Nail Knot Tool?

[Deuterium]

Any manufacturer preferences?

 

[PennKev]

Large sewing needle.

Best nail knot tool out there. Make your wraps tight around the needle then use the eye to pull the tag through. Done.

Kev

 

[Lonewolve]

Tie-Fast knot tool..hands down the best streamside or gear bag tool for tying nail knots or snells you can buy IMHO.ANd believe me im a Fly Gear/Tying Hoarder.

 

[jjsjigs]

Love the Tie-Fast!

 

[Shock]

A nail or even a toothpick works fine.

I think people have problems with this knot because they only tie one and months later can't remember what they did.

Get a good illustration and tie 5 or 6 in a row to get practice and get the hang of how you want to hold things, wrap, etc.

A short piece of old fly line might help for practice.

Once you have it down, you might find that you don't need a special tool.

Don't mean to hijack or anything,

Just wanted to share my thoughts.

Shock

 

[TimMurphy]

Dear Deuterium,

Use a Uni knot, no tools required.

Regards,

Tim Murphy

 

[jdaddy]

It's actually not that hard to tie a nail knot without a tool, however if you need a tool just use a straw or nail or something.

 

[Deuterium]

Thanks all. As always, I appreciate your thoughts.

 

[mcwillja]

I've tied the nailless nail knot many times and never had it fail.

 

[gfen]

Tye-Fast or any generic version there of. It as easy to tie a nail knot as a cinch knot, or more so.

Buy it with the nippers and eye pokey thing, useful at all times.

 

[zenherper]

I've tried the straw and other methods, and they work, but I have to say, the convenience of the tie-fast tool on the stream is what I like about it.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

mcwillja wrote:
I've tied the nailless nail knot many times and never had it fail.

This. Same knot as you get with the Tie-Fast tool.

 

[Lonewolve]

i do like the Whitlock nail knot but sometimes have trouble getting the heavy butt through the fly line,Heritage i also like this video i never knew about twisting the short end thnx for the tip...still say if you are gonna buy a tool to do this the Tie Fast is still the best, i also like the 5/7 blood knot but usually just tie a surgeons knot.
newest knot for me will be the Davy knot i have never tried it , but it s Trout Spey Time for me an swinging big wets ,big streamers and small trout spey type flies will be modus operendi till Rifle season.
Tight Wraps & Tight Lines
Rick Wallace

 

[RLeep2]

>>Dear Deuterium,

Use a Uni knot, no tools required.

Regards,

Tim Murphy>>

That's a 53% truth in that it applies to people with moderate to high thresholds for frustration. The other 47% will need 2-4 mg. of Valium or its ethanol equiv: 4-6 oz. of 80 proof spirits, which in the broad sense of the word meets the definition of a "tool". I once came very close to throwing a fly reel through a sliding glass door after the 4th time the knot slipped off the end of the fly line as I was squinching the wraps together.

Even with this, it is far better than using one of those knot tools, IMO. The speed nail knot (Uni) is the bomb..

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Rick - This might help...

Davy knot

 

[Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah]

HA. Thanks for show the Link for the Nail-less

Thanks for reducing extra gadgets i don't need to be carrying around, since this knot is just as good as using the tool.

 

[FrequentTyer]

I use the Tie right tool, or a nail or straw and all work about the same. I have to give that nail-less knot a try.
I have been confused over this diagram from Joe Humphreys that shows what I think could be a nail-less knot (I'm not sure why the toothpick is necessary, but I have found it impossible to actually wrap the loop as described. Do any of you tie the knot like this?

http://www.joehumphreysflyfishing.com/knots.htm

 

[Shock]

I had a flyfishing class with Joe and he covered knots in it. We used toothpicks but I don't remember wrapping the loop.

I make the loop but wrap back the fly line 4 or 5 times with the but end of the leader and then insert the but end in the loop and pull.

the hardest part is tightening the knot evenly from both ends and not getting the wraps overlapped which makes a "not so pretty" knot. Wetting the knot before tightening helps.

Even an ugly nail knot holds strong, though.

I have started using UV knot sense over the nail knot to help smooth out the knot and end of the fly line. I also cut the end of the fly line on a bevel. Togehter this helps it slide through the tip top and guides when needed.

I got the idea of using UV Knot sense form Ed Shenk who likes to use fly rods as short as 5 foot and therefore needs to have the fly line to leader connection pass through his guides a lot.


Shock

 

[Heritage-Angler]

Shock brings up a good point.

Whatever tool or method you use to tie the nail knot, it's always a good idea to seal the exposed end of the fly line to prevent water from wicking up the core. This helps keep the tip from sinking. A good water proof super glue like Zap-a-Gap works, but doesn't aid much in helping the knot slide through the guides.

Loon's UV Knot Sense does a good job of making a tapered "football" shape over the nail knot, but it isn't very durable. A simple solution is to coat the knot with a bit of epoxy - this lasts for years if you are careful during the curing process to keep the shape. Another thing you can do is to add a tiny bit of a bright acrylic craft paint to the epoxy before applying it. Makes an easier to see transition for line watchers.

Someone I know that builds his own leaders uses that method to cover the first few knots in his leaders. Makes a really good indicator system that's easy to see. It doesn't affect the leader much when switching to dry flies, either. I've seen commercial leaders available that use that style of indicator...

 

[Deuterium]

Thanks for everyone's comments.