Fly Fishing Clinch Knot – How to Tie Clinch Knot Correctly

This article is about the fly fishing Clinch knot. If you are a fly fishing rookie, we’ll show you how to tie the Clinch knot. If you aren’t so new to fly fishing, we’ll also show how to improve on the Clinch knot.

It’s never easy to improve your fly fishing clinch knot, but the techniques and technique improvements you can learn will be worth it.

There are many ways to improve the knot, and they all revolve around making a single neat knot instead of a haphazard series of knots.

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Getting Started with the Fly Fishing Clinch Knot

The first thing to remember is that you don’t need to overcomplicate this. Fly fishing is about relaxing in nature and having fun. Tying knots can be equally as rewarding. Take your time and you will find the joy in it.

When you tie your fly fishing tackle, you want a knot that has a straight line from the end of the line through the bait and then back through the middle of the line, all the way around again.

Start by watching this YouTube video.

Steps for Tying the Basic Fly Fishing Clinch Knot

Once you have your leader looped on to the tip of your fly line and you are ready to get out there and fish, you need to have a good knot to tie the fly on with.

  • Take your tippet and place it through the eye of the fly
  • Wrap that tippet around five times using your index finger and thumb
  • Then come back through that original loop that you formed next to the eye of the fly
  • Finally, you just pull down or cinch it down tight

Note: make sure that you don’t pull on the tag (short) end, you should be pulling on the standing (longer) end of the monofilament only.

Bonus: make sure to lubricate your line as well. It helps reduce friction and heat so there is no premature breaking of the line when you hook a fish.

Another Version of the Fly Fishing Clinch Knot

Here is how you tie the improved clinch knot.

  • First, you will want to keep the line in front of you, with the hook at the center.
  • You will need to do this knot with one hand and then with the other hand, grab the hook with the left hand.
  • This will help you hold the loop with the left hand as you pull the line toward you with the right hand.
  • You will need to tie the two knots together by twisting them around each other.
  • This is a good spot to put your thumb on one of the edges of the hook and it will help you twist the two loops tighter together.
  • Hold the hook and pull it tight, holding the line tightly together with the other hand.
  • Next, you will need to make sure that you tie the front loop of the knot onto the hook. This is where the loop meets the hook.
  • You will want to keep the front loop on the hook for a few seconds, then you will want to release the hook.
  • Next, you will want to put your thumb on the front loop and turn it clockwise.
  • You will then want to pull the front loop off the hook, allowing it to fall out. You should hold the line with your left hand and then just slide the knot off of the hook.
  • Next, you will need to wrap the line around and under the hook about three times. You will pull the line toward you and then around the hook. Make sure that you wrap the line twice around the hook and then pull it back around to where you tied the knot into the end of the line.
  • Wrap the line back around to the front loop of the knot. You will need to put your thumb on the front loop of the knot and turn it around until you get to the back loop.
  • Slide the knot to the back of the hook and then go back around the hook, coming to the front again.
  • After you have wrapped the line all the way around the hook, you will need to pull the line hard, back through the middle of the line, making sure that the slack is still in the middle.
  • This wraps the two ends of the line around each other and then pushes them through the knot on the hook.
  • Then, you will make a quick U-turn and put the two ends of the line through the knot you created at the front of the hook.

This is how you tie an improved clinch knot. Each type of knot is meant to be used in a few different ways.

Or better yet, watch this YouTube video on how to tie the Improved fly fishing Clinch knot.

Conclusion

This has been a tutorial on how to tie the fly fishing Clinch knot and the Improved fly fishing Clinch knot.

We hope you found it valuable and welcome your comments below.

Bob Hoffmann

The author of this post is Bob Hoffmann. Bob has spend most of his childhood fishing with his father and now share all his knowledge with other anglers. Feel free to leave a comment below.

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