Guided Fly Fishing in West Georgia

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Knots

"...the array of arcane knots...the leader...is attached to the fly...and to choose (a knot) is to make a moral choice. You are made to understand that it would not be impossible to fight about it or, at the very least, to quibble darkly." - Tom McGuane

The knot is our final connection to the fish, and the most tenuous. You will get all sorts of knot advice; all sorts of claims will be made. The only advice I'll give is that you should test your knots off the water. Sit down some evening and see which knots work best for you. 

 Here is my favorite fly-to-tippet knot  - the non-slip mono loop.

Beware the clinch knot, improved or not. The uni-knot, the non-slip mono loop, or the Becker knot are much stronger.

Good info on knots, leaders & more at Bill's Nash's Fly Casting Systems. 

100% braided-loop system instructions at Dan Blanton's Getting Looped.

The Surgeon's Knot - one of the best, but tie it with 3 turns - it's much stronger than a 2-turn. And a 4-turn is even stronger - this is important with very fine tippets!

How To Test Your Knots  

To test tippet-to-fly knots, you need two handles (I use a wood dowel) with a swivel attached to each one with very heavy mono. Tie a different knot to each swivel from one piece of tippet material. Then pull til one fails. Use smooth continuous pulls and jerky ones. Find out which of your knots is stronger.

For leader-to-tippet knots, use one piece of "heavier" mono and two pieces of "lighter" mono, tie each of the lighter pieces to opposite ends, and test. Try this with various size differences.