My Favorite Tippet to Fly Knots

Knots

Fly fishing has a lot of parts to it. From our Reels and rods to our fly line, leader, tippet, and of course our flies there's just a bunch of pieces that allow us to make that perfect presentation. Whether it's dry fly fishing or nymphing the most critical piece of all those parts coming together is the knot. There's nothing worse than finally seeing that fly get taken or the familiar twitch and tug of the line result in a missed opportunity because somewhere in that complicated system a knot has failed. It's happened to all of us from time to time.

Knots are a lot like opinions .. most people have them and they all think there's are the best or right ones. So I guess, I'm no different than anyone else. I don't know if my knots are the best, but they are the ones I use the most and I have a high level of confidence in them.

My favorite and most used knot to tie my tippet to my fly is the Davy Knot. I tie this almost every time. It's a simple knot to tie and when tied properly leaves is super strong and leaves very little waste. It's my "go-to" knot for almost every situation.

Another knot that I occasionally tie is called by some folks the 16/20 knot. I have no idea why it's called that and for the longest time, I just called it the loop/wrap knot because I didn't know

it had a name and I can't remember where or when I learned it. I tie this knot most often when I'm attaching my sighter or leader to a tippet ring or small swivel, mostly because it's a knot I know I won't be retying very often. Like the Darby Knot, it's a quick tie and leaves very little waste when you get the hang of it.

Here's a quick quick video tutorial for tying these knots. Enjoy!