Basic Fly Fishing Knots

You need to know a few knots! Below are some of the most popular knots used in flyfishing.

Tying the Clinch Knot

Use the clinch knot for tying your fly to the hook. The improved clinch knot is the preferred knot of the two due to its stronger breaking strength.

Tying the Blood Knot

The primary purpose of the blood knot is to join sections of similar diameter monofilament. The general rule of thumb is that you can safely skip a single "X" size when joining monofilament sizes greater than or equal to 4X. When joining sizes smaller than 4X, you should not skip any sizes.

Blood_Knot.jpg (31546 bytes)

Tying the Double Surgeon Knot

Use the Double Surgeon Knot to connect monofilament of similar or dissimilar sizes. This knot is superior to the more popular blood knot in several ways. Most importantly, it has a stronger breaking strength and is better for joining widely divergent monofilament sizes. It's easier to tie than a blood knot but is a bit bulkier. Many anglers prefer a blood knot when joining monofilament in the larger diameters (i.e. 2X, 1X, and 0X). The smaller, tapered blood knot will slide through the rod guides easier and knot strength is not an issue in the larger diameters. The Double Surgeons knot is the knot of choice for tying on tippet, where knot strength is critical

Surgeon_Knot-DBL.jpg (29804 bytes)

Tying the Perfection Loop

The primary purpose for the perfection loop is to join a fly line butt section to your leader when both have a "perfection loop" on their ends. The advantage of this is it allows for a quick leader change without any knots being tied. The primary disadvantage is that your fly line-to-leader connection will hinge at the junction of the perfection loops, an effect which can be felt while casting. To avoid this, Creekside recommends joining butt sections to leaders using a blood or surgeon knot. The perfection loop does have some useful applications.

Perfection_Loop.jpg (26782 bytes)

Tying a loop-to-loop connection

The loop-to-loop connection is used for joining two lengths of monofilament, each having a perfection loop on the end. The off-shore version is stronger than the standard.

Loop_to_Loop_connection.jpg (24920 bytes)