How to Tie the Arbor Knot
Usage
The Arbor Knot is how you get fresh line onto a bare reel and keep it there. It ties the line to the arbor — the spindle at the center of the spool — so the line grips instead of spinning freely around the drum while you wind. It is two overhand knots: one tied with the tag end around the standing line to form a sliding noose, and a second in the tag end, which jams against the first as the loop cinches down.
It is the same knot as the Canadian Jam Knot — the name bushcrafters use when they are cinching a bundle instead of loading a reel.
Why Learn the Arbor Knot?
Every spool of new line starts with this knot. Learning it properly also means learning what it is not: it carries no rated strength, and treating it as a load-bearing connection is where anglers get into trouble.
Common Uses
Fishing
- Spooling a reel: attaching mainline or backing to the arbor of a spinning reel, baitcaster, conventional or fly reel — best on monofilament and fluorocarbon.
- Emergency retrieval: keeping a rod and reel that go over the side recoverable by the line.
- Storage tie-off: fine for tying off a loose filler spool instead of tape or a rubber band, using a walk-down technique rather than the standard reel method.
Other Names
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Notable Features
- Self-tightening: pulling the standing line slides the noose closed on the arbor, so tension seats it.
- Low profile: it sits flat against the spool and does not snag the line wound over it.
- Reversible when fresh: pulling the stopper's tag end loosens the first knot, so a lightly loaded Arbor Knot comes apart without cutting.
Similar Knots
Canadian Jam Knot vs. Arbor Knot
- Advantage: The bushcraft version of this knot covers bundles, sleeping mats and lashing starts.
- Disadvantage: That use lacks the constant tension a reel gives, so the loop can back off when the object shifts.
San Diego Jam Knot vs. Arbor Knot
- Advantage: The San Diego Jam Knot is a terminal knot at the hook, built to hold a fighting fish.
- Disadvantage: It does nothing for spool attachment. One rig carries both, this knot at the arbor and the San Diego Jam at the hook.
Jam Hitch vs. Arbor Knot
- Advantage: The Jam Hitch locks onto a spar by capsizing under a pull on the end.
- Disadvantage: Structurally unrelated despite the shared word "jam" — easy to mix up by name, impossible to swap in use.
Security Level
On monofilament or fluorocarbon, tied correctly and kept under the steady tension of winding, the Arbor Knot holds reliably — that constant pull is the condition the noose-and-stopper jam needs. It is not secure on braided superline against a standard spool, and never a rated connection under heavy drag.
Downsides
- No load rating: it carries no published breaking-strength figure and should never stand between you and a hooked fish.
- Slips on braid: braid has very little friction against a smooth arbor and can slip even when tied perfectly.
- Jams hard: after sustained heavy drag the overhands bind, and cutting the line off beats picking at it.
- Needs tension: only friction and the stopper hold the loop's diameter, so it loosens when the pull comes off.
History
The structure is old; the fishing name is not. Clifford Ashley catalogued the sliding noose it is built from in The Ashley Book of Knots (1944), in the nooses chapter and rooted in an older snaring tradition — but no dedicated, titled "Arbor Knot" entry exists in the book, because tying line to a mechanical reel's arbor was not yet a knotting reference point. Gene Kugach's Fishing Basics (Stackpole, 1993) is the earliest source documenting the modern sequence under this name, and the citation Wikipedia's arbor knot entry rests on.
How to Tie the Arbor Knot
Step 1
Pass the fishing line around the reel's arbor — the spool centre.
Step 2
With the free end, tie an overhand knot around the standing line — the side that runs back to the rod tip.
Step 3
Tie a second overhand knot in the free end, beside the first, as a stopper. Pass the tag end through in the same direction the standing line runs, or the two knots will not jam together.
Step 4
Moisten monofilament or fluorocarbon, then pull the standing line to slide both knots down snug against the arbor. The second overhand jams against the first and locks the loop.
Step 5
Trim the tag end close, about 1/16–1/8 in (1.5–3 mm), then wind your line on.
Two variants are worth knowing by name: a multi-wrap version taking two or three turns around the arbor for friction on a polished spool, and the compound 100% Arbor Knot used on fly-reel backing. Our step-by-step knot library lives in the Knot IQ app, and the Knot IQ Companion Kits give you cord and cards to practice with at home rather than on the water.
FAQ
Is the Arbor Knot strong enough to hold a fish?
No — and it was never meant to be. Its only job is to keep the line snug on the spool while you wind it on, plus give you a grab point if the rod goes overboard. No fishing-knot strength chart lists a number for it because it is a spool-attachment knot, not a load-bearing terminal knot.
Why does my Arbor Knot keep slipping with braided line?
Braid has a very low coefficient of friction, and this knot's grip is pure friction — the loop against the arbor, not the overhand knots themselves, is what holds. Fix it with a braid-ready spool, 10–20 yards (9–18 m) of mono backing tied with this same knot, or a wrap of electrical tape over the knot.
Is the Arbor Knot the same as the Canadian Jam Knot?
Structurally, yes — an identical two-overhand noose-and-stopper knot. Anglers call it the Arbor Knot because they tie it around a reel's arbor; bushcrafters call it the Canadian Jam Knot for cinching bundles. The name and the job change; the knot does not.
Important Notes on Safety
- Do not rely on this knot to hold a hooked fish or any load requiring a rated, tested terminal connection — no published breaking-strength figure exists for it, because it was never designed to be load-bearing in that sense.
- It is a static-load spool-attachment utility knot only, and is not suitable for dynamic or critical loads.
