Video How-To: Tying the San Diego Jam Knot

Shimano’s Marc Mills demonstrates how to tie the popular San Diego Jam Knot during a fishing trip on the Royal Star off Baja Mexico.

1. He starts by passing the end of the line through the eye of the lure twice. This knot works well for mono or braided lines, but he recommends making two wraps through the hook eye with braid to prevent line slippage.

2. Next, he leaves himself enough line so that he can loop the tag end over his thumb. Then, he wraps 8 to 10 times around the double line, down toward the lure.

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3. With his right hand, he threads the tag end between the double line, just below the last wrap.

4. The tag end comes back up to the loop created by his thumb in Step 2. He pushes the line through and pulls the tag end tight, then slides and tightens the knot slowly down to the Shimano Waxwing lure. Clip away any extra tag end left over.

The video does a decent job of showing the knot tied, but you’ll notice Marc’s hands hide where the tag end threads through at the top of the knot (about 44 seconds into the video). Below is a photo of the San Diego Jam knot being tied at that critical step. In this photo, the angler doubled his monofilament line to tie the knot. See how he pushes that tag end through the loop?

For more knot tying and techniques, click here.