Tying Spade End Hooks by Hand

[S-Kippy]

I tie all my own because [despite several attempts] I have never been able to work out how to use any sort of hook tier. It helps that the first knot I ever learned to tie was the whipping knot that you use for a spade end....Domhof I think.

I rarely go as small as a 20 nowadays.I can still do them.

---------- Post added at 16:56 ---------- Previous post was at 16:55 ----------

Can't work a whip finish tool out either when I'm fly tying.Finish those with a whipping knot too.

 

[slime monster]

I have always tied mine by hand and Brian you are not the only one who can't get on with hook tiers , Ivan Marks reckoned he only needed one and a half inches of line to tie a spade ....that I would like to have seen!

 

[Cakey]

has any one tried tying a spade with a hair loop and one maggot ?

 

[cg74]

Mr Corker, size 26 (should that be 26), up your neck of the woods you got a thriving population of stickle backs?

Spade end hooks, always have tied with a matchman hook tier and have never experienced damage to the line (yet).
Bear in mind if I'm using spade end hooks, normally its for finesse so it's often with low diameter line, Power Reflo being my first choice.

I guess the thing is, I ain't a tight northerner, so not to scared at cutting off an inch or two off as a tag end.

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

I use a hook tier even with eyed hooks, they are easy to use. Can still tie spade ends by hand if I need to.

Never had a problem with a hook tier, and no line damage either.

Cakey,

You can have a hair rig with a spade end.

 

[Cakey]

thats why I asked if anyone had tried :wh

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

Don't try with a knotless knot...........

 

[J K]

I've always used a Drennan hook tyer.

Recently I got shown a simple way of tying spade ends by hand which I'll try and explain:

Cut a length of line slightly longer than you need for the hook length. Form this length into a circle with the two ends overlapping and hold in the right hand. Hold the hook in the left fore finger and thumb with the shank pointing to the right and transfer the circled line to the left hand so that the tag end pointing to the right is longer on the shank than the other one. With the right hand wrap the right hand side of the circled line (ie. the one forming the left tag end) round the shank of the hook ensuring that both pieces of line are wrapped for as many turns you require. When this is done keeping the wrapped line trapped between the fore finger and thumb of the left hand gently pull the longer right hand tag end to tighten the knot. Don't forget the moisten the knot before tightening. Trim off the tag end on the hook.

Hope that is easy to understand. I was told to practice with a piece of string and a pencil to get it right.

I have always tied mine by hand and Brian you are not the only one who can't get on with hook tiers , Ivan Marks reckoned he only needed one and a half inches of line to tie a spade ....that I would like to have seen!

Using something like this method I would imagine it is possible.

 

[Morespiders]

I do 6 overhand knots one on top ofthe other,make sure the line comes off the front of the spade. Ive had tench to 27lb-12oz and perch to 15lb-6oz, or near enough.

JK, i tried it your way, after 20 minutes upside down my head hurt, the wife had to hold my legs to steady me, is there any way i can do it just sat down normally?

 

[J K]

JK, i tried it your way, after 20 minutes upside down my head hurt, the wife had to hold my legs to steady me, is there any way i can do it just sat down normally?

At your age now you should be sat down to do it :wh:wh

 

[ravey]

Sounds like you use the same as me, JK. I believe it's called a snell knot, and you need two ends of the line to tie it. There are some video clips on the WWW showing Roy Marlow tying this knot; may be worth a google which may help to demonstrate rather than explain it with words.

I read somewhere that Ivan Marks put very few turns on his spade end knots - perhaps as well if he said that tying up could be done with 1.5 inches! Can't imagine it would be possible without using the snell.

I only learned how to tie spades 'properly' relatively recently, and stumbled on it by happy accident. My mate used to get a bloke from Nottingham to tie the 'fiddly' ones - 24s and 26s to .06 and .08, and he gave me some. I 'tested' some of them, and found that they never broke at the knot. The bloke was called Pete Newbold, and I got him to show how he tied them up. After many years of using the Matchman hooktyer, I am now a convert. It is much easier than the Domhof, as you do not need to tension the line, or thread anything through any loops. Another 'plus' is that you don't risk having a curly section of line near thge hook (like you can get when using a hooktyer) because you draw the whole hooklength through the knot as you tighten up. Another trick to make starting off easier is to double the end of the line over and twizzle it between finger and thumb (the end that is held against the hook before the whipping takes place). This creates a stiffer end (ooer!) which makes putting on the first couple of turns much easier. I remember watching Pete tie on a hook in less than 10 seconds.

Sorry if I've just confused everyone, but it is something that really needs to be seen rather than read.

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

hahahaha.................

 

[ED (The ORIGINAL and REAL one)]

I'm surprised at the number of people that can't tie a spade end knot .....

It was one of the first things I learnt when I first started fishing 50 odd years ago ......and I can still tie my own spade end knots when needed, I've never used a hook tier

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

Same for me, it was one of the first knots I learnt, just use a hook tier as it's quicker.

Does anyone else use a hook tier for eyed hooks, the knot strength is very good.

 

[Graham Whatmore]

This is Roy Marlows snell knot demo, so easy for those with nimble fingers. Roy is a man with his own ideas about fishing in general, sometimes contentious but a man with loads of experience and anyone following his advice won't go far wrong.

 

[Cakey]

I love Roy and was blown away by one of his demos at the NEC a few years ago

 

[J K]

Thanks to Ravey and Graham I now know what the knot is.

 

[tigger]

I tie my own and have good results with them (drennan super spades) whilst trotting for barbel and chub (size 14's and 12's). I also use the kamasan animals in 16's and 14'sfor a lot of my trotting. The kamasans are slightly larger than the super spades and surprisingly the shinny look of them doesn't seem to put the fish off at all.

 

[Lark]

I've been using a 'Matchman' tyer for spades and eyed hooks for donkey's years. After the first few years I realised I'd been whipping the knot arse-about-face. I'd never had a problem with it or had a failure at the knot, so I've never changed the way I tied them.
I did learn from a good mate very early on how to avoid the line 'riffling' just above the hook when we started using .06mm and .07mm 'Tectan' back in the day. Since then I've always had perfectly tied spade-ends, even If I say so myself.... Apart from the whipping being arse-about-face, of course.

 

[Ray Daywalker Clarke]

I tie my own and have good results with them (drennan super spades) whilst trotting for barbel and chub (size 14's and 12's). I also use the kamasan animals in 16's and 14'sfor a lot of my trotting. The kamasans are slightly larger than the super spades and surprisingly the shinny look of them doesn't seem to put the fish off at all.

Good hooks, but Drennen and Kamasan are the same company, as is ESP, just in case people didn't know.