Tying The Albright Knot

Dustin Carlson Monday, July 18, 2011 The Albright Knot is a very strong connection from your fly line to your leader or butt section. It can also be used to attach a fly line to backing. The strength of this knot comes from the core of the fly line being doubled over and incorporated in the knot. Some knots rely simply on tightening into the coating of the line which, under high pressure, can slip off. Start by doubling the fly line over and threading your butt section material though the loop that was created. Wrap the tag end back around both legs of the loop and the butt section material several times. Thread the tag end back through the loop the same direction it came through initially. As the knot is tightened, work the wraps as close to the top of the loop as possible (without the butt section material slipping off the fly line loop). Pull everything tight and trim the end of the fly line that is exposed from the knot. In theory, that is the end of the Albright Knot, but it tends to have a pretty abrupt edge that doesn't feed through the eyes of the fly rod very well. To remedy this we can tie a quick jam-knot using the tag end of the butt section material. Wrap the tag around the main line four times. Now, wrap the loop around the main line as well. Slowly pull the tag end to tighten everything down. Use saliva or water to moisten the knot as it is secured. Trim the final tag end. Illustrations by Greg Pearson