Non-slip loop knot
Knot · Last reviewed 2026-08-19
A fixed loop tied at the lure or fly so the connection cannot pull tight against the eye. It is a presentation decision rather than a strength one: the loop restores movement a tight knot kills.
THIS KNOT ANSWERS A QUESTION ABOUT MOVEMENT, NOT ABOUT STRENGTH, AND CONFUSING THE TWO IS WHY IT GETS USED IN THE WRONG PLACES.
A knot drawn tight against a hook or lure eye fixes the angle between the line and the object. For anything whose action comes from its own shape — a diving lip, a heavy vibrating blade — that does not matter. