Tie

Pitzen Knot

Compact high-retention tippet terminal with precise tag path.

Intermediate · Monofilament / Fluorocarbon

Tie it · 4 steps Check the finishAll diagrams Applications

Connection card

Pitzen Knot

For line → hook.

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

Turns 4. 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 Guessed wrap count, uneven stack. The usual unexplained Pitzen break

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 high-retention tippet terminal with precise tag path.

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 hooksHigh strength

Not ideal for

Cold hands in high wind without practice
Braid

Common mistakes

Starting with a tag too short to finish the tuck
Wraps crossing, or wound away from the eye instead of toward it
Letting the finger loop close before the tag passes through it
Dragging the knot down to the eye by pulling the standing line

Alternatives

Orvis KnotBeginner
Ties tippet to a hook or fly with a small knot built on a figure eight
Davy KnotBeginner
Tying a small fly to tippet with a quick, compact knot
Double Davy KnotBeginner
Davy with an extra security pass for larger flies or slightly heavier tippet

Before you start

·Also called the Eugene bend or the 16-20 knot. NetKnots notes it is easier to tie in lighter line or tippet than in heavier line.
·Leave a long tag. Four wraps and the tuck through the finger loop use more tippet than they look.
·For slippery braided line, NetKnots points to the San Diego Jam, a variant that passes the tag through a bottom opening before the top loop.
·Wet the knot before sliding it to the eye, and move it with your fingertips rather than by pulling the standing line.

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

Push the tippet through the eye and bring the tag back under the standing line

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

You should now see: Two strands run side by side up from the eye, the tag underneath the standing line, with a long tag to wrap with.

Written step 01

Push the tippet through the hook eye and bring the tag back under the standing line, so the tag and standing line run side by side.

You should now see

Two parallel strands leaving the eye with the tag lying underneath the standing line and a long tag free to wrap with.

If it goes wrong

Starting with a short tag. Four wraps plus the tuck through the finger loop use more tippet than they look, and the tag runs out before the tuck.

Fix: Pull more tippet through the eye before you start wrapping. It is easier than finishing the knot with a stub.

Why: NetKnots brings the tag back under the standing line. Following that layout keeps your knot matching the wrap and tuck in the next two steps.

What fails if this is wrong

Guessed wrap count, uneven stack — The usual unexplained Pitzen break. Pitzen retention is wrap count and even coil, not folklore.

arrow keys work

Tying procedure — Pitzen Knot

Step 01 / 4
Push the tippet through the hook eye and bring the tag back under the standing line, so the tag and standing line run side by side.
You should now see: Two parallel strands leaving the eye with the tag lying underneath the standing line and a long tag free to wrap with.
If it goes wrong: Starting with a short tag. Four wraps plus the tuck through the finger loop use more tippet than they look, and the tag runs out before the tuck.
Fix: Pull more tippet through the eye before you start wrapping. It is easier than finishing the knot with a stub.
Why: NetKnots brings the tag back under the standing line. Following that layout keeps your knot matching the wrap and tuck in the next two steps.
1Tag, back alongside
2Standing line, to the rod
Step 1 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Push the tippet through the eye and bring the tag back under the standing line
Hold: Left hand holds the hook, eye toward you
Move: Right hand feeds the tag through and lays it back beside the standing line
You should now see: Two strands run side by side up from the eye, the tag underneath the standing line, with a long tag to wrap with.
Step 02 / 4
Hook the line over your index fingertip to hold a small loop open, then wind the tag four times around both parallel strands, working back down toward the eye.
You should now see: Four neat wraps around both strands, running from your fingertip toward the eye, with the small loop still held open on your finger.
If it goes wrong: Wraps crossing over each other, or winding away from the eye instead of toward it. The tag then finishes out of reach of the finger loop.
Fix: Unwind to the fingertip and wind again toward the eye, laying each wrap next to the last.
Why: The four wraps close around the standing line to form the grip. Crossed wraps do not bed evenly, and the knot seats lumpy.
1Small loop on your finger
Step 2 of 4 · move 1 of 2
Hook the line over your fingertip to hold a small loop open
Hold: Left finger and thumb pinch the two strands near the eye
Move: Right index fingertip hooks the line and holds a small loop open
1Four wraps, toward the eye
2Small loop
Step 2 of 4 · move 2 of 2
Wind the tag four times round both strands, working back toward the eye
Hold: Left hand keeps the small loop open on the fingertip
Move: Right hand winds the tag round both strands, four even turns toward the eye
You should now see: Four neat wraps round both strands, running from the fingertip toward the eye, with the small loop still open.
Step 03 / 4
Pass the tag end back through the small loop held on your finger, then slip your finger out.
You should now see: The tag comes out through the small loop, and the wraps and loop hold their shape loosely without your finger in them.
If it goes wrong: Letting the finger loop collapse before the tag goes through, or passing the tag beside the loop instead of through it. The knot falls apart when pulled.
Fix: Keep the fingertip in the loop until the tag is through. If the tag missed, back it out and pass it through the loop again.
Why: This tuck locks the tag inside the wraps. The pull in step 4 closes the loop around it.
1Through the small loop
Step 3 of 4 · move 1 of 1
Pass the tag back through the small loop, then slip your finger out
Hold: Left hand holds the wraps and the loop in shape
Move: Right hand brings the tag back along the wraps and through the small loop
You should now see: The tag comes out through the small loop, and the wraps and loop hold their shape loosely with the finger out.
Step 04 / 4
Pull the tag to close the knot on the standing line. Wet the knot, slide it down to the eye with your fingertips, then pull tight and trim the tag.
You should now see: A small, compact knot sitting against the hook eye, the wraps closed neatly and the tag trimmed short.
If it goes wrong: Dragging the knot down to the eye by pulling the standing line. The line rubs through the knot and heats, and the knot can stop short of the eye.
Fix: Stop pulling the standing line. Wet the knot again and push it down with your fingertips. If the line looks scuffed or kinked, cut it off and retie.
Why: NetKnots closes the knot on the standing line first, slides it to the eye by hand, and only then pulls tight. Moving it by pulling the standing line makes the line saw through the closed wraps.
1Knot closed on the line
Step 4 of 4 · move 1 of 3
Pull the tag to close the knot on the standing line
Hold: Left hand holds the hook and the standing line
Move: Right hand pulls the tag end until the loop and wraps close up
1Knot against the eye
Step 4 of 4 · move 2 of 3
Wet the knot and slide it down to the eye with your fingertips
Hold: Left hand holds the hook
Move: Right fingertips push the knot down the standing line to the eye
Step 4 of 4 · move 3 of 3
Pull tight and trim the tag
Hold: Left hand holds the hook
Move: Right hand pulls the standing line tight, then trims the tag short
You should now see: A small, compact knot sitting against the hook eye, the wraps closed neatly and the tag trimmed short.

