Line to leader. Leader to tippet. Tippet to fly.
If you can learn the three simple connecting knots for rigging your fly-fishing outfit, you can hit the water in almost any situation.
The folks at Gear Junkie and Denver Outfitters teamed up to produce the super-helpful video above. It shows just how easy the knots are, how easy they are to learn and why they work well for a fly-fishing outfit.
Certainly, you can learn more knots as your angling evolves, but these three knots—the handshake knot, the double surgeon’s knot and the clinch knot— shown above should be considered elementary. Once you master them, you’ll spend more time fishing and less time retying your outfit.