Tie

Jack’s Knot

Compact crossing lock for fly tippet. Inspect the centered crossing before you fish it.

Intermediate · Monofilament / Fluorocarbon

Tie it · 4 steps Check the finishAll diagrams Applications

Connection card

Jack’s Knot

For line → hook.

What it joins Line → hook. In monofilament, fluorocarbon.

Turns 1 to 3. Count them before you seat it; afterwards you are guessing.

Shape Terminal wrap or lock at the eye or along the shank

Tag end Tag exits clean and short

Seated Fully seated to eye or shank

Start again if Reversed crossing. Compact knot twists to one side and slips

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

Compact crossing lock for fly tippet. Inspect the centered crossing before you fish it.

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.

Best for

Fly hooksQuick to tie

Not ideal for

Braid
Heavy conventional tackle
Anyone who inspects Davy/Orvis more reliably

Common mistakes

Tag too short to come back up through the loop
Tag taken in front of the double line when forming the loop
Wrap made behind first, or tag passed down through the loop instead of up
Knot pushed down to the eye before it is tightened

Alternatives

Davy KnotBeginner
Tying a small fly to tippet with a quick, compact knot
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

·Pull plenty of tag through the eye. It has to form a loop, wrap the double line and come back up through that loop.
·The loop is a single turn. Adding a second turn twists it so it will not lie flat across the double line.
·Draw the knot tight up the line first, then slide it down to the eye. It is not closed against the eye.

Line + hardware: Tippet, Fly

How to tie it — Step 1 of 4 · move 1 of 1

1Tag, back alongside

2Standing line, to the rod

swipe to step

01.1

Run the tippet up through the eye and lay the tag back along the standing line

Hold:: Left hand holds the fly, eye toward you
Move:: Right hand draws the tag through and lays it beside the standing line

You should now see: Two strands lying parallel away from the eye, with the tag running well past where the knot will go.

Written step 01

Run the tippet up through the hook eye, then bring the tag back down alongside the standing line so the two lie parallel.

You should now see

The tag lying back along the standing line to form a double line below the eye, with plenty of tag left to loop and wrap.

If it goes wrong

Leaving a short tag. It runs out partway through the wrap and cannot reach back up through the loop.

Fix: Pull more tippet through the eye before forming the loop.

Why: The tag has to form a loop, wrap the double line and come back up through that loop, so it needs to reach well past the double.

arrow keys work

Tying procedure — Jack’s Knot

Step 01 / 4
Run the tippet up through the hook eye, then bring the tag back down alongside the standing line so the two lie parallel.
You should now see: The tag lying back along the standing line to form a double line below the eye, with plenty of tag left to loop and wrap.
If it goes wrong: Leaving a short tag. It runs out partway through the wrap and cannot reach back up through the loop.
Fix: Pull more tippet through the eye before forming the loop.
Why: The tag has to form a loop, wrap the double line and come back up through that loop, so it needs to reach well past the double.
1Tag, back alongside
2Standing line, to the rod
Step 1 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Run the tippet up through the eye and lay the tag back along the standing line
Hold: Left hand holds the fly, eye toward you
Move: Right hand draws the tag through and lays it beside the standing line
You should now see: Two strands lying parallel away from the eye, with the tag running well past where the knot will go.
Step 02 / 4
Form a loop with the tag above the doubled line, then take the tag behind the doubled line so it finishes below it.
You should now see: One open loop of tag lying across the doubled line, with the tag passing behind the double and hanging below it.
If it goes wrong: Taking the tag in front of the doubled line instead of behind it, or adding a second turn. The loop twists and does not lie flat across the double.
Fix: Undo the loop and form it again with the tag above the double, passing behind it and ending below.
Why: This single loop is what the tag comes back up through in step 3. Its crossing has to run behind the double for that last pass to lock it.
1The loop, above the double
2Tag passes behind the double
Step 2 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Loop the tag up above the doubled line, then take it behind the double to below
Hold: Left finger and thumb pinch the doubled line near the eye
Move: Right hand lifts the tag into a loop and passes it behind the double
You should now see: One open loop of tag above the doubled line, the tag crossing behind the double and hanging below it.
Step 03 / 4
Working back toward the fly, pass the tag in front of the doubled line and then behind it, then bring it up through the loop you made in step 2.
You should now see: The tag wrapped once around the doubled line below the loop and coming up through that loop, with the loop still open.
If it goes wrong: Passing the tag behind first and then in front, or down through the loop instead of up. The tag runs the wrong way and the knot will not draw into a neat shape.
Fix: Back the tag out of the loop and wrap it again, in front first and then behind, before bringing it up through the loop.
Why: Passing in front, then behind, then up through the loop traps the tag under its own wrap. NetKnots splits this into two steps.
1One wrap: in front, then behind
2The loop from step 2
Step 3 of 4 · move 1 of 2
Working toward the fly, pass the tag in front of the double, then behind it
Hold: Left finger and thumb keep the loop open against the double
Move: Right hand takes the tag up in front of the double and back down behind it
1Up through the loop
2The wrap
Step 3 of 4 · move 2 of 2
Bring the tag back and up through the loop you made in step 2
Hold: Left hand holds the wrap and keeps the loop open
Move: Right hand passes the tag under the double and up through the loop
You should now see: The tag wrapped once round the double below the loop, then coming up through that loop, which is still open.
Step 04 / 4
Wet the lines and pull the knot tight first, then slide it down to the hook eye. Trim the tag close to the knot.
You should now see: A small, compact knot sitting against the hook eye, centred on the line, with the tag cut short.
If it goes wrong: Pushing the knot down to the eye while it is still loose, instead of tightening it first. It bunches against the eye and closes out of shape.
Fix: If the knot has closed twisted or out of shape, cut it off and tie it again, tightening it fully before sliding it to the eye.
Why: Drawing the knot tight up the line lets the wraps close evenly. Sliding the finished knot down then seats it against the eye without disturbing them.
1Tightened, still clear of the eye
Step 4 of 4 · move 1 of 3
Wet the lines and pull tag and standing line to draw the knot tight first
Hold: Left hand holds the fly and the standing line
Move: Right hand pulls the tag until the loop and wrap close on the double
1Knot against the eye
Step 4 of 4 · move 2 of 3
Slide the tightened knot down the line until it sits against the hook eye
Hold: Left hand holds the fly
Move: Right hand draws the standing line so the knot slides down to the eye
Step 4 of 4 · move 3 of 3
Trim the tag close to the knot
Hold: Left hand holds the fly with the knot seated
Move: Right hand trims the tag end short
You should now see: A small, compact knot against the hook eye, centred on the line, with the tag cut short.

