US 5,971,447 · Granted 1999-10-26

Fisherman's knot tying device

A hand held knot tying device used for tying fishermen's knots, such as nail knots, which are used to tie monofilament segments to fishing line segments. The device has a straight portion that extends approximately one-half of its length at which point the other half tapers down to a diameter that is small relative to the straight portion. The grooves run the length of the straight portion but run out in the tapered portion due to the taper going below the depth of the grooves. To tie a knot with the device, the fisherman lays the fishing line in the widest groove, then, coming from the opposite direction, he lays the monofilament in one of the other grooves. Next, and having provided enough slack to do so, he wraps the monofilament back upon itself and the fly line, so as to form multiple coils, and then tunnels the free end of the monofilament back beneath the coils, using the third groove as a tunneling means. He then tightens the coils to form a knot around the straight portion. Next he slides the knot down the tapered portion. This loosens the knot, because the base around which it is wrapped becomes smaller as a direct result of going down the taper. Therefore, it is tightened again and slid further down the tapered portion until, ultimately, the knot is tightened around the extreme end of the device. Now the knot can be slid off the device, without danger of it coming undone due to overly large coils, and it is tightened for the last time. Finally, the free ends of the fishing line and monofilament are clipped short to complete the nail knot.

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