What this is based onReference review, not yet tied

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.
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

Pitzen Knot Tying Instructions - RIO ProductsInTheRiffle · 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
06pitzen

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.

Pitzen 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

!Tag passed beside the finger loop instead of through it, so the knot falls apart
!Crossed wraps that do not bed evenly, so the knot seats lumpy
!Pulled to the eye by the standing line, which heats the line and can leave the knot short of the eye

Geometry

Guessed wrap count, uneven stack
The usual unexplained Pitzen break
Pitzen retention is wrap count and even coil, not folklore · step 01
Seated early on a wrong path
Locks a defective structure you cannot inspect
Do not seat until the tag path is the Pitzen path · step 02
Tag buried in the stack
Unverifiable — treat as failed
A buried Pitzen tag is not a finish · step 03

If you saw this

Fails under load
Check
- ?Compact even stack at eye
Then
- →Retie slowly
- →Practice offline
Finished check failed — Lost wrap order during the draw
Check
- ?Ordered wraps with the distinctive Pitzen draw path
- ?Coil seats tightly to the eye
- ?Tag exits controlled
Then
- →Retie. A misdrawn Pitzen loses the strength that justifies the knot.
Guessed wrap count, uneven stack
Check
- ?The usual unexplained Pitzen break
- ?Inspect step 01
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Seated early on a wrong path
Check
- ?Locks a defective structure you cannot inspect
- ?Inspect step 02
Then
- →Retie. Do not dress a defective structure and call it seated.
Tag buried in the stack
Check
- ?Unverifiable — treat as failed
- ?Inspect step 03
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

NetKnots gives Eugene Bend and 16-20 Knot as other names for the Pitzen. 'Bend' usually names a knot joining two lines; this one ties line to a hook eye.

Wraps: The tag winds four times round both parallel strands, back toward the eye.
Lock: The tag tucks through the small loop held on a finger, and the knot is slid to the eye.
Also called: Eugene bend (NetKnots) · 16-20 knot (NetKnots)

Strength, and where the number comes from

Not established

No published break test; NetKnots documents it without a strength claim.

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 — Pitzen Knot
Hook the Horizon — Pitzen Knot
Recovered from the same record’s historical Hook the Horizon resource URL.
Field practice (cross-checked compact tippet terminals)no link on file

Record reviewed 2026-08-13

Vetted references

Pitzen Knot
Hook the Horizon
Pitzen Knot Tying Instructions - RIO Products
InTheRiffle

Related knots

Already tied it?

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