We’ve gone through phases of using different knots for the all-important leader-to-tippet connection in our fly fishing careers.
And we’ve found out the hard way that the best knot for this for leaders of all diameters and lengths is the Orvis Tippet Knot – one of our seven essential fishing knots.
It outperforms the Double Surgeon’s Knot (has to be tensioned in four different directions) and the Double Blood Knot.
Once you know the Orvis Tippet Knot (and you use the Pitzen Knot to connect to your fly) you can rest assured that if your tippet breaks it won’t be because of either knot. You just got beaten fair and square by the fish.
More and more fly anglers are switching to the Orvis Tippet Knot for this reason as it can easily and effectively join sections of different diameters and creates the strongest knot for this purpose.
And if you want to fish two flies as a dry-dropper rig, or a double nymph rig, then leave one tag long and use this as your dropper. You can’t do that with a blood knot. You can with a Double Surgeon’s Knot but it is notoriously unreliable and should not be used in this way when there are big fish about.
The Orvis Tippet Knot is relatively simple to tie with a bit of practice and skill (see below for step-by-step instructions and a video tutorial). Along with the Nail Knot and Arbor Knot, it is an essential knot for a fly fisherman to know.
Orvis Tippet Knot: Step-By-Step Instructions
