Tie

Orvis Knot

Compact Orvis terminal for tippet and light flies.

Beginner · Monofilament / Fluorocarbon

Tie it · 4 steps Check the finishAll diagrams Applications

Connection card

Orvis Knot

For line → hook.

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

Turns 3 to 6. Count them before you seat it; afterwards you are guessing.

Shape Terminal wrap stack at eye or along shank

Tag end Tag exits clean and short

Seated Fully seated to eye or shank

Start again if Compact path incomplete — not an Orvis. Slips or opens under a short tag

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 Orvis terminal for tippet and light 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.

Best for

Fly hooksQuick to tie

Not ideal for

Heavy braid terminals
Large saltwater hooks without testing

Common mistakes

Threading the tippet down through the eye from the top, so the figure eight lies the wrong way round
Missing the cross over the standing line, which leaves a single plain loop instead of a figure eight
Making only one pass through the right-hand loop, or entering it from the front
Hauling only on the standing line to seat the knot

Alternatives

Davy KnotBeginner
Tying a small fly to tippet with a quick, compact knot
Pitzen KnotIntermediate
Tying a hook, lure or fly to line or tippet
Improved Clinch KnotBeginner
Tying a hook, lure or swivel to monofilament line

Before you start

·Feed the tippet up through the eye from underneath. The direction sets which side the loops of the figure eight fall on.
·Leave a tag long enough to make the figure eight and then pass twice through its right-hand loop.
·Both passes through the right-hand loop go in from behind. Count two before you wet the knot.
·Seat it by pulling the hook, the standing line and the tag in turn, as NetKnots describes, rather than hauling on one end.

Line + hardware: Tippet, Hook or fly

How to tie it — Step 1 of 4 · move 1 of 2

1Tag, up through the eye

2Standing line, to the rod

swipe to step

01.1

Push the tippet up through the hook eye from underneath

Hold:: Left hand holds the hook, eye toward you
Move:: Right hand feeds the tag up through the eye and draws out a hand's width

Written step 01

Push the tippet up through the hook eye from underneath, then take the tag behind the standing line.

You should now see

The tippet comes up through the eye from below, with the tag lying behind the standing line and an open turn of line between them.

If it goes wrong

Threading the eye from the top. The turns then lie the other way round and the figure eight in step 2 does not come out as shown.

Fix: Pull the tippet back out and feed it up from underneath before going on.

Why: The direction through the eye sets which side the loops of the figure eight fall on, and the passes in step 3 follow from that layout.

What fails if this is wrong

Tag too short to finish the compact path — The sequence cannot complete. Leave working length until the stack is locked.

arrow keys work

Tying procedure — Orvis Knot

Step 01 / 4
Push the tippet up through the hook eye from underneath, then take the tag behind the standing line.
You should now see: The tippet comes up through the eye from below, with the tag lying behind the standing line and an open turn of line between them.
If it goes wrong: Threading the eye from the top. The turns then lie the other way round and the figure eight in step 2 does not come out as shown.
Fix: Pull the tippet back out and feed it up from underneath before going on.
Why: The direction through the eye sets which side the loops of the figure eight fall on, and the passes in step 3 follow from that layout.
1Tag, up through the eye
2Standing line, to the rod
Step 1 of 4 · move 1 of 2
Push the tippet up through the hook eye from underneath
Hold: Left hand holds the hook, eye toward you
Move: Right hand feeds the tag up through the eye and draws out a hand's width
1First loop
Step 1 of 4 · move 2 of 2
Take the tag over in an arch and down behind the standing line
Hold: Left finger and thumb pinch the line at the eye
Move: Right hand arches the tag over and lays it down behind the standing line
You should now see: The tag lies behind the standing line, with an open turn of line between them beside the eye.
Step 02 / 4
Cross the tag back over the standing line and pass it through the first loop you made, forming a figure eight above the eye.
You should now see: A clear figure eight shape in the tippet just above the eye, with both of its loops still open.
If it goes wrong: Missing the cross over the standing line, which leaves a single plain loop instead of a figure eight.
Fix: Undo the tag back to the eye and make the cross over the standing line again before tucking through the first loop.
Why: The figure eight makes the second loop that the tag passes through in step 3. Without it there is nothing for those turns to lock into.
1First loop
2Right-hand loop
Step 2 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Cross the tag back over the standing line and down through the first loop
Hold: Left hand keeps the first loop open beside the eye
Move: Right hand brings the tag up in front, over the top and down through the first loop
You should now see: A figure eight above the eye: the first loop by the eye and a larger right-hand loop, both open.
Step 03 / 4
Feed the tag from behind through the top of the right-hand loop of the eight, then go through that same loop from behind a second time.
You should now see: Two turns of the tag through the right-hand loop, lying side by side, with the figure eight still loose.
If it goes wrong: Making only one pass, or entering the loop from the front. The knot draws down crooked or creeps under load.
Fix: Back the tag out and redo both passes from behind. Count two turns before you wet the knot.
Why: The two turns wrap the tag around the loop so that tightening clamps it. With one turn the tag has less holding it and can creep.
1Through from behind
Step 3 of 4 · move 1 of 2
Bring the tag up behind and through the top of the right-hand loop
Hold: Left hand holds the figure eight open
Move: Right hand brings the tag up behind the loop, through it toward you and over its top
1Two turns round the top
Step 3 of 4 · move 2 of 2
Take the tag through the same loop from behind a second time
Hold: Left hand keeps the first turn from slipping off the loop
Move: Right hand brings the tag from behind through the loop again, beside the first turn
You should now see: Two turns of tag round the top of the right-hand loop, side by side, with the figure eight still loose.
Step 04 / 4
Wet the knot and pull the tag to close it. Then pull the hook, the standing line and the tag in turn until the knot seats on the eye, and trim the tag.
You should now see: A small, symmetrical knot sitting squarely on the eye, with both turns snug and the tag cut short.
If it goes wrong: Hauling only on the standing line. The knot seats off to one side of the eye, and turns can slip over each other.
Fix: If the knot is crooked or a turn has crossed, cut it off and tie again, alternating the pull between hook, standing line and tag.
Why: Alternating tension lets the knot close evenly on the eye. Pulling one end alone closes one side first and drags the knot off centre.
Step 4 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Wet it, pull the tag, then hook, standing line and tag in turn; trim the tag
Hold: Left hand holds the hook and pulls it against the line
Move: Right hand pulls the tag to close the knot, then the standing line, in turn
You should now see: A small knot sitting on the eye with both turns snug and the tag cut short; a slight angle is normal.

