The blood knot was one of the hardest knots for me to master on the water, and the fact that it is virtually necessary makes it an important knot to get your head around.
I have big fingers, so inticate work with monofilament lines and tippets is tricky enough. The blood knot requires a bit of digit dexterity, so it took me some time to become adept at adding tippet to a leader, or rebuilding a leader altogether on the stream bank.
The video above shows you exactly how it’s done in simple, easy-to-understand terms. It will take practice to master this knot, but not because it’s overly complex. As I said, it’s more an issue of getting your fingertips around thin mono and holding the line in place while you pull it tight. What used to take me multiple tries now takes me less than a minute, which is either a testament to my ability to learn with practice, or a fly fishing demerit for losing too many flies, forcing me to add more tippet more frequently.
Either way, this knot is vital to my day on the water, and I’m a better angler for knowing how to tie it.
— Chris Hunt