I have been using improved clinch on this but on baitcasting, I love a Palomar. It is SO easy! I just found a Field & Stream article (Fishing Knots: How to Tie The Four Strongest | Field & Stream) that shows the San Diego jam as the best at 94% but the Palomar is second and pretty close at 91%. Hmmm... I will learn the SD jam but in the meantime, I am going to give a Palomar a try for fly fishing. I certainly like simple and this year, for the first time in my life, I have noticed diminished eyesight for close work like tying a knot. Gonna have to get glasses for near vision.
Best knot, tippet to fly
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tpo
Well-known member
Give the Palomar a try, but if you change flies with any regularity, I expect you'll find it uses too much tippet and it probably isn't practical on small flies/ small hook eyes. I used the improved clinch knot for years (and still use it sometimes), but recently I've been using the Pitzen know, its a slight variation of the San Diego Jam and I find it to be easy to tie, very strong, and one feature I like is I can slide the knot up the line slightly and have a loop knot that can give a streamer a little more action. There are as many opinions on this subject as there are fisherman so I'm sure you'll get a lot of different views. Good luck!
Tom
Tom
T
turbineblade
Guest
I can never resist these kind of threads.
The best knot for anyone, is the one they can tie well, and consistently.
I tend to use a 4-5 turn Duncan loop (pulled down to the hook eye -- I hate loops) when fishing streamers on heavier tippet, and the Orvis knot or "fish killer" knot for smaller "trout" flies on lighter tippet.
I don't need to learn a 99-100% strength knot -- a good 80% knot that I can tie to break at 80% EVERY time will never fail on a fish and will only break when I need to break it, lol.
The best knot for anyone, is the one they can tie well, and consistently.
I tend to use a 4-5 turn Duncan loop (pulled down to the hook eye -- I hate loops) when fishing streamers on heavier tippet, and the Orvis knot or "fish killer" knot for smaller "trout" flies on lighter tippet.
I don't need to learn a 99-100% strength knot -- a good 80% knot that I can tie to break at 80% EVERY time will never fail on a fish and will only break when I need to break it, lol.
Walter1023
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The Davy Knot is all I use now (also known as figure eight knot). I literally can tie on a new fly in less than 10 seconds...and while you'll hear studies referenced about the "knot strength issues"....I cannot remember the last time I had knot failure on even a 20" brown using 6x. Its also a small knot - which is great when using smaller dries Just my .02 as it has worked tremendously for me and I never looked back
J
james w 3 3
Guest
Good advice.I can never resist these kind of threads.
The best knot for anyone, is the one they can tie well, and consistently.
I tend to use a 4-5 turn Duncan loop (pulled down to the hook eye -- I hate loops) when fishing streamers on heavier tippet, and the Orvis knot or "fish killer" knot for smaller "trout" flies on lighter tippet.
I don't need to learn a 99-100% strength knot -- a good 80% knot that I can tie to break at 80% EVERY time will never fail on a fish and will only break when I need to break it, lol.
What I'll add is some knots are "touchy" in that if you don't tie it just right its strength can be very compromised.
I have tied the San Diego jam knot for years for just that reason, it's very tolerant.
Doesn't use a lot of tippet, small and strong.
(There's a double line version that's very very nearly 100%, but it's waayyyy too big for anything but serious saltwater applications.)
repperson29
Well-known member
Also use the Davy knot, haven't lost many fish (maybe I'm not catching big enough fish?)
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Sent from my SM-G920V using Tapatalk
roadkill1948
Well-known member
I've played with this a bunch and I use Jack's knot, quick, easy, very strong. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9FArM6tL5FU
sweetandsalt
Well-known member
I like the Trileen Knot as it goes through he hook eye twice, then using locking coils like the clinch. Strong and locks to the eye preventing damaging frictional energy as the loop through the eye does not swivel side to side while fighting a fish.
slips74
Well-known member
I use the Davy Knot & Double Davy. Haven't had any issues with either that I wouldn't have had using the Improved Clinch instead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NTVZAZ0xQA
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-NTVZAZ0xQA
planettrout
Well-known member
Here is a knot strength chart from Yellowstone Anglers, using various tippet materials :
Fly Fishing knot comparison Chart - Yellowstone Angler
I generally use a Uni Knot (Duncan Loop) and have experienced no problems over the last 30 years or so..
PT/TB
Fly Fishing knot comparison Chart - Yellowstone Angler
I generally use a Uni Knot (Duncan Loop) and have experienced no problems over the last 30 years or so..
