Tied Up in Fly Fishing Knots

Instead of talking about the one that got away, perfect your fly fishing knots and land that next catch during your fly fishing trip. While there are quite a few fishing knots that you can learn, just a few are needed to see you through your entire fishing experience. Many people new to the sport of fly fishing often lose the fish they hook due to fly fishing knots becoming unraveled.

Practice makes perfect and learning to tie fly fishing knots is a definite must if you plan to make a go of this sporting hobby. Home is the best place to start the process as it is much better taking your time there than it could be to try to tie a knot while maintaining your footing in a stream or along a riverbank. Below are a few fly fishing knots to learn more about and what they should be used for.

The Arbor Knot

There is a section of line called the backing which is a strong piece that connects the actual fishing line to the spool backing in the reel. Among the fly fishing knots, the arbor knot is the most common for this type of task and fairly easy to accomplish. This backing line is typically made of Dacron and attached to a monofilament fly line and will keep a huge fishing from totally peeling out all the line in your reel.

The Albright Knot

When you attach your Dacron backing line to your regular fly line, you need fly fishing knots that will stand strong with two different materials while still having the ease in sliding through your guides without stalling your reel. You want a knot that will hold on the chance that you hook a large fish that has the tendency to run through your line all the way into the backing line.

The Nail, Double Surgeon and Clinch Knot

The nail knot is the best for connecting your leader line which allows your fly to flip during a cast to your main fly line. Among the fly fishing knots, the nail provides maximum accuracy for straight casting. The double surgeon fly fishing knots are for connecting your leader line to your tippet, which is the section of line between your fishing line and your leader line. Tippets are important for controlling the drag of the entire line during a cast so double surgeon knot is important.

The clinch knot is, well, the clincher, the end of fly fishing knots when you are adding fishing line and flies onto your rod. The clinch knot connects your fly specimen to the tippet so it is super important to make sure that this knot is strong so no fish are lost to an unraveling knot.

There are clinics, how-to videos and books that can show you step-by-step the process for tying fly fishing knots. It is up to you as to choosing which avenue to pursue as everyone learns differently, whether it is via a visual through videos or hands-on in a clinic.