Davy Knot
Fast compact tippet hitch for small flies.
Beginner · Monofilament / Fluorocarbon
Connection card
Davy Knot
For line → hook.
Compact hitch at the eye: tippet through, around, and seated — a fly hitch, not a wrap barrel.
This card does not say how strong the knot is. A retention figure comes from a bench, in one material, at one diameter, tied by somebody who ties it all day — and the line in your hand is none of those. What it does tell you is whether the thing you have just tied is the thing the record describes.
What this plate is telling you
Fast compact tippet hitch for small flies.
Save this as a picture and it works with a dead signal and a nearly dead battery, which is when a joint is most often tied badly. The rest of this page — the steps, the seating sequence, the failure modes and the bench — is for the evening before.
Why this knot
What it earns its place with, what it costs, and what to reach for instead.
- Large flies under heavy tippet (prefer Double Davy or Orvis)
- Braid terminals
- Threading only a short stub of tippet through the eye
- Pulling the overhand tight before the tuck, which closes the loop above the eye
- Tucking the tag on the far side of the overhand instead of between it and the eye
- Pulling the standing line before the tag
- Double Davy KnotBeginner
Davy with an extra security pass for larger flies or slightly heavier tippet
- Orvis KnotBeginner
Ties tippet to a hook or fly with a small knot built on a figure eight
- Pitzen KnotIntermediate
Tying a hook, lure or fly to line or tippet
Before you start
- ·A compact knot that uses little tippet. NetKnots recommends it for flies in sizes 18 to 22, and an extra pass, the Double Davy, for larger flies.
- ·Push 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 in) of tippet through the eye. The finished knot is small, but you need room to make the tuck.
- ·Animated Knots warns that tippet too fine for the thickness of the hook wire cannot grip the final tuck. The Double Davy often solves this.
- ·The tag has to end up lying against the eye under the knot, so pull the tag first and the standing line second.
Step 1 of 4 · move 1 of 1. Push 8 to 10 cm of tippet through the hook eye and let the fly hang
Space plays or pauses. Keys 1, 2, 3 and 4 set the speed. Arrow keys change the move.
swipe to step
01.1
Push 8 to 10 cm of tippet through the hook eye and let the fly hang
- Hold:
- Left hand holds the fly by the eye
- Move:
- Right hand feeds the tag through and draws several inches clear
You should now see: A tag long enough to go around the standing line and tuck back, fly sliding freely.
Push 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 in) of tippet through the hook eye and let the fly hang on the standing line.
A tag long enough to go around the standing line and tuck back, with the fly sliding freely on the tippet.
Threading only a short stub through the eye. The tag runs out partway through the tuck at step 3 and the knot cannot be finished.
Fix: Pull more tippet through the eye before you start. If the tag has already run out, take the knot apart and begin again.
Why: The finished Davy uses very little tippet, but the tag still needs room to go around the standing line and tuck back while your fingers hold it.
arrow keys work
Tying procedure — Davy Knot
Step 01 / 4
Push 8 to 10 cm (3 to 4 in) of tippet through the hook eye and let the fly hang on the standing line.
You should now see: A tag long enough to go around the standing line and tuck back, with the fly sliding freely on the tippet.
If it goes wrong: Threading only a short stub through the eye. The tag runs out partway through the tuck at step 3 and the knot cannot be finished.
Fix: Pull more tippet through the eye before you start. If the tag has already run out, take the knot apart and begin again.
Why: The finished Davy uses very little tippet, but the tag still needs room to go around the standing line and tuck back while your fingers hold it.
Step 1 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Push 8 to 10 cm of tippet through the hook eye and let the fly hang
Hold: Left hand holds the fly by the eye
Move: Right hand feeds the tag through and draws several inches clear
You should now see: A tag long enough to go around the standing line and tuck back, fly sliding freely.
Step 02 / 4
Take the tag around the standing line and back through the loop it makes, forming a loose overhand knot just ahead of the hook eye.
You should now see: A loose overhand in the tippet a short way above the eye, with a small open loop of tippet between the overhand and the eye.
