Updated 5/2/2007
Knots that Catch Fish
As simple as it may seem, the way you tie on your fly can catch you more fish. Being a fly fishing guide for more than 25 years, I have learned that outstanding nymph fishermen use small and successful tricks or finesses to gain the edge on the average Joe. The small finesses are the little tricks that induce the extra strikes when the fishing is poor and the better strikes when the fishing is good. From rigging their leaders and tippets to the slightest variance in their cast are often the difference that transforms the day of fishing from marginal to great. I have several of these little tricks that often make the day for myself or my clients. One in particular is the knot that I use to tie on my nymph. Believe it or not, something as simple as a knot can make a difference in presentation and whether an elusive 24 inch Brown takes or ignores the morsel that you are presenting. While tippet size, leader length, fly line weight and several other factors can also influence your prey, the knot is the part of your rigging that is the closest to the fish and its' effect is most visible.
Most nymphs are tied on Turned-Down-Eye (TDE) hooks --- why? Can anyone provide an advantage for using a TDE hook when nymph fishing? I don't care what shank length or size it is they all share the same disadvantage, the Turned-Down-Eye. Actually I believe the TDE hooks were made for snelling, tying the line on the hook by wrapping it around the hook shank and then out the hook-eye. TDE hooks actually favor the dry fly angler more than the nymph fisherman. For the dry fly angler, the angle of the hook-eye lets the tippet dangle to the water without tipping the fly over forward. While for the nymph fisherman the TDE hook lessens the hook gape and inverts the nymph making it drift up-side-down. The inversion of the fly would not be such a disadvantage if it kept the fly inverted at all times and stopped snagging with the bottom. Then the tyer could tie the back of the fly in the gape side or hook's belly instead of on the hook's back and make the pattern's appearance upright at all times. This is particularly true if the fly is imitating a swimming nymph, because a swimming nymph always rights itself before swimming away. Large predator nymphs like Stoneflies and Dobson flies are examples of this.
Well, are Straight-Eyed hooks or Turned-Up-Eyed (TUE) hooks any better? Knot really. That was not a misspelling but a pun to make a point. The knot really makes the difference no matter what type of hook you are using. If you tie the nymph on with just about any conventional or traditional knot when dead-drifting the pattern and the nymph is not touching the bottom, it drifts dangling straight down or vertically below the line or indicator. This may be a normal presentation for some nymphs like ---- I can't think of one. Well you might say an emerging nymph, but emerging nymphs are swimming up toward the surface not floating vertically a couple of feet below the surface. Sorry, in my rivers nothing floats vertically several feet below the surface. I don't think they do in yours either.
But if the knot actually determined your nymph's position regardless of the style of hook it would be an enormous advantage for the angler. This is possible. Here are your choices: Guaranteed Vertical; Guaranteed Horizontal with the hook-point-down; and Guaranteed Horizontal with the hook-point-up. Which would you - the angler - choose? Well truthfully there is, or could be, a time and presentation for each of these hook positions. Guaranteed Vertical is used for emerging nymphs, but don't dead drift them. Swim them to the surface. Guaranteed Horizontal with the hook-point-down would best be used in deep water when there is not a chance of coming in contact with the bottom. And lastly, Guaranteed Horizontal with the hook-point-up is the best choice for most fishing situations.
Why is Guaranteed Horizontal with the hook-point-up the best choice? Most true aquatic and pseudo aquatic nymphs move through the water in a horizontal position. From Oligochaete worms to minnows, horizontal is the normal presentation. The hook-point-up is the best choice if the bottom is barely a possibility. Snagging the fly on the bottom loses it or dulls it. Also, hook-point-up hooks the fish in the stouter portion of its mouth; the upper jaw. Hooking the fish here gives the angler more leverage and lift on the fish during the fight. Ever wonder why carp don't come to the surface easily? Their tail is almost always above their mouth during a fight.
So what is this wonderful knot that I use to guarantee the hook position of a nymph? Believe it or knot, it is any slip knot that you tie best. It could be a "Universal Knot" or a "Clinch Knot" or any other knot that lets the tippet slip through the middle of it to tighten. You see it is not the knot - but the relationship of the hook-eye, the tippet, and where you place the knot on the hook that makes all the difference in the world.
