Blood Knot or Surgeons Loop?

This post was last updated on October 24th, 2014 at 01:57 am

Tying 2 lines together is mandatory in fly fishing. Whether you are tying on a little tippet to make your small fly presentation more low key, or just creating your own leader, one of these 2 knots is essential. Learn how to tie all knots for fly fishing here if you don’t know how.

Seems like most experts agree that the blood knot is the way to go, but everyone seems a little upset that this knot takes too much time. Using this knot does not need to be hard or take a long time if you watch this quick way to tie a blood knot video.

Philip Monahan at Midcurrent did a great article comparing and contrasting these 2 knots, have a look below for the link.

Which Knot: Blood Knot or Surgeon’s?

Question: Blood knot or surgeon’s knot, and why?

Evan P., Berkeley, CA

Answer: I am a blood-knot guy. It’s the one I learned first, and I’ve tied it enough that I can tie a blood knot well every time (pretty quickly, I might add). Plus, it’s a beautiful knot—elegant and symmetrical.

But why take my word for it? I threw the question out to the usual suspects, and here’s what they had to say:

“My issue with a double surgeon’s is that—even when formed correctly—the knot does not always draw up correctly for maximum strength.  If one strand cuts across the other as the knot rolls over into the figure 8 as it is tightened, the knot will be quite weak, and it is not due to any error on the part of the angler tying the knot.  My mantra when I teach.. Read more at Midcurrent