There is a near-endless variety of fishing knots available and more are being created all the time by inventive anglers who want to increase their line strength. However, if you are out on the water, you likely do not want to spend your time with complex twisting and swirling lines trying to add a few extra ounces of strength. According to "Field and Stream" magazine, the strongest single-line knot you can tie is the six-turn San Diego jam.
Tying the Knot
To tie the San Diego jam knot, feed the open end of the line, also called the tag end, through the eye of the hook or tackle you will be using and double it back 10 inches. Wrap the tag end around the doubled line six times before feeding the tag end through the loop just above the hook's eye. Pull the tag end back toward the point where the line first wrapped around itself. Thread the tag end through the top loop, wet it with saliva and pull on the tag end so the spirals butt tightly against the hook eye.
Strength Test
According to "Field and Stream" magazine, the San Diego jam knot holds up to 94 percent of its strength. This means if you are using a 10-pound test line, the knot will preserve up to 9.4 pounds of the line strength. Comparatively, common fishing knots like the Palomar and improved clinch only maintain around 85 to 90 percent of the line strength.
Why it Works
Because the San Diego jam knot wraps around both the tag end and standing line after you make the first crossover, it greatly increases the cushioning of the line on itself when it receives a hard tug from a fish. This simple variation over the improved clinch knot, which only wraps around the standing line, makes it nearly 10 percent stronger without becoming excessively complicated.
Weakening Factors
Like any fishing knot, the San Diego jam knot does have weaknesses. The Recreational Boating and Fishing Foundation notes that you must always wet the line before cinching any knot or the friction can reduce the knot strength. Additionally, you must ensure that the spirals in the San Diego jam knot do not slide on top of each other when you are cinching it, as this will create a concentrated amount of tension in one area of the knot.
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