6 steps
Improved Turle Knot
Heads up: we checked this page against published instructions for this knot, and the steps here don't match. We're rewriting them from those sources. Until then, please don't rely on these steps.
A Turle knot with the tag passed back through the eye. It keeps a turned-down-eye fly in line with the tippet.
Use it for
A Turle knot with the tag passed back through the eye. It keeps a turned-down-eye fly in line with the tippet.
This line
Not a braid knot. Build a tippet and tie the fly on that.
Avoid when
Straight-eye bait hooks and any hook with an eye too small for the loop to seat under it.
All steps visible
Improved Turle Knot
These steps are being corrected. Don't follow them yet.
These steps are being corrected. Don't follow them yet.
Step 1
Pass the tippet through the eye from the front, toward the bend, on a turned-down eye hook.
Step 2
Tie a double overhand loop in the tippet above the fly.
Step 3
Pass the whole fly through that loop.
Step 4
Draw the loop down until it bears on the shank just behind the eye.
Step 5
Pass the tag back through the eye once more so the loop cannot slip off a turned-down eye.
Step 6
Trim the tag. The pull should run straight down the shank.
The drawing follows this tying order. Pause, step, or scrub to stay with the words. The standing line runs to the reel. The tag is the short end you trim. Skin-hook means the point lies flat in the plastic, not out where grass can grab it.
Common mistakes
- Snugging the loop above the eye instead of on the shank.
- Using a single turn on tippet so fine that it slips.
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