What this is based onReference review, not yet tied · 1 known limit

Record: Reviewed 2026-08-13. 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.
Strength: Not established. No credible, comparable strength data exists for this knot, so no figure is shown.

What the drawing does not show

Step 4, move 1 of 1: The finished knot is drawn loose and well clear of the hook eye, not pulled tight onto it.

Watch the tie

The ORVIS KnotThe Orvis Company · 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 stack at eye or along shank
Standing line: Standing line on-axis with load
Tag end: Tag exits clean and short
Wraps: Even wraps, 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 stack at eye or along shank
02Fully seated to eye or shank
03Tag exits clean and short
04Even wraps, no crossings
05None
06orvis

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.

Orvis 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.

Fly / tippet family

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

Fails when

!Only one pass went through the right-hand loop, or it went in from the front, and the knot draws down crooked or creeps under load
!The cross over the standing line was missed, so there is no figure eight for the two passes to lock into
!It was seated by hauling on the standing line alone, so it sits to one side of the eye and the turns slip over each other

Geometry

Compact path incomplete — not an Orvis
Slips or opens under a short tag
Orvis is a specific compact sequence, not a generic hitch · step 03
Dry half-seat on fluoro
Glazes the tippet before it sees a fish
A moist, complete seat is the lock on fluoro · step 02
Tag too short to finish the compact path
The sequence cannot complete
Leave working length until the stack is locked · step 01

If you saw this

Slips or opens
Check
- ?Structure tight at eye
Then
- →Retie
- →Compare to vetted diagram
Finished check failed — Open figure-eight that did not draw down
Check
- ?Figure-eight style seat looks compact
- ?Tag and standing line exit cleanly
- ?No open loops after pull test
Then
- →Retie. An undrawn Orvis can open on the first fish.
Compact path incomplete — not an Orvis
Check
- ?Slips or opens under a short tag
- ?Inspect step 03
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Dry half-seat on fluoro
Check
- ?Glazes the tippet before it sees a fish
- ?Inspect step 02
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Tag too short to finish the compact path
Check
- ?The sequence cannot complete
- ?Inspect step 01
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.

Name and construction

This record's alias, 'Orvis tippet knot (terminal form)', uses the name NetKnots gives a different knot — the Orvis Tippet Knot, which joins leader to tippet and is its own record here. This one ties tippet to a hook or fly.

Wraps: The tag forms a figure eight above the hook eye.
Lock: The tag passes twice through the right-hand loop of the eight.

Orvis Tippet Knot — NetKnots gives the name Orvis Tippet Knot to a leader-to-tippet join, which is its own record here.

Strength, and where the number comes from

Not established

No published break test with a measured control was found.

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 — Orvis Knot
FishingKnots.com strength database (Orvis band)
Recovered from the historical MODEL_SOURCES registry.
Hook the Horizon — Orvis Knot
Recovered from the same record’s historical Hook the Horizon resource URL.

Record reviewed 2026-08-13

Vetted references

Orvis Knot
Hook the Horizon
The ORVIS Knot
The Orvis Company

Related knots

Already tied it?

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