The Davy Knot

Tom Butler

Tom Butler

Grandpa, Small Stream Fanatic
Forum Supporter
One thing I worked on while I was ill way learning to tie the Davy knot. Clinch knots always hold, but I just don't care for them much for some situations, and for me a non-slip loop knot just "fishes" better. But on small flies (esp. dries) and other things I thought a new knot would be good to know. Lots of folks have mentioned the Davy Knot, and I though a knot that didn't use as much dropper tippet might be handy. This video helped.

My first on the water fly change left kind of a long tag, but it wasn't warm, and blowing 35mph. So no worse than a loop knot, and they got shorter during the day. Such a tidy little knot and none broke or slipped. 3X on Sz. 8.
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Worked well, hopefully I'll remind myself to use it enough to remember. Not too old to learn but maybe too brain damaged to remember.
 

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I tried to get onboard with the Davy knot. You have to pay a lot of attention, to make sure the tag is at the right angle. With a clinch knot, I can just blindly pull it close and it always seats correctly. The unpredictability of the Davy knot turned me off.
 
jaredoconnor said:
I tried to get onboard with the Davy knot. You have to pay a lot of attention, to make sure the tag is at the right angle. With a clinch knot, I can just blindly pull it close and it always seats correctly. The unpredictability of the Davy knot turned me off.
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I did note that in the video and will keep an eye on it.
 
I like the Davy knot bc it doesn’t leave much of a tag end, and easy to tie
 
I use it most of the time, especially for flies on dropper tags because it conserves the tag and I can tie it on a short bit of tag.

I sometimes go one more loop through (so three times).

The davy and a non-slip loop knot knot about cover it for me for terminal knots.
 
Thanks for posting the video. I never thought of using the tool to tie it, and that makes it very easy. Crazy how you can pull on the tag end and make a loop, after the knot is tied. Can you leave a little loop so the fly bounces around, and then the knot will still work when a fish hits?

Old as dirt and still learning things...
 
Doublebluff said:
Thanks for posting the video. I never thought of using the tool to tie it, and that makes it very easy. Crazy how you can pull on the tag end and make a loop, after the knot is tied. Can you leave a little loop so the fly bounces around, and then the knot will still work when a fish hits?

Old as dirt and still learning things...
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Not sure, but I think it needs the friction force and compression of seating to hold correctly, hence the bit about the knot tag being square for proper hold.
 
I suck at knots. Even as long as I have been throwing line around, I need something that was easy to tie and remember how to. Hence the Davy knot was shown to me by a few old timers here on the old site. I believe that McRowdy and Zen(the young one) showed me how when I lived in Silver Star. That was about 14 years ago or so. Sometimes I tie it wrong but it still held on all the fish I ever caught.
 
Old Man said:
I suck at knots. Even as long as I have been throwing line around, I need something that was easy to tie and remember how to. Hence the Davy knot was shown to me by a few old timers here on the old site. I believe that McRowdy and Zen(the young one) showed me how when I lived in Silver Star. That was about 14 years ago or so. Sometimes I tie it wrong but it still held on all the fish I ever caught.
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I'm not good as well. My hands tremble a bit all the time, old work injury. But I figured if I practiced enough I could do it when I wanted to.
 
Tom Butler said:
I'm not good as well. My hands tremble a bit all the time, old work injury. But I figured if I practiced enough I could do it when I wanted to.
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At 80 my hands went to hell. They shake like leaves in a tree on a windy day. Now at 87 they are just about at an unable to control level now. It takes all I can do to tie on a fly. I have to laugh at myself, if I didn't I would probably cry.
 
Old Man said:
I suck at knots. Even as long as I have been throwing line around, I need something that was easy to tie and remember how to. Hence the Davy knot was shown to me by a few old timers here on the old site. I believe that McRowdy and Zen(the young one) showed me how when I lived in Silver Star. That was about 14 years ago or so. Sometimes I tie it wrong but it still held on all the fish I ever caught.
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Love to see the Zen name pop up, that dude taught me more about steelheading and flyfishing in one day than I would get in 10 years on my own. Hell of a dude and crazy fishy.
 
The only knot I use if I'm not using a loop knot, hundreds of Coho and Ling cod, a bunch of Chinook, 1 70# Halibut, a dozen Albacore. Nothing faster for me, it's a 3 second knot!
 
I can tie a nail knot, clinch knot, blood knot, arbor, surgeons, perfection loop, etc. It is very manly to be able to tie those knots !

However, I have now stopped tying 90% of the knots. I use loop connectors on the fly line/leader and tie in a tippet ring on the distal end of the leader. This reduces my knot tying to clinch for the ring onto the leader and tippet to ring. I also use clinch on the fly, but will on occasion use a davey. An occasional blood knot to reduce tippet size is all I need.

As you get older you both get lazier and understand that easy is "good enuf"
 
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