The Beauty of the Blood Knot

The when & where of using the Blood Knot

There are few knots more satisfying to pull tight than a properly tied blood knot. It's symmetrical, uniform look with tag ends that mirror each other perfectly make it not just a strong knot to fish, but an aesthetically pleasing one at that. 

But when is a blood knot practical? 

The blood knot is an excellent option when tying together two tippets of a similar diameter. The beauty of a blood knot, in opposition to a double surgeon's knot, is that the tag ends of the leader do not have to pass through anything in order to tie the knot. 

This means that if you have a wind knot in your leader, you can leave your fly on and your setup intact, while still rescuing the leader. This would not be feasible with a knot such as a double surgeon's. When attaching materials of drastically different diameters, the "improved" blood knot works wonders. 

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