PT/TB
Wow, I love simple and simple, that is. That's as easy as a Palomar. I am going to try it. I also like the fact that the tag end is NOT pointing forward to pick up grass/algae. I am going to search out other knots that are like that.
GrtLksMarlin
Well-known member
The Palomar is a great knot and simple, yet like many knots that pass through the eye of the hook twice fly sized hooks simply don't lend themselves well to it. Now I use it and don't sweat tippet material use in that I can always buy more, yet at the end of the day when it comes to fly fishing more often than not I end up using an Improved Clinch.
As TurbineBlade stated above, "The best knot for anyone, is the one they can tie well, and consistently.".....Not so much based on just simplicity, yet bluntly in that a poorly/incorrectly tied knot is much worse than a correctly tied weaker one.
B.E.F.
As TurbineBlade stated above, "The best knot for anyone, is the one they can tie well, and consistently.".....Not so much based on just simplicity, yet bluntly in that a poorly/incorrectly tied knot is much worse than a correctly tied weaker one.
B.E.F.
SethO
Well-known member
I have been using the Improved Clinch since dad quit tying my hooks for me, but I am very interested in these other knots. The Davy knot looks interesting as it seems you could tie a fly very easily and quickly.
GrtLksMarlin
Well-known member
A very interesting knot and it does look strong, thanks for sharing!
As for the Davy, not so much...
B.E.F.
roadkill1948
Well-known member
One suggestion I have is to pick your knot based on the materials you'll be using. Some knots tie and respond differently in different materials. Para cord or old flyline are great learning/demonstration tools, but mono, braid, fluro may be different. Wet/dry can make a difference.
silver creek
Well-known member
As others have said Palomar and the San Diego Jam are just too large for most flies. I use the Orvis tippet to fly knot because it is strong and you can tie it leaving a short tag end so you don't actually have to clip off and "waste" tippet.
The Orvis knot beats the Davy Knot.
The Davy Knot: Is This The Quickest & Strongest Fishing Knot?
For fly fishing knots my criteria are:
Fast to tie in COLD weather, minimal bulk, uses minimal tippet, strong with BOTH fluorocarbon and nylon and strength close to the tippet to leader knot.
I'll give up some % actual strength for the other factors. Remember that if you tie the tippet to the another tippet or the leader body, that knot is just as important as the tippet to fly knot.
The Yellowstone Angler performed the Tippet Shootout below:
Tippet Shootout - Yellowstone Angler
Below is a chart from Yellowstone Angler Tippet Shootout. It compares both common tippet to tippet knots with tippet to fly knots.
You can compare the relative strengths of the various knots and see how you knot stacks up. For example, the Orvis tippet to fly knot actually beats the Palomar knot (mentioned in an earlier post as a strong knot") for most of the tippets and the Orvis does not waste material.
Here's another important fact from the test chart:
"Note: The past two years since we did the tippet shootout I’ve made a point to notice where my weakest link was with breakoffs and sure enough it was usually a tippet to tippet connection rather than tippet to fly."
We constantly discuss the tippet to fly knot but the weakest knot is most often the tippet to tippet knot according to Yellowstone Angler. For example compare the breaking point of the improved clinch fly knot in the chart below with the tippet to tippet blood knot. The clinch knot is much stronger! I think the reason that so many breaks are at the tippet to fly is the abrasion of the fly eye against the fly knot.
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Rapala and clinch...sometimes I will improve.
T
turbineblade
Guest
-1 on the Davy knot. I've played around with a LOT of knots, but the Davy was one I could never tie to a good, consistent breaking strength.
It even looks crappy, since it doesn't secure the tag end in an way but simply closes it between the knot and the hook eye (similar to an untucked clinch knot, but without the multiple coils to hold it via friction.
There are many fans of it, and also many (like me) who think it's a waste of time. Poeple who like it must be using tippet material that differs from mine, or maybe different hook material or something.
What is simple and quick is not always best :thmbup:
It even looks crappy, since it doesn't secure the tag end in an way but simply closes it between the knot and the hook eye (similar to an untucked clinch knot, but without the multiple coils to hold it via friction.
There are many fans of it, and also many (like me) who think it's a waste of time. Poeple who like it must be using tippet material that differs from mine, or maybe different hook material or something.
What is simple and quick is not always best :thmbup:
dwizum
Well-known member
Improved clinch knot since I was maybe 6 or 7. I've never bothered to learn another tippet-to-fly knot because this one is strong (enough), easy to tie, and consistent.