Sydney Fly Fishing Tours - how to tie saltwater flies and leaders

How to tie saltwater flies and leaders

3 or 4 turn overhand knot (surgeons knot)
By unknown

One of the strongest and quickest knots for joining two monofilament or flourocarbon lines together.
Three turns are adequate in heavy lines 4 turns are best for lines 20 pound or less.
A surgeons knot is actually a double turn overhand knot so a double surgeons knot is actually a 4 turn overhand knot (confused yet??). In any case, wrap the turns 4 times for best results!!
You can also get a very strong connection from 20 pound line to heavy shock tippet by doubling the 20 pound first.

Lay both lines side by side....allow for reasonable tag overlap.

tie an overhand knot in the 2 lines being sure to keep both lines fairly neatly together.

continue by tying the overhand knot another 2-3 times. Be sure the lines stay neatly together.

Pull up on the knot being sure to pull on both tags and both parts of the standing line, using a little bit of water on the knot is recommended rather than saliva (for flourocarbons). The knot will form a figure eight as you tighten it. Bring the knot up in a bunch but do not pull it super tight.

Drop the tags and apply some more gentle pressure.

Trim the tags.

NOTE; this knot is one of the few that is best left fractionally loose as opposed to extremely tight when pulling it up.

Back to main list