Barrel Knot

The Barrel knot is used mainly for joing two lines together. Overlap the lines to be joined and form an overhand loop. Pass the tail end of the line through the formed loop six times. Wet the loop area and draw it down onto the other line, but only partially, DO NOT tighten it down fully yet. Repeat this process with the other loose end of line, wet this half of the knot also. Then draw both halves of the knot down gently and slide the two barrels together. Trim off the loose ends close to the body of the knot.

The barrel knot can be used to tie line to hooks, swivels and lures. This is done by passing the loose end through the eye of the hook (or whatever), bringing it back to form a loop as mentioned, the proceeding with the remaining steps for one half of the barrel knot used for joining two lines.

Sometimes it is better to tie the line to the eye of the tackle item as an 'open' loop. For example: when lure or fly fishing, the lure or fly will have more freedom of movement, if it is not clamped down too tightly. When the fish strikes the lure/fly, the loop is pulled down tight.

To re-open the loop, just use your thumbnail to pull the knot back from the lure/fly eye again, making sure the tail end is still locked tight.