If it goes wrong: Snugging the overhand down now, or letting the tag cross over itself, so the loop above the eye closes and there is no room left for the tuck.
Fix: Ease the overhand open with a fingertip until the loop between it and the eye is clear. If the tag has crossed, undo it and make the turn again.
Why: This first turn is a half hitch around the standing line. It only holds the shape for the tuck and is tightened at step 4.
Step 2 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Tie a loose overhand in the tag around the standing line, just ahead of the eye
Hold: Left fingers hold the overhand open beside the eye
Move: Right hand lays the tag so the overhand stays loose rather than drawing shut
You should now see: A loose overhand sits ahead of the eye, with a small open loop between it and the eye.
Step 03 / 4
Bring the tag back through that loop, passing it between the overhand knot and the hook eye.
You should now see: The tag comes out between the overhand and the eye. The tippet now runs through the eye, around the standing line and back under itself.
If it goes wrong: Tucking the tag on the far side of the overhand instead of between the overhand and the eye. It draws down into a slip knot that pulls apart under load.
Fix: Pull the tag back out and retrace it before you tighten anything. A knot that has been seated with the wrong tuck has to be cut off.
Why: The tuck on the eye side traps the tag under the knot. Tucked on the other side, nothing holds the tag once the standing line takes load.
Step 3 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Tuck the tag back through that loop, between the overhand and the hook eye
Hold: Left hand keeps the overhand open
Move: Right hand brings the tag from the eye back through the opening
You should now see: The tag comes out between the overhand and the eye, not on the far side of the overhand.
Step 04 / 4
Pull the tag first to draw the knot up, then pull the standing line to set it against the eye. Trim the tag close.
You should now see: A small, tight knot sitting on the eye, with the tag held underneath it against the eye and a short trimmed end.
If it goes wrong: Pulling the standing line before the tag. The knot seats half-formed, or the tag slides away from the knot toward the middle of the eye.
Fix: If the knot has not closed fully or the tag has moved off the eye, cut it off and tie it again. It takes very little tippet to retie.
Why: Animated Knots notes that the tag has to lie against the eye under the knot. If it slides toward the centre of the eye, the knot holds much less well.
Step 4 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Pull the tag first, then the standing line, and trim the tag close
Hold: Left hand controls the fly and keeps the seat against the eye
Move: Right hand draws the tag to close the overhand, then pulls the standing tippet to set it
You should now see: A small tight knot sitting on the eye, the trimmed tag coming out between it and the eye.
What this is based onChanged, not yet re-reviewed · 3 known limits
- Record
- Reviewed 2026-08-13. 3 sources are cited for this record.
- Drawing
- Changed to fix faults found in its pictures or its film, and checked by the drawing checks. No person has looked at the change. Not yet re-reviewed, and not yet tied from the drawing. Recorded 2026-09-26.
- Known limits
- No audit has looked at this drawing since it was changed, so it may have faults that are not listed here.
- Strength
- Not established. No credible, comparable strength data exists for this knot, so no figure is shown.
What the drawing does not show
- Step 3, move 1 of 1: Partway through the film the tag's end cuts straight across the top of the knot to the eye, trailing a straight bar, before the tuck takes shape.
- Step 4, move 1 of 1: Partway through the film most of the knot drops out of the picture and the standing line breaks, before the knot reappears closed against the eye.
- Step 4, move 1 of 1: The trimmed tag is drawn coming out between the knot and the eye, over its own leg; it is not drawn lying under the knot against the eye.
Watch the tie
The Davy Knottightlinevideo · Opens on YouTubeExternal video from a creator we follow — not produced by us. Nothing on this page loads from YouTube until you follow the link.
Seating sequence — where failures are born
The step list compresses the finish. Run these phases in order, one at a time.
01 Moisten
Wet the structure before any load reaches it.
Zero. Nothing tightens yet.
02 Load
Take up slack slowly until the wraps begin to gather.
Light and even — both ends moving together.
03 Dress
Watch the wraps stack in order; stop and back off if any cross.
Hold, do not pull. Correction happens here or not at all.
04 Set
One continuous pull to full seat — no sawing, no jerks.
Firm, single direction, standing line against the terminal end.
