# fly fishing knots



## 994 (Apr 14, 2008)

Blood knot for me.


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

Blood knot unless there is a large diameter difference then for sure use a uni to uni.


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## Edublund (Sep 10, 2016)

Slim Beauty!


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Slim Beauty x2 (but that's only for relatively light stuff - for the big girls things get a bit complicated...).


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## Outearly (Oct 20, 2015)

Triple Surgeon's. Easy, reliable.


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## coconutgroves (Sep 23, 2013)

Johnjr15 said:


> what knot do you guys use to tie on your tippet to your leader?


Depends on the size of the fish. Ain't now way I am spending time typing a blood knot for a 2 pound rainbow or bass. But I will spend time on tarpon and permit.

Personally, I like double uni better than blood. Unis actually pull against one another, unlike a blood which is just a clinch knot against one another.

A triple surgeon won't give much more than a double, it will just be bulkier.


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

Word of caution when you see guys recommend a surgeons knot (or loop). A lot of guys call things something they aren't. A double surgeons for instance is not two times through but four. A triple is six. Shoot somewhere along the way people started calling them incorrectly and now that seems to be the standard terminilogy.

The only time I use a true triple is for making a loop in braid. Works easier for me than doing a bimini.


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## not2shabby (Sep 14, 2016)

coconutgroves said:


> Personally, I like double uni better than blood. Unis actually pull against one another, unlike a blood which is just a clinch knot against one another.


x2 on double uni


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## GG34 (May 2, 2014)

Unis good for large diameter?


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## crboggs (Mar 30, 2015)

not2shabby said:


> x2 on double uni


X3


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## not2shabby (Sep 14, 2016)

GG34 said:


> Unis good for large diameter?


Define "large diameter" line. That's subjective.


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## GG34 (May 2, 2014)

40 or 30 masons.


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## Cliff (Oct 13, 2016)

Blood knot


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## permitchaser (Aug 26, 2013)

Blood knot for small diameter
Bite of 80 lb to 20 lb. Slim beauty or Hufnagel


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## coconutgroves (Sep 23, 2013)

GG34 said:


> Unis good for large diameter?


I use it on 40 to 30, or 30 to 25, 30 to 20. Could do it with any similar line. I would not use it from 20 or 25 to shock. I use albright or huffnagle in that case.


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## LowHydrogen (Dec 31, 2015)

Wind knot. Sometimes a double......... Oh I thought you said "in" the tippet


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## el9surf (Dec 23, 2008)

Slim beauty


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## CrappieFisherman (Mar 15, 2015)

I use a quadruple surgeons knot (or double if you prefer that term). With the surgeons knot you should keep the number of wraps even to keep the knot symmetrical.


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## coconutgroves (Sep 23, 2013)

ifsteve said:


> Word of caution when you see guys recommend a surgeons knot (or loop). A lot of guys call things something they aren't. A double surgeons for instance is not two times through but four. A triple is six. Shoot somewhere along the way people started calling them incorrectly and now that seems to be the standard terminilogy.
> 
> The only time I use a true triple is for making a loop in braid. Works easier for me than doing a bimini.


Yeah, it is a bit misunderstood. Surgeon's is actually a double overhand. If you were to "double" it, it would mean 4 overhand knots. It's redundant to say "double surgeons" but with you could tie two lines or ropes together with a single overhand. Maybe that's where the misnomer came from.

You could also argue the overhand isn't a knot. It is a clinch, but hey, it works. I would tie one with 4 turns on it - that's overkill. I've used a three turn for backing, but have since always used a bimini for my backing.


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## Nway93 (May 9, 2016)

Blood knot for similar diameters and slim beauty for heavy shock to class tippet.


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## tailwalk (Nov 20, 2016)

Another blood knot user here. Some variation of it is used in connecting all of my leader sections. Butt sections attach to line with a perfection loop, and tippets attach to flies with double figure 8 loop. Otherwise on a tapered leader its all blood knots. For tarpon its a bit more complex. Still blood knots but using doubled line. Cut and twisted loop from a bimini for the class/butt and improved blood for class/bite.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

I'm assuming we are just talking about typical inshore fly fishing, not heavy stuff....

I'm also assuming we are not considering a loop to loop connection from tippet to butt section. 

In the case where the dia of the last leg of the tapered butt section of the leader is somewhat close to your tippet. Say I was fishing 15lb tippet, the last leg of my tapered butt leader system will be 20lb, I'll typically use a blood knot. If done right, it will hold just fine. If I'm lazy, I'll do an albright, (tho I knot the tag end of the heavier stuff will be pointing back towards the flyline and may pick up slime). Sometimes I'll do a modified slim beauty (my own demented concoction where I make fewer wraps with the tippet and run the tippet tag back thru the figure eight, tag pointing towards the fly).

