Blood Knot
The blood knot ties tippet to leader cleanly. It rides through guides without snagging the way a surgeon's knot can.
Tying it
1. Lay the two lines parallel, tag ends pointing opposite directions, about 8 inches of overlap.
2. Wrap one tag around the other line five times.
3. Bring the tag back to the center gap and lay it through.
4. Wrap the other tag five times the other direction; bring it back to the same center gap from the opposite side.
5. Wet. Pull the standing ends. The knot collapses into a tidy barrel.
6. Trim both tags.
When the diameters differ too much
If you're joining 0X (around 0.011 inches) to 5X (around 0.006 inches), the blood knot will skew. Use six wraps on the lighter side and three on the heavier so the tension equalizes. If the diameters differ by more than two X-sizes, switch to a triple-surgeon's; the surgeon's handles a mismatch better.
When this beats a surgeon's
- Joining a 30-foot leader to a butt section. Blood knot has a lower profile through stripping guides.
- Repairing a leader without retying the whole thing. Blood adds barely any diameter at the joint.
Tips
Wet aggressively before the pull. A dry blood knot heat-burns and weakens by 20 percent. Pull slow and feel the wraps stack before the final cinch.