In fly fishing, tying good and strong fishing knots is one of the most important techniques that all anglers should know. We all know some good fishing knots helping us to tie our favourite fly to the tippet leader, fishing knots like the Turle, Palomar and Clinch knots are some of the most known to anglers.
In this article, I will teach you how to tie a knot widely used in the late ’70s. This is a very good knot used by the Miramichi's anglers in New Brunswick. I call it the Miramichi knot and it is similar to the Turle Knot but a lot stronger. It is designed to create a straight pull on any salmon up eyed hook but can be used on down eyed hooks too.
Personally, I've found that the Miramichi knot gives a straight hitch to the fly making it easier to hook a salmon. This knot was explained to me by the legendary George Rutledge, owner of the George's Fly shop for more than 25 years and situated on the small road that takes you to the Quarryville Pool.
At the last Fly fishing Forum in Granby Québec, a specialist in Fly tying and fishing knots, Jean-Guy Côté from UNI Product, wanted to show me a new fishing knot he created to tie the fly into a tippet leader. After his demonstration, I discovered that his new knot was essentially the Miramichi Knot but tied the opposite way. According to Jean-Guy, because of his three small loops, this fishing knot won’t cause any friction on the leader because the major loop is tied over the first two loops.
To tie the Miramichi Knot, pass the leader through the eye of the hook ( up on up eyed hooks) and allow the fly to slide out of the way. Hold the leader with both hands ( left on the fly side) and make a big loop to the left.
The next step is to make three smaller loops to the left behind the big loop and hold all four loops together between your left thumb and forefinger.
Pass the loose end of the leader through the four loops by the front. Hold both ends of the leader with your left hand and pull the big loop with your right hand until the knot is tight.
Now bring the fly in the loop, drawing the knot snug on the upper side of the hook. Be careful to avoid catching the hackles of the fly. Pull the fly tightly into position between the fly head and hook eye. Trim the end of the leader.
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