What this is based onReference review, not yet tied

Record: Reviewed 2026-08-14. 3 sources are cited for this record.
Drawing: Checked against published references and found to be this knot. Not yet tied from the drawing. Recorded 2026-09-21.
Known limits: None that stop a reader following it were confirmed in the plate audit of 2026-09-24; smaller findings were not all re-checked.
Strength: Not established. No credible, comparable strength data exists for this knot, so no figure is shown.

Watch the tie

Jack's Knot - Easiest Fishing Knot Tying InstructionsInTheRiffle · Opens on YouTube

External 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: Terminal wrap or lock at the eye or along the shank
Standing line: Standing line on-axis with load
Tag end: Tag exits clean and short
Wraps: Even structure, no crossings
Seating: Fully seated to eye or shank

Verify before you load it

Every line is pass or fail. One fail means retie — do not load a knot you argued with.

01Terminal wrap or lock at the eye or along the shank
02Fully seated to eye or shank
03Tag exits clean and short
04Even structure, no crossings
05None
06jacks

Something failed → open Diagnose

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.

Jack’s Knot — finished-state checks, on the shared reference layout — Hook the Horizon reference plate

Failure modes

When this family fails, it fails as these. The recovered end still outranks the name.

Jam-hitch terminal family

A compact hitch or jam at the eye — fewer wraps, a different lock than a clinch barrel.

!Lock never jammed to the eye — it is a loose hitch in disguise
!Used on a small eye that cannot take the bulk of the jam
!Confused with a clinch: the tag path is not a barrel tuck

Fails when

!Loop crossing runs in front of the double line, so the last pass does not lock it
!Tag passed down through the loop instead of up, so the knot does not draw into shape
!Pushed to the eye while still loose, so it bunches and closes out of shape

Geometry

Reversed crossing
Compact knot twists to one side and slips
Jack’s is a specific crossing, not a random hitch · step 02
Will not seat — wrong side of the crossing
Opens under load
Seat only after the crossing is the Jack’s crossing · step 03
Tag exits the wrong side, or used on braid
Not this knot — braid will not hold this hitch
Tag exit side is the lock; braid is the wrong fibre · step 04

If you saw this

Compact crossing twists to one side or slips
Check
- ?Crossing centered on the standing tippet
Then
- →Retie slowly
- →Step to Orvis or Davy if the crossing will not stay centered
Finished check failed — Stopped mid-sequence
Check
- ?Full sequence completed
- ?Compact seat
- ?Tag controlled
Then
- →Retie. An incomplete Jack's Knot is unreliable on the first fish.
Reversed crossing
Check
- ?Compact knot twists to one side and slips
- ?Inspect step 02
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Will not seat — wrong side of the crossing
Check
- ?Opens under load
- ?Inspect step 03
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Tag exits the wrong side, or used on braid
Check
- ?Not this knot — braid will not hold this hitch
- ?Inspect step 04
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.

Same family

Same failure class, different geometry. Open the plates — Diagnose still starts from the symptom.

This failed — start Diagnose

The bench · rep 1

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.

Conditions for this rep

Main lineJoined to

What went wrong, if anything

Nothing marked. Log it clean, or mark what happened first.

Strength, and where the number comes from

Not established

Its inventor claims a '100% knot' and NetKnots prints that claim while calling it 'debatable', which is a disagreement rather than a 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.

Sources for this record

NetKnots — Jack's Knot
Hook the Horizon — Jack’s Knot
Recovered from the same record’s historical Hook the Horizon resource URL.
NetKnots fishing knot references
Recovered from this record’s historical modelSourceId registry.

Record reviewed 2026-08-14

Vetted references

Jack’s Knot
Hook the Horizon
Jack's Knot - Easiest Fishing Knot Tying Instructions
InTheRiffle

Related knots

Already tied it?

Check the finished knot against what correct looks like before you load it.