Is this the Best Fly to Tippet Knot? Pitzen Knot
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- Опубліковано 10 гру 2020
- 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.
THE best knot for tubes, period.
Thanks for the feedback! Paul
I enjoy your knot videos and look forward to more of them
Finally got a lot my other jobs out of the way and time to start practicing this knot having just constructed my ladder leader.
One thing that I would like to see when tying these knots is a view from behind you in addition to the one with your smiling face on (sorry!).
It's a bit like fly tying demonstrations sometimes it's helpful to see it as you will be doing it instead of in reverse.
That’s useful feedback John and something I can look at incorporating for future demonstrations (perhaps as part of my “River Perspectives” content creation for example)
Nice knot seen this tied with a forceps . I use a plunger style hackle pliers
Really clear explanation Paul, defiantly going to give that a go. Looks easier that the improved clinch which I currently use.
Cool, just a session or two at home with a spool of tippet and a fly to do some practice and it should come very naturally/easily. Let me know how you get on... Paul
I’ve been tying this knot for over 65 years wasn’t called a pizza knot either I think it was called a double cinch. Also I use to double the line putting it through the eye of the hook twice and then rolling a double line around three times and then putting it through the loop. That makes it twice as strong. 🎉
It's an interesting one as this knot has a ton of different names that I've seen so far (and I think Pitzen was someone's name rather than "pizza pie" hehe). Other names I've seen are the 16:20 knot, Penny Knot and even "John's Dad's Knot". From that it has probably been independently invented by multiple different anglers several times over.
As an aside, I've heard both "cinch" and "clinch" used to describe what is also known as a half blood knot (either tucked or un-tucked) - so I guess it's a good example of why scientists use latin names to describe species (since there are endless variations of common names that different folks use at different times and places).
Paul
An easy one, that I will surely try out next time on the water. Thanks! I grew up with the improved clinch, then when I started tenkara I mostly quit that in favor of either double Davy or Orvis knot. But this seems easier than either of those.
I certainly grew up with the improved clinch too - a part of many fond childhood fishing adventure memories :)
Well explained. Thank you for making this video.
Thank you Raymond, I'm glad we made something that you found useful in your own fishing (that's our main goal here!). Paul
Yep easy to tie. I didn't know that you should come up through the hook eye! Tx
Palomar knot for me!!
Thanks for the email link - my new fav knot!
Fantastic - glad to be of assistance! Paul.
Great knot. I find it easier to keep the line under tension by hooking the bend of my fly over one of the finger holes of my forceps clipped to my jacket.
Great tip Kerry! Paul.
Same as 16/20 knot? Tied this all my fishing life after tying the grinner wrongly!
I just had to look it up - but, yes essentially the same knot. Thanks for that (and the story behind the name 16/20 is awesome!). The 16 20 seems to be recommended with 3 to 4 turns and I admit I don't really know whether that number differs in the way most people tie or tied the knot under the "Pitzen" label. Cool stuff.
Thank you, Paul. In my experience, two turns yield a stronger knot than three turns, especially with fine tippet (5-7x) Do you have a preference?
I tend to go two-turn; but primarily because I'm lazy and/or in a rush to keep fishing ha ha ha (I couldn't comment authoritatively on which is stronger - so thanks for your own insights, that helps me a lot), Paul
Paul, nice video. I use tippet rings so should I use this knot there too.
I would, you can actually hold the "legs" of tippet in front of the "eye" of whatever you're tying in to (whether that is a hook or a tippet ring).
Yep good confidence with the 'click as you pull the line taught! I will try your way .
Yep - just be careful to avoid pulling too fast and hard; don't want to shock load it (or create heat through friction - even when well wetted). Paul
When streamer fishing, pull out the finished knot away from the eye of the hook and you'll have a looped rig, when you hook up the knot slides back tight again.
Very cool - do you find that this keeps enough of the breaking strain across a range of tippet strengths? This could also be applied as a variation on the "tell tale" knot method when fly fishing using several flies on droppers... If you're not hooking many fish - but you want to know which fly (or flies) are being grabbed from time to time; the answer is the one(s) with the knots drawn up! Thanks for adding another dimension to this Ted. Paul
I think I've tried his knot before and couldn't get the hang of it then. just can't seem to get to grips with it at all.
For Tenkara I want stronger knots at the Tenkara line-tippet ring-tippet junctions so that when I decorate trees or break off a large fish, all I lose is the fly. I use an improved clinch at both sides of the tippet ring; 4-5 turns for the line, 6-7 turns for 5X or 6X tippet. Since I stated using a 3 or 4 turn Orvis knot at the fly, I occasionally lose only the fly but still lose a lot of tippet. How would the Pitzen knot into that scheme for retaining maximum strength at the tippet ring junctions and slightly less at the fly to save tippet?
Hmm, that's quite a tough one, since the knot is generally the point that's slightly weaker than the main tippet...unless the tippet is damaged. I prefer to use a figure of 8 loop to make a girth hitch onto a tiny stopper knot at the end of my tenkara casting line. I then use a Pitzen to attach my (single) fly. That way I retain as much strength as possible down to the fly...I'm not looking to have any "break-away" function at all. You might find that the friction of the hook eye sawing on any knot might, over time, make that weaker than the girth hitch attached via a double strand over the relatively softer casting line and stopper knot...however I'd be looking to change my fly before that happened. If you really, truly can't get away from that quick release idea (although I'd urge you to just make it as unlikely as possible that you'd leave hooks in the environment); I'd probably suggest going for finer wire hooks that you can straighten with a really strong pull. That way you at least get your hook back...
@@FishingDiscoveries Thanks, the idea is that fish encounted in the US are probably larger than fish found in Japan's mountain streams, a tippet ring will help ensure the tippet breaks prior to the rod tip if using the mfg's (max) recommended tippet size.
ua-cam.com/video/QMgcgouZ1yE/v-deo.html&feature=em-uploademail Paul, This video from Angling Knots shows a slightly different method, I think. I generally hold the loop in my left hand and let the fly hang. I can make the wraps easier that way. Hope the link works.
Cool, that's a really interesting comparison Harold!
@@FishingDiscoveries And I just saw another version on Rio's website. I wonder if it's even a Pitzen knot?