Is this the Best Fly to Tippet Knot? Pitzen Knot

Many popular Fly to Tippet knots can weaken your tippet by over 40% (depending on the material).

This includes knots like the half blood knot, clinch knot/improved clinch knot variations on a theme. And while you might say "I never have a problem and don't lose fish using an improved clinch knot" - you could be getting your flies back out of more snags...

Even more importantly - you could be tying your flies onto FINER TIPPET and still getting the same breaking strain that you are now with the thicker tippet needed to offset the weakening effect of your knot.

Learning how to tie a fly to a leader while retaining maximum breaking strain is an essential skill.

Other really strong knots - like the Palomar - can use up a bit more tippet than is convenient when attaching dropper flies. The Palomar, in particular, needs enough tippet to double back through the eye and then form a loop large enough to pass the fly through. When you're down to a three inch dropper length, that can get difficult!

The Pitzen knot retains a big proportion of your tippet's breaking strain - while being very fast to tie (with a small amount of practice using the method shown here). It also leaves only a small bump/barren at the eye of tiny flies (unlike clinch knots).

When you get good at placing just a short tag end through the doubled-back tippet, you can really minimise the wastage of tippet material - and avoid shortening your tippet by big chunks every time you change your fly out for a new one.