05 Trim
Cut the tag square, leaving a short stub proud of the knot.
None. Never trim under load.
Finished structure — what correct looks like
Drawn from a rope model of this knot: which strand passes over which comes from where the rope actually lies.
- Structure
- Loose overhand ahead of the eye, tag tucked back between the overhand and the eye
- Standing line
- Standing line on-axis with load
- Tag end
- Tag exits clean and short
- Wraps
- No wrap stack. One tuck through the overhand
- Seating
- Seated against the eye — a hitch, not a wrap barrel
Verify before you load it
Every line is pass or fail. One fail means retie — do not load a knot you argued with.
- 01Loose overhand ahead of the eye, tag tucked back between the overhand and the eye
- 02Seated against the eye — a hitch, not a wrap barrel
- 03Tag exits clean and short
- 04No wrap stack. One tuck through the overhand
- 05None
- 06Davy hitch seated on the eye
Field notes — dark, cold, gloves
- ·Retie by feel first, light second — the seat is a tactile event, not a visual one.
- ·Gloves off for the dress phase. Fabric hides a crossing wrap.
- ·Wrong twice in a row means the material or the hardware is fighting you. Change one, not your technique.
Davy Knot — finished-state checks, on the shared reference layout
When this family fails, it fails as these. The recovered end still outranks the name.
Fine tippet at the eye, or fly-line to leader with a tube or nail.
- !Hitch path around the eye instead of through it
- !Single pass where two were the job
- !Gap at the tube or nail on a fly-line join
- !Tag tucked on the far side of the overhand, making a slip knot that pulls apart
- !Tag slid away from the knot toward the middle of the eye
- !Tippet too fine for the hook wire, so a load spreads the loop and releases the tag
- !Standing line pulled before the tag, so the knot seats half-formed
Wrong hitch path — an overhand that slips
Opens on the first tug-test
Davy is a single hitch around the standing tippet, not a wrap stack · step 02
Hitch not slid to the eye
Opens under load, especially on an oversized fly
The seat against the eye is the lock; step up to Double Davy if it will not hold · step 03
Tag trimmed before the hitch locked
Unlocks as soon as the tag is cut
Over-trimming before the seat is the usual Davy pull-out · step 04
Hitch opens under load
Check
- ?Hitch tight against eye
Then
- →Retie
- →Step up to Double Davy
Finished check failed — Open hitch that walks on the eye
Check
- ?Compact half-hitch structure at the eye
- ?Tag exits in the intended direction
- ?Knot stays small after seating
Then
- →Retie. A walking Davy slips free under tippet-class loads.
Wrong hitch path — an overhand that slips
Check
- ?Opens on the first tug-test
- ?Inspect step 02
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Hitch not slid to the eye
Check
- ?Opens under load, especially on an oversized fly
- ?Inspect step 03
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Tag trimmed before the hitch locked
Check
- ?Unlocks as soon as the tag is cut
- ?Inspect step 04
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Same failure class, different geometry. Open the plates — Diagnose still starts from the symptom.
Get it right with everything in your favour0/5 clean
Nothing logged on this knot yet, so it starts on the bottom rung.
Good light, dry hands, a table. Until the sequence is automatic here there is nothing for the harder rungs to test — you would only be learning that difficult conditions are difficult, which you already knew.
How · Tie it, check it against the list, log it. Five clean and the ladder opens.
Nothing marked. Log it clean, or mark what happened first.
Strength, and where the number comes from
Not established
No published break test; NetKnots documents the knot without stating any strength figure.
Percentages come from published tests on their own line, their own knot-tyer and their own pull rate. Yours is a different system. Treat a figure as a reason to test, not as a result you already have.
- NetKnots — Davy Knot
- FishingKnots.com strength database (Davy band)
Recovered from the historical MODEL_SOURCES registry.
- Hook the Horizon — Davy Knot
Recovered from the same record’s historical Hook the Horizon resource URL.
Record reviewed 2026-08-13
Vetted references
- Davy Knot
Hook the Horizon
- The Davy Knot
tightlinevideo
Check the finished knot against what correct looks like before you load it.