Easier way to tie a blood knot

[crs5942]

I've always liked the slim profile of blood knots but I have yet to tie one on the stream because it takes me too long compared to my trusty triple surgeons knot. Anyway, the other day I had an idea about tying blood knots on stream and I ran a mock scenario at home. I took a small hackle pliers (I'm sure any reverse tweezers would work) and put it onto a zinger on my vest. I then overlapped the two tag ends by about 3 inches and clamped the hackle pliers in the middle of the overlap. I was able to quickly tie the blood knot because I had an extra "hand" to keep the two tag ends together while wrapping. Once I was ready to pull tight I simply removed the hackle pliers, pulled tight, and clipped the tag ends. I also tried doing it with a clinch knot tool. It worked, but it left a kink right near the knot. The small hackle pliers were much easier to work with. I haven't quite gotten it down well enough to tie it as fast as a surgeons, but the time gap has greatly been diminished. I just wanted to share this story in case anyone else was looking for an aid to tying blood knots.

 

[tomgamber]

Wow, you not only started a thread from four topics down...you did it twice....

Look here: http://www.paflyfish.com/modules/newbb/viewtopic.php?topic_id=6704&viewmode=flat&order=ASC&type=&mode=0&start=0

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Double uni knots work for me no extra hands needed .

 

[pete41]

i mentioned this the other day-it works
tie small overhand knot in in end of leader-don't pull tight
run tippet material through knot
tighten knot
do your five wraps with tippet material around leader finish as regular blood knot,moistening while pulling tight
as long as your leader slightly heavier than tippet material -will be as strong as regular blood knot -much less bulky and if you use the recommended three foot tippet as shock absorber the knot at fly will give first anyway
great cold fingers knot and I don't recall any giving way-overhand wind knots were the biggest problem.
Double or trip surgeons good ones too.
the 1/2 blood has one advantage as it can be tied right at end of your tapered leader.

 

[tomgamber]

I understood that this time...

 

[ryguyfi]

I just use a blood knot for all tippet connections. The hardest part of the knot is finding the middle and opening a gap wide enough to stick the tag ends through from either side.... so I just twist the 2 ends together about 7 times, then stick one tag end in and twist the other end 7 times and then stick that end through the other side. That's the only way I have found to semi-fix the problem. Still not the easiest knot to tie in the middle of the stream... seems to get harder when fish are rising :-D

 

[littlejuniata]

If we wanted to do everything the easy way we would not be fy fishing, the bood knot is beautiful and has been the favorite for decades. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FYMNX1b47gA&feature=related

 

[osprey]

They do make a tool , a friend swears by it , i just tie a granny , overhand , whatever you want to call it , trim the tags , fold the joined peices into a loop or circle , with the knot at the top , flod the leader over itself at the bottom about 5 times and stick the knot through the opening , a little saliva and draw tigh , then cut off the knot and loop down flush voila.......bloodknot with practice you can do this onstream easy.

 

[afishinado]

I rarely use a bloodknot any more. A triple surgeon's knot is easier to tie, is at least as strong, and works well for tying together different diameter lines.

Click on "surgeons knot" on the top menu:

http://www.orvis.com/orvis_assets/files/index.html

 

[live2fish]

Here's the tool osprey mentioned.
http://www.feather-craft.com/wecs.php store=feacraft&action=display&target=HJ437 $13.25

Cabela's has same one for $11.99

 

[littlejuniata]

I think the biggest problem for most folks tying bloods is having the tag ends either too long or too short.

 

[jayL]

Blood knots become pretty easy with time. I have more trouble tying flies on than I do with blood knots.

Practice a few in front of the TV, and you'll develop some tricks.

 

[tomgamber]

THIS animation makes it look a little easier. Tags are irrelevant if you start in the middle and clip them when finished. Its really just a clinch knot to the right, grab the middle and a clinch knot to the left. Hardest part is tying the second knot with the other (non-dominant) hand. Moistening with spit and pulling evenly helps it go easier as well.

 

[janstone88]

That tool that live2 fish has shown you can pick up at cabellas and probably works great, but the one i have is priceless and works much better for me. The difference is that it has clips to hold your tag ends together with your leader and tippet respectively. It has a plastic dowell that you feed in between the leader and tippet and twist about 4 or 5 times between the clips, then feed one tag end up and one down in the gap created by the dowell. If it wasnt for this tool, i probably wouldnt use a blood knot. The problem is that it is very hard to find. I picked mine up on e bay.
The manufacturer is:
Dennison Reaseach Products
4125 S.W. Charming Way
Portland, OR 97225
product info: (503) 292 3153
I hope this helps you

 

[fly_flinger]

Frog Hair has a blood knot tool that works very well. With this tool I can tie a leader in about 10-15 minutes even while being distracted by tv and beer. If I precut all my sections, which I don't do, I'm sure it would be even quicker.

 

[tomgamber]

those are great for sitting in your living room and tying leaders but how worthy are they for on stream use?

 

[fly_flinger]

Tom,
I would say not very worthy on the stream but that's when the surgeons knot comes in handy. Since it's usually only the last few sections that would need rebuilt, the surgeons knot should be sufficient.

 

[Spyder20oz]

Double surgeons... easy and simple

 

[pcray1231]

I tie my line to line (not fly line, just all leader knots) connections in about 20 seconds. I call them blood knots, but they aren't technically blood knots, I don't know if they have a name.

I just do a double clinch knot. Make a loop in one line and treat that loop like the eye of a hook, tie a clinch knot with the other line. Tighten it and tie a clinch knot with the other line. You can make them improved clinch knots if you want, but I never found a need for that.

I also don't wrap the tag end around the line with my clinch knots. I hold the tag against the line with some tag left, and just twist the fly or other line. With my "blood" knot you're usually actually twisting both at once. After finishing run it through a leader straightener and the twist is gone.

Thats just how I learned and my dad called them blood knots, now I know they're close but not exact. Almost never do one of my knots break, always the line....

 

[tomgamber]

pcray1231 wrote:
I just do a double clinch knot. Make a loop in one line and treat that loop like the eye of a hook, tie a clinch knot with the other line. Tighten it and tie a clinch knot with the other line. You can make them improved clinch knots if you want, but I never found a need for that.

I used to do that when I was learning the blood knot about 20 years ago...I rarely had a break off but I got tired of my friends dad saying, "you're tying that wrong"...Now I can tie a blood knot in about 30 seconds if I can see and a double surgeons in the dark like I did on Saturday night.