northdern shore. Driving a loaded coal truck up that apparently rickety wooden slope backwards must have been quite a feat.

Lachezar said...

I didn't know about the spitting either... but nevertheless this is a beautiful photograph.
At that time I was on Auckland's West Coast in line of sight at a just about 2125km..
So Cheers from the other side of the ditch!

Joe said...

Brilliant post.Julie. Fishing has a lingo all on its own.

Joan Elizabeth said...

I dunno a thing about fishing. Funny isn't it ... if you aren't shown some things as a kid you rarely go on to learn them. I guess that could be said religious faith too.

Alan said...

Good advice, duly noted and stored away for future reference. As for the photo, it's right up my street. Contre jour, high contrast, mono... lovely job.