Most nymphs are tied on Turned-Down-Eye (TDE) hooks --- why? Can anyone provide an advantage for using a TDE hook when nymph fishing? I don't care what shank length or size it is they all share the same disadvantage, the Turned-Down-Eye. Actually I believe the TDE hooks were made for snelling, tying the line on the hook by wrapping it around the hook shank and then out the hook-eye. TDE hooks actually favor the dry fly angler more than the nymph fisherman. For the dry fly angler, the angle of the hook-eye lets the tippet dangle to the water without tipping the fly over forward. While for the nymph fisherman the TDE hook lessens the hook gape and inverts the nymph making it drift up-side-down. The inversion of the fly would not be such a disadvantage if it kept the fly inverted at all times and stopped snagging with the bottom. Then the tyer could tie the back of the fly in the gape side or hook's belly instead of on the hook's back and make the pattern's appearance upright at all times. This is particularly true if the fly is imitating a swimming nymph, because a swimming nymph always rights itself before swimming away. Large predator nymphs like Stoneflies and Dobson flies are examples of this.
Well, are Straight-Eyed hooks or Turned-Up-Eyed (TUE) hooks any better? Knot really. That was not a misspelling but a pun to make a point. The knot really makes the difference no matter what type of hook you are using. If you tie the nymph on with just about any conventional or traditional knot when dead-drifting the pattern and the nymph is not touching the bottom, it drifts dangling straight down or vertically below the line or indicator. This may be a normal presentation for some nymphs like ---- I can't think of one. Well you might say an emerging nymph, but emerging nymphs are swimming up toward the surface not floating vertically a couple of feet below the surface. Sorry, in my rivers nothing floats vertically several feet below the surface. I don't think they do in yours either.
But if the knot actually determined your nymph's position regardless of the style of hook it would be an enormous advantage for the angler. This is possible. Here are your choices: Guaranteed Vertical; Guaranteed Horizontal with the hook-point-down; and Guaranteed Horizontal with the hook-point-up. Which would you - the angler - choose? Well truthfully there is, or could be, a time and presentation for each of these hook positions. Guaranteed Vertical is used for emerging nymphs, but don't dead drift them. Swim them to the surface. Guaranteed Horizontal with the hook-point-down would best be used in deep water when there is not a chance of coming in contact with the bottom. And lastly, Guaranteed Horizontal with the hook-point-up is the best choice for most fishing situations.
Why is Guaranteed Horizontal with the hook-point-up the best choice? Most true aquatic and pseudo aquatic nymphs move through the water in a horizontal position. From Oligochaete worms to minnows, horizontal is the normal presentation. The hook-point-up is the best choice if the bottom is barely a possibility. Snagging the fly on the bottom loses it or dulls it. Also, hook-point-up hooks the fish in the stouter portion of its mouth; the upper jaw. Hooking the fish here gives the angler more leverage and lift on the fish during the fight. Ever wonder why carp don't come to the surface easily? Their tail is almost always above their mouth during a fight.
So what is this wonderful knot that I use to guarantee the hook position of a nymph? Believe it or knot, it is any slip knot that you tie best. It could be a "Universal Knot" or a "Clinch Knot" or any other knot that lets the tippet slip through the middle of it to tighten. You see it is not the knot - but the relationship of the hook-eye, the tippet, and where you place the knot on the hook that makes all the difference in the world.
Guaranteed Vertical
Lets take the simplest presentation first - Guaranteed Vertical. With a Straight-Eyed, TUE, or TDE hook tie the fly on using any knot that tightens on the hook-eye. The pictures below are all #12 Sowbug tied on different style hooks. All three bugs have the same amount of lead wire, 10 wraps of .025, straw backing, thread, and dubbing. The pictures are, from left to right, a Straight-Eyed hook, a TUE hook, and a TDE hook.
This is most likely the way that ninety-nine percent of the fishermen tie on their nymphs with some sort of knot tightening on the front of the hook-eye.