If I'm doing a blood knot where the butt material dia feels a little larger than the tippet, I'll do one less turn on the butt material side (like 5 turns on the butt and 6 turns on the tippet material). That being said, I use all blood knots on my leader system between legs, where the larger dia material get's one turn less than the smaller dia material side. This keeps the knot looking more even and when using saliva to lube and fully cinching it down, will lock in tight. To all you dbl uni guys, I see nothing wrong with a blood knot if done correctly and in the butt section, I haven't had problems with them breaking.

Typically, your weak link or "fuse" in your entire system will be focused around your tippet. Careful attention must be given to those 2 knots on either side of it.

On the bite leader side of my tippet, I'm usually doing an albright for standard inshore stuff or an alberto if I need to step it up a bit for bigger stuff.

Ted Haas


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## FlyBy (Jul 12, 2013)

Loop-to-loop tippet to leader, tippet loop tied in double line from bimini. I can change tippets without cutting and re-tying leader, even with a fly on the tippet. Slim beauty for tippet to bite tippet.


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## bjtripp83 (Aug 10, 2015)

perfection loop to loop


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## tailwalk (Nov 20, 2016)

Finally got to break in the 9 weight today on some snook. I went to change out the bite tippet after it got worked over by a few fish and found that I didn't really have enough class tippet to do my usual knot so I went with an Albright. caught a few more fish an then snagged on a branch and couldn't get it free so I pulled, meaning to break the class. Instead the #2 sl12s bent and came free. I think I might use albrights on inshore stuff now ☺


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## coconutgroves (Sep 23, 2013)

tailwalk said:


> Finally got to break in the 9 weight today on some snook. I went to change out the bite tippet after it got worked over by a few fish and found that I didn't really have enough class tippet to do my usual knot so I went with an Albright. caught a few more fish an then snagged on a branch and couldn't get it free so I pulled, meaning to break the class. Instead the #2 sl12s bent and came free. I think I might use albrights on inshore stuff now ☺


Albrights are tough knots when tied right. For that reason, it's always smart to run a class that is the weakest part of the chain. One mistake made on them is not enough turns - it can pull straight out if there aren't enough turns.


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## tailwalk (Nov 20, 2016)

coconutgroves said:


> Albrights are tough knots when tied right. For that reason, it's always smart to run a class that is the weakest part of the chain. One mistake made on them is not enough turns - it can pull straight out if there aren't enough turns.


I did 7 or 8, then three backwraps with the tag from the 16lb. Worked well!


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

To me, an albright is one of the easiest knot to tie, that's why sometimes I get lazy and will use it to connect the tippet to the butt section sometimes. With an albright, more turns can be detrimental to the knot. I have found over the years (tied many thousands of times) that 6 turns is the key to biting into the leader. More than that doesn't get a good bite. So it's 6 times and tag over the running line and then into the hole. Pull it some, wet it with spit, hold the tag with your teeth and pull it down tight on both the tag and the running line at the same time. The end result is a very nice small knot that will hold most anything inshore.

tailwalk, what you did was a modified Alberto. I believe an Alberto is a bit stronger than an albright, tho it takes more time to do. Sometimes I don't have much time and opted for the quick route. The regular Alberto knot makes a few more wraps, then takes the tag wrapping back over the first set of wraps almost equal wraps, except one or two less. I guess your 3 wraps back is a quick way to do that, tho maybe not quite as strong, but sufficient enough to hold. If it's working for you, then use it! 

Ted Haas


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## tailwalk (Nov 20, 2016)

Backwater said:


> To me, an albright is one of the easiest knot to tie, that's why sometimes I get lazy and will use it to connect the tippet to the butt section sometimes. With an albright, more turns can be detrimental to the knot. I have found over the years (tied many thousands of times) that 6 turns is the key to biting into the leader. More than that doesn't get a good bite. So it's 6 times and tag over the running line and then into the hole. Pull it some, wet it with spit, hold the tag with your teeth and pull it down tight on both the tag and the running line at the same time. The end result is a very nice small knot that will hold most anything inshore.
> 
> tailwalk, what you did was a modified Alberto. I believe an Alberto is a bit stronger than an albright, tho it takes more time to do. Sometimes I don't have much time and opted for the quick route. The regular Alberto knot takes the tag wrapping back over the first set of wraps almost equal wraps, except one less. I guess your 3 wraps back is a quick was to do that, tho maybe not quite as strong, but sufficient.
> 
> Ted Haas


I think I was unclear. The backwraps I did were after cinching down the albright. I made three wraps with the tag from the class around the standing line of the class, wrapping back toward the knot, like finishing a bimini. The alberto as I understand it starts at the 'point' of the bend in the larger diameter line, wrapping away from then back towards the point, going back through like the albright. pretty sure that's a stronger knot but I was in a hurry with snook everywhere


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Ok yea I understand! and... yea I hate it when that happens.... having to be in a hurry cause there's snook everywhere! Lol


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