Like many of you, I've been fishing and boating for "several" decades, and have tried virtually every knot to grace the outdoor magazine pages. What led to my simplified version of the "Orvis" knot (not its original name), was the middle-aged need for glasses and good light for close work, neither of which is conveniently available on the water. My "figure eight on a bight" is very quick and easy to tie (a couple of seconds, even in the dark), can be used as a loop knot for bass bugging (until it closes when the fish takes), gets tighter as the fish pulls, rather than slipping, and is usually stronger than the other knots I've tried (don't know about flouro, since I don't use it). It also doesn't leave the tippet curli-qued (sp) after you tighten it. I encourage everyone to try different knots until they find one (or more) they like and can easily tie in bad light, then worry about something else, like where the fish are!

Hey Roofish......
Hey,hey, man, you got it all wrong ..you didnt cause any problems
There is no need to apologize
for anything ...ya missed a thread and it
Was brought to your attention, no malicious intent,....it turned out
Pretty good tho, alot more opinions and input ...now smile everyone
Still loves ya

Paul

The Davy knot was buried in a different thread and is such a good topic, reference all the opinions posted, that it really did need its own thread. At least now when someone sees this thread they will have all the comments as well as all the links to the how to tie.

Sometimes some of the more mature gents here may come off gruff but hey anyone who can stick his finger up his nose with cayenne pepper on it is bound to sometimes be misunderstood

Thank you gentlemen I couldnt have put it any better ....see that
I do have friends on this great fly fishng site ....yea, with friends like
That, who needs enemies ...let me go wash my hands I just fed the birds ..b4 I forget and I ...,never mind ..


Paul

Yep, Joe, those old people can really be crotchety at times. Oops, I'm one of them. Oh well, it's now time for my before-lunch nap so I won't be a pain in the butt this afternoon.

Used the Cross Creek knot this weekend and I must say it is quick and simple and worked very well.
Regarding tippet material, keep it out of direct sunlight and it will last for many years, I have kept mono that I used over 10-15 years without going bad on me (leader material).

Have been using the Cross Creek on a few outings now and I must say it works better than the Orvis knot, and so now it is my go to knot in tandem with the Rapala = "mono loop".

Another thing that I forgot to mention! I am very impressed with the Cross Creek knot. It too is very strong and I can't break it when I tie it RIGHT. I have broken it a couple of times, but I am not sure if it was my fault or the knot's. I am certainly going to give it some good laboratory work on the streams!

Wow Mt Rainier, that chart is an eye opener. Despite being a part time guitarist in a local jazz big band and theatrical stage musical orchestras I am all thumbs when it comes to gossamer tippets and tiny flies. Tired eyes and progressive bifocals plus wrap around sunglasses that bend light rays slightly distorting the view just aggravates the problem. Considering how passionate I am about fly angling perhaps devoting the time to practice knot tying like I do a tough musical passage would help .

But at any rate (maybe I should be a little embarrassed to say) I use the Tie-Fast Knot Tool. Maybe I'm wrong (not unusual) but an animated presentation of the the San Diego Jam knot appears to be like a nail knot loop but the tag runs up the exterior of the knot. The nail knot loop tied by the Tie-Fast and the more expensive Tailknott'r tool I lost easily ties a very similar knot to the SDJ knot with the tag going through the center of the wraps. Through trial and error I have found that 5 wraps with 4X and smaller mono or flouro ties a knot that is virtually always stronger than the weakest point in a tippet that may be affected by tiny nicks, water absorption, or wind knots . With 3X or larger tippets I think 4 wraps works fine. A cool option with this knot is to leave a small open loop rather than snugging it down on the fly like you can do with a Duncan, and apparently the SDJ that allows the fly to exhibit more action and acts as a shock absorber.

[quote
Over, under, around and through. Sounds like a commercial tune All I know is I have used the Davy knot this year and have landed all my fish (I would say a fair amount) on it without ever loosing a fly at the knot. Lost some where the tippet showed significant fraying but never at the knot. It is simple and easy to tie so I'm sticking to it. I also have five Davy knots in my rig; leader to leader ring, 20" tippet to anchor fly (Davy knot at both ends), 6" dropper off ring to dropper fly (Davy knot at both ends). If anyone has a chance to lose a fly on a bad knot then it's got to be me. I am also using 4X to the ring and 5,6 or 7X off the ring based on water conditions. That's my two cents for what it's worth [/quote]


Wrote this earlier in the thread and still holds true for me. Being blind in one eye (no depth perception) and far sighted in the other, I use my progressive glasses prescription +2.75 and add 4X drop down magnifiers to tie my knots so the Davy knot is simple strong and is the easiest one for me to get the tippet back through the loop.