The Water Knot has always been my standby but sometimes when using 2mm tippet rings I will use a Tucked Half Blood or a modified Davy Knot, the same modified Davy Knot on the fly.
The modified Davy Knot has 2 extra turns in the stage before tightening up the knot, makes for a very secure and strong knot.
I use double surgeon on 2x and larger and triple surgeon on 3x and smaller. Lube with chapstick or Gink flotant to pull them tight. I've tried others but I am so used to these knots that my fingers can't seem to learn new ones. I also use a four or five turn cinch to the fly. I know that the cinch is not that strong but I don't break fish off because of bad knots, usually I make a mistake playing the fish which causes knots and tippets to break.
Glenn
All,
A few I haven't heard of before. I'll look them up and give them a try. The double surgeons is the one that seems to be working best for me so far.
Never used the tippet rings before. What size would one buy to try with say 4X? Seems I recall reading on here sometime back that from one manufacturer to another the size seemed to vary greatly.
Thanks all for the suggestions,
Leo C
Good afternoon,
leader material,
always a 4turn surgeons, for mono to mono and mono to fc.
A helper to someone,
if you intend to tie a dropper on the leader for a second or third fly, then tie a 5turn and this then pushes the tag end outwards, reduces tangles also.
Kind regards,
UB
We have a winner.
The Orvis tippet knot has out performed all others so far. I'll admit I haven't tried them all yet but anyone who has not tried Orvis tippet knot yet or heard of it needs to give it a try.
Thanks for all the tips. I do intend to try all of the ones metioned that I have yet to try.
Leo C
Started with the double surgeons knot and then tried others but soon returned to the D.S. K. and that's my main stay today.
Dale
The latest issue of Field and Stream magazine has a well researched article about a few underused fishing knots. I haven't tried them yet, and some of them may be the same knots that have been described here, but it's certainly worth a look.
They're just fish, right? Right?
"Best" is whatever you think it is. I prefer knots that I can tie without thinking about them, with gloves on, in the cold and wet... I use a double surgeon's loop and loop-to-loop connect my tippet. Works fine. There are undoubtedly other knots out there that have higher breaking strengths, but I really don't care.
Two factors define best - strongest and then what a person can tie consistently on stream. That said...
Strongest Leader to Tippet (empirically demonstrated by Art Scheck):
Mono to mono - Ligature.
FC to FC - Orvis Tippet (Ligature works well too.).
FC to mono - playing with fire.
Strongest Tippet 3x and smaller (empirically demonstrated by Art Scheck):
Orvis, Pitzen, Non-slip Monoloop, all strongest choices.
These results were confirmed by me using knot against knot pull tests and backed by a significant reduction in break offs during fishing.
Regarding ability to tie on stream consistently...
All knots listed above are very simple if someone shows you how to manipulate your fingers. The Ligature has a reputation as being difficult, but in reality it is a very simple knot - basically a granny on steroids. Tie it like a granny (not a square) and find someone to show you how to tighten it and it is quite simple. It will take you a minute or two longer than a surgeon's but it will move your weakess link to the tippet knot avoiding losing two flies when your leader to tippet knot breaks. Also, how many of these knots do you really tie during the day.
All knot instruction can be found here: http://www.orlandooutfitters.com/knots/
Please note that the Ligature is referred to as the Simple Blood Knot and the Pitzen is referred to as the 16-20 Knot. Also, while the way the knots are made is very clear, this site does not show you how to hold and manipulate the knot which may make them difficult to learn, so have someone show you how to tie these with real tippet on a fly.
Regards,
KB
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