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Glossary
knot

Surgeon's Knot

A simple knot for joining two pieces of line of similar diameter — typically tippet to leader. Two overhand knots on doubled line; ties in 8 seconds in the cold.

Also calledSurgeons knot · Double surgeons · Surgeon's

The Surgeon's Knot is the fly angler's tippet-to-leader joiner. Lay the two ends parallel for 4 inches, then tie an overhand knot using both lines together — pulling the long ends through twice (some tie three times for slick fluorocarbon). Wet it, pull all four strands at once.

Faster than a Blood Knot but bulkier; better than a Blood Knot in the cold or when tying small. The standard for adding fresh tippet during a fishing day.