The Best Way to Connect Fly Line to Backing

For beginning fly fishermen, the number of knots can be overwhelming – especially when there are several knots that can be used to do the same thing. How do you choose which one to use? Considerations include: how easy is the knot to tie? What is the knot strength? How bulky is the knot? Are you ever even going to get into your backing?

A quick Google search on the topic yield knots that include: nail knot, triple surgeon knot, Albright knot, bimini twist, etc. If you are using Dacron braided backing, my money is on the blind splice loop. This knot, well, loop, rather, allows you to put a loop on the end of your braided backing, so you can make a loop-to-loop connection with your fly line.

The blind splice loop knot is an excellent knot that is 100% strong and extremely smooth in the event that Hog Johnson takes you into your backing. The knot works similar to how a Chinese finger trap works – when the line gets tight, the knot gets stronger.

There are a few videos online showing how to do it, but I have found that the Confluence Fly Shop’s Scott Willison’s video was one of the better tutorials that I found. Rather than use thick mono folded over for a needle, I found a bobbin threader works great. Alternatively, you could also use a wide-eyed needle if you have one of those laying around, but as a fly fisher, it is probably more likely you’d have a threader.

Having personally used many different knots to attach backing to my fly line, there is no going back after trying the blind splice loop.