Knot a fish in use.

Knot a Fish is a attractive wearable tool that makes knot tying easy. This tool makes it possible for inexperienced and experienced fishers to tie knots quickly and easily. The surface behind the anterior fins creates a seamless area that allows the line to slide around the tool, creating the necessary twists in the line for the knot. The flat surface makes it easy to slide the tag end of the line between the line and the wood.  Pulling the line and lure away from each other clinches the knot. The fisher's knot takes an experienced tier on average 40 seconds without this tool. With a little experience with this tool, it takes on average 15 seconds to tie the same knot. This 25 second difference gets your line back in the water quickly with a stronger knot. 

Knot a Fish is not a fish, but it could help you catch some!

I have been fishing since I’ve been in fifth grade and I’ve fallen in love with it ever since I’ve hooked my first fish. To further my love for the sport I decided to build a tool to help me with everyday fishing problems, so I sat down with my teacher to talk through the fishing day to find points of trouble. After spending two classes of describing a day of fishing we identified several pain points. These included unhooking the fish, organization, and knot tying. After looking at the potential for each I decided to pursue knot tying. My goal was to create a tool to help tie knots faster and easier.

First I had to make sure I was not recreating another tool that already exists.  The tools I found were big, clunky, not attractive to the eye, and would take up more space in a tackle bag. So I thought that there was a lot of room to improve these designs. I experimented with a wrist tool that would be accessible and easy to use. My attempts at prototypes resulted in the realization that you need two hands available to tie a knot.

This realization brought me back to the drawing board where I pictured how a tool would form the necessary loops and holes to tie a successful knot. Once I prototyped a new tool I saw it would be a simple matter to drill a hole and put a line through it so it could be worn as a necklace. However, no one wants to wear a clunky tool around there neck, so I decided to make the material look like a fish so it could be worn as a cool necklace and be a useful tool.

I searched online for possible outlines of fish for the laser cutter.  I tested the outlines by cutting them out with the laser cutter. Once I knew that the outline looked good, I cut many in varying sizes. I selected a size and to improve the appearance, I spent multiple classes experimenting with etches, which made the fish look better. The project was complete, but with the extra time, I tried to identify other ways to improve the tool like putting Surgu (a moldable glue) in the mouth to hold the line, and inserting a razor blade in the back of the fin which could be used to cut the line. It turned out that neither of these were necessary. The final tool is made of wood and is able to be cut by the laser cutter in 67 seconds; this is a cheap and easy manufacturing process.