Not As Smart As A Bonobo From The Congo
Fish Hook In Hand: But At Least I Was Pretty
Back when Ol’ Man Papadopoulos tried to teach me how to tie fishing knots, I was like, “Sure . . . I already know I’m not gonna be the next knot-tying prodigy.” I have my strengths and weaknesses, but already had proven I had no patience for macrame or even crocheting. But he was so excited to have a willing student he just laughed at my doubts.
His lessons included old Greek sailor stories. Some of them seemed quite scary, others quite unbelievable. Then he started talking about how Bonobo could tie knots better than any other Greek fisherman. In his Greek-English which was often hard to follow, this Bonobo had a buddy and the two of them made a fortune thanks to Bonobo’s knot-tying skills.
It took me several lessons that always included this Bonobo dude, to understand that Apostolos Papadopoulos and the other sailors thought it was a grand prank when onshore for him to tie the shoelaces of unsuspecting tourists. What? Why would they make bets on that?
After failure after failure and more redos in trying my hand at making a Palomar knot, I finally made one successfully. He explained it was easy and needed to be tied quickly, so you could get your line in the water fast, securely and strong. If this Bonobo could do it, so could I.
Clapping at my final attempt, Apostolos teased, “You aren’t as fast as Bonobo, but you are at least preee-t! His fur was black, his face and bottom pink, but his arms were long, he too was oogly.”
It’s at that moment I realized that he has been talking all along about some kind of monkey or ape!
To make matters worse, he wanted me to do it again just to prove I really understood it. He was timing me on his pocket watch. I took about a foot of line into the loop, passed it through the eye of the fishing hook. I was a tad distracted about this Bonobo revelation.
As I was tying the very loose overhand knot, using a double loop and doubled section of the line — I drew blood. Lots of blood! Of course, I had just impaled the palm of my hand on that barbed demon!
That day, there was no way I was going to be able to pass the remaining loop overhand and slide it above the eye of the hook. There would be no spitting on the knot to lessen the friction or any other further step required to finish the task. With my pride wrapped in a paper napkin, he wrapped twine around the make-shift bandage. I said goodnight early.
The walk of shame down those forty steps to the sidewalk, the inevitable greeting by my drunken MIL who would be sitting on the porch and nosey about my paper napkin blood stained bandage wrapped in twine . . . the thought of Ol’ Man Papadopoulos congratulating me for being nearly as smart of a dwarf chimpanzee . . . it was all a bit much!
Back then there was no internet. There I was, dumb enough to think Bonobo was just some Greek kid’s name. After I went home I looked up the name in the dictionary just to make sure.
Talk about feeling dumb! I was too embarrassed to ever admit that old Greek that I had no clue about these endangered primates.
The next evening though we were back at it despite all of my protests and frustrations, he was determined that I was going to learn to tie fishing knots, as a payment for all my kindness in bringing his meals up those steps.
“To my credit I never again went to a fishing knot tying lesson again without some band-aids tucked in my bell-bottom jean pockets.”
For those of you who are into fishing, given the price of fishing lures (especially when it comes to fly fishing), you might find learning to tie knots very worthwhile. These are my top fishing and boating knots:
While there are hundreds of different kinds of fishing and boating knots, the average angler only needs to be able to master a handful.
Using simple, effective knots, will enhance your catches, if your knot tying is species habit specific.
3 Examples of useful common knots would be to make use of:
- Loop knots for all hook and lure attachments.
- Knots specific for tying leaders to line.
- Knots specific for double-line needs.
The following are other essential fishing and boating knots that make my list for “Knot Tying” know-how:
- Albright Special
- Anchor Bend
- Bimini Twist
- Blood Knot
- Half Blood Knot
- Jansik Special
- Mooring Hitch
- Ossel Hitch
- Ossel Knot
- Palomar Knot
- Spade End Knot
- Turle Knot
7 Tips Every Fish Hook Tying Wannbe Needs To Know
1. Practice! Practice some more! Practice makes perfect! 2. For safety reasons use a fishing hook (modified by taking the point off). 3. Use a fair length of fishing line and once you’ve done it above a dozen times without extreme effort consider yourself expert. 4. Make sure the tag end is the end used to tie your knot. (Hint: The other end is needed to connect to the line coming from your fishing reel). 5. Do the “guy” thing. Spit goes a long way in lubricating your knots. 6. Pull your knots tight to prevent damage to the line as it is pulled even tighter by the fish. 7. Trim loose ends as tightly and close as possible.
“Learning to tie a Palomar knot for me was like me learning to ride a bike. It took time and involved a lot of band-aids. I have always been the least coordinated nerdy girl you’d ever meet. But by trial and error, I’ve learned even if you fall off a few times, keep getting up! Eventually you’ll get the hang of it. Just be careful not to impale yourself on any hooks or tangled up in spoke knots in the process.” — Jerilee Wei © 2023
If you want to know more about Ol’ Man Papadopolus and his knot tying life lessons be sure to partake: