The Bimini twist is a doubled-line twist that, tied correctly, is guaranteed to be stronger than your single line, so it always breaks in the single strand and never at the loop. It is the crucial saltwater knot for doubling your line, building IGFA-legal leaders, and joining light line to heavier line. In this How 2 Tuesday I show you the easy step-by-step way to tie a 30-turn Bimini and prove it on the machine.
Listen now: press play in the player above and follow along.
The Bimini twist is really a twist, not much of a knot, and when you tie it correctly the doubled loop is always stronger than the single line. In my test the knot broke down in the single strand while the loop stayed completely intact, which is exactly what you want. Because the break happens in the single line rather than at the connection, the doubled section is effectively stronger than the line itself, regardless of the pound test you are using.
The Bimini twist is a crucial saltwater knot because it lets you double your line over. If I want to fish 12 pound test for sailfish, I want as little 12 pound line in the water as possible, so I keep a spool of 20 pound and use the Bimini to create a doubled section. Under IGFA rules you can run 15 inches of class tippet and a 12 inch shock tippet for fish like tarpon, or even wire for toothy fish, then build heavier line back to the reel. Any time you want a leader joined to heavier line, the Bimini twist is the foundation.
Double your line over leaving plenty to work with, hold the line with your left hand, put two right fingers in the loop and turn it 30 times while pinching tight. Place the loop over a reel handle so you can pull on it, put the tag end in your mouth, and ease tension so the line rolls back over all those twists to the last one. Trap it with your index finger, make a half hitch around one leg, then the other, then two or three half hitches around both legs, finish with a three turn half hitch, pull tight, and trim.
Because the doubled twist is stronger than a single strand, the weakest point in the system is the single line above or below the knot, so that is where it gives way. With a loop knot like a perfection loop or a double surgeon's loop, you actually create a weak point at the loop that can be weaker than the single line. The Bimini avoids that, which is why a correctly tied Bimini loop is always stronger than the single line.
I tied this one with 30 strands, meaning 30 turns in the loop before rolling the line back over the twists. Thirty is a solid, reliable number for a strong Bimini. The key is keeping the line pinched tight with your left hand while you turn, then easing tension carefully so the twists roll back evenly and the knot seats correctly. Done right, that twist is what makes the doubled line stronger than the single strand.
Honestly it is one of the easiest knots we tie, even though it does not look easy when you watch me do it. If you go step by step, turn it 30 times, use a reel handle to hold tension, put the tag in your mouth and roll the line back, then finish with the half hitches, it comes together every time. I promise it is an easy knot once you break it into those steps, and you can follow along in the video.
The Bimini twist lets me double my line over, which matters any time I want as little light line in the water as possible, like fishing 12 pound for sailfish off a 20 pound spool. It is also the base for IGFA-legal leader systems with class and shock tippet. I explain all the reasons I rely on it in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Here is the step-by-step I promise is easier than it looks. I walk through each move in the episode.
I unpack each step in the episode. Press play in the player above.
When I tested this Bimini with 30 strands, it broke down in the single line while the loop stayed completely intact, exactly what you want. A loop knot like a perfection loop can create a weak point at the loop, but the Bimini twist makes the doubled section stronger than the single line. I show the break on camera in the episode, so press play in the player above.
The whole thing hinges on pinching the line tight while you put in 30 turns, then easing tension so the line rolls back over those twists evenly to the last one. That is what seats the knot and makes the loop bulletproof. I demonstrate the tension trick with a reel handle in the episode, so press play in the player above.
Do not let the Bimini twist intimidate you. Broken into steps it is one of the easiest knots I tie, and it rewards you with a loop that is always stronger than your single line.
Tie it correctly and the break will always happen in the single strand. Press play in the player above.
How 2 Tuesday is my weekly series where I break down one fishing skill at a time, from knots and casting to gear, tactics, and the habits that make you a better angler. Watch and listen to every How 2 Tuesday episode from Tom Rowland.
Bimini twist · IGFA · class tippet · shock tippet · sailfish · tarpon · leader systems · Danco pliers · Star brite · Nikon · How 2 Tuesday · Saltwater Experience
I'm Tom Rowland, a professional fishing guide based in the Florida Keys, host of the Tom Rowland Podcast, and the longtime host of the Saltwater Experience television show. On the podcast's How 2 Tuesday series I break down one practical skill or lesson at a time, from fishing technique and gear to the habits that make you a better angler, in short, focused episodes you can put to use right away.
Tom Rowland Podcast — Episode 912: How 2 Tuesday with Tom Rowland (The Bimini Twist)
In this episode: “can you show me how to tie the Bimini twist?” — why we “double the line over,” the “IGFA rules” on class tippet and shock tippet, turning the loop “30 times,” and proving the knot breaks “in the single strand” — in the exact words spoken.
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Tom Rowland: Hey, everybody. This is the Tom Roland Podcast How To Tuesday brought to you by Danco. One of the questions that we get here a lot about knots is, can you show me how to tie the Bimini twist? The Bimini twist, honestly, is one of the easiest knots that we tie here, but when you see me do this, it doesn't look easy. I promise you that it is an easy knot to tie if you just do it step by step like I'm gonna show you.
Tom Rowland: Let me tell you why we tie the bimini twist to begin with. The bimini twist is a crucial knot in saltwater fishing because what it allows you to do is double the line over. And so what this does for me is if I wanna fish with 12 pound test in the ocean for sailfish or something, I want to have as little 12 pound test in the water as possible. I can have a spool that's full of 20 pound test so that your line is much stronger.
Tom Rowland: So the IGFA rules allow you to use 15 inches of class tippet, which would be right here. You can use a 12 inch shot tippet, and this is for fly fishing, for example. And if you're going out to set a world record, you definitely wanna look at the IGFA, rules and make sure for yourself. But you can have a 12 inch piece of shock tippet, which is a heavier piece of shock tippet for fish like tarpon that have rough mouths, or you can even use wire for fish that have teeth. Then you can attach that to 15 inches of class tippet, and then it can go heavier line all the way back to your fly line. It's really hard to set a world record. You wanna definitely abide by the rules, but then you want to be right within the rules. There's no reason to fish 40 inches of class tippet if they allow 15.
Tom Rowland: So what the Bimini twist does, not only in just record setting, but in any other time where you want a leader and you wanna attach that to heavier line. So say you got 20 pound on your rod and you wanna fish 12 pound. It's a a great thing to do to tie the bimini twist. There's lots of other knots that you use the bimini twist so that you will have a stronger knot to the line, and it it protects your single line. So many, many fishermen use the Bimini twist. This is the way that we're gonna tie it. I'm gonna show you exactly how to tie it in in this video.
Tom Rowland: And if you're just listening to this, what we're going to do is you're gonna take your your line, you're gonna double it over, and you're gonna leave yourself plenty to work with. And what I'm gonna do is I'm gonna hold the line with my left hand. I'm gonna put my right two fingers into the into the loop, and I'm gonna turn this loop 30 times. So with my right hand, I'm just turning 30 times. With my left hand, I'm holding it tight, pinching the line there. And then once I get that done, I'm going to place this loop over a spinning reel handle or conventional reel handle or any reel handle that you have sitting there in a rod holder because you're actually gonna have to pull on this.
Tom Rowland: So what I'm gonna do now is I'm gonna take the tag end and put the tag end in my mouth, and my left fingers are going to go into the loop while it's still on the spinning reel handle. And I'm going to keep the the tag end in my mouth. As I open my fingers on my left hand, I'm going to relax tension just slightly by pushing my head towards where I'm I'm making this knot. And what it's gonna allow the line to do is it's gonna allow the line that's coming from my mouth down to the knot to hop over itself and start to roll over the top of all those twists that I made. And it's gonna roll all the way back to the last one.
Tom Rowland: I'm gonna take my right index finger and I'm going to put it in the loop and thereby stopping this knot from unraveling. From here, what we need to do, start to make a half hitch around one of the legs of this of the loop and then a half hitch around another leg of the loop. Then, I'm going to take a half hitch around both legs two or three times. Now we have this knot created. It's good, but I'm just gonna make sure that it's not gonna come unraveled. So I'm gonna take a three turn half hitch. So pull on the tag end and pull it tight all the way to the knot. Now you have your Bimini twist created. We just trim the tag end. Now you have your your Bimini twist.
Tom Rowland: And so what we're gonna do in this how to Tuesday is we're gonna actually test this now. K. So we tied the bimini twist. This one had 30 strands. And if done properly, it should, break in not the doubled line, but in the single line. And that's exactly what happened here. The loop is still intact. You can see that this is the Bimini twist that we tied. The loop is still intact. There's the Bimini twist, and then it broke right down here in the single strand.
Tom Rowland: So that's exactly what we're trying to do here is have it break in the single strand regardless of what the pound test is. We're tying a knot that makes the doubled line stronger than the single line. And a lot of times, if you tie a knot to make a loop like a perfection loop or, a double surgeons loop or something like that, it'll actually create a weak point here. So you do have two strands here and you do have a single strand here, but there is a weak spot here which this line would be weaker than the single line. In the Bimini twist, what happens, we use this and it's really a twist. It's not much of a knot. It's a twist. And this loop is always stronger than the single line if you tie it correctly. So go back to the tying instructions in this video, and you can see how to tie it correctly, and you'll be able to make a loop that is always stronger than the single line.
Tom Rowland: So so many people have asked us to compile all the results for this thing and give it away for free, and that's exactly what we've done. In the knot guide, you can go to tomrolandpodcast.com, and you can get this knot and all the other knots that we've tied in the knot guide. It's free to you. Just go there and download.
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