Fly Fishing Knots: How to Tie a Davy Knot

Why Use a Davy Knot?

The Davy Knot gets its name from Davy Wotton, a famous British fly fisherman, who brought this small knot to prominence back in the 1950s. It’s known for being an exceptionally easy, swift, and low-profile knot for tying on flies. It is also a very strong knot (though not the strongest) when done properly.

An example Davy Knot tied with cord and eye hook. 

The Davy is a versatile knot. It can be used for dries, nymphs, and most streamers—though it does tend to shine with smaller flies (size 18 through 22) and lighter tippet. A Double Davy can provide some extra strength when moving into heavier tippet and larger hook eyes. (If attaching a larger hook to lighter tippet, a knot like the Orvis might be more appropriate—you can find more alternatives to the Davy below.)

In short, if you master the Davy Knot, there are very few additional knots you’ll need to know when it comes to attaching a fly to tippet. In today’s blog, we’ll show you how to tie one and suggest some alternatives to look into.

Tying a Davy Knot:

The mantra here is "keep it simple". Thread about 3 to 4 inches of tippet through the hook eye, fold it over the running line, and back through the resulting loop. After that, it’s a simple matter of running the end of your tippet back through the same loop from the bottom and then pulling it straight out and away from the hook eye.

When you’re cinching the knot, pull on the tag end first to draw everything together, then tug on the running line to set the knot. You’ll want to make sure the tag end points perpendicular to the hook eye—the knot won’t cinch properly otherwise, and you’ll likely be losing your next fish.

Tying an example Davy Knot with cord and eye hook.

Need to upgrade to a Double Davy for a bit more strength? Easy. Just run the tag through your loop one more time from the top before cinching.

Knots with Similar Functions:

The Clinch Knot, Improved Clinch Knot, Orvis Knot, and Uni Knot are all great alternatives to the Davy Knot. Out of all of these, the Clinch is likely the strongest, but the Uni (a great connector knot for more than just hooks) and Orvis (a similarly easy and low-profile knot to the Davy) are arguably faster.

Questions? Favorite knots? Stories of the one that got away? Share them in the comments below!