I’ve spent years tying the improved clinch knot on my flies and droppers. I’ve gotten good enough that I can tie it with numb hands in howling winds and blackout conditions. It’s a fine, serviceable knot. It is not the strongest knot, though, and it does take a bunch of steps so I started kicking around ideas about learning a new knot. After trying several, I ended up going with a knot commonly called a 16-20. It is very easy to tie, strong and practically tells you that it’s tied and seated properly with a nice little “CLICK”. This knot is especially great for size 4x-7x tippet.
Steps:
1. Thread down through a down eye, up through an up eye.
2. Lay the tag end parallel to and behind the standing line.
3. Pinch the loop you just made and wrap around the front of the paralleled lines 3x.
4. Go through the loop at the top between the standing line and the top arc of the loop.
5. Lubricate the whole mess and work the knot down to the eye of the hook. Hold the tag end snug and tighten everything up. When feel and hear that distinct “CLICK” you are done.
Fish On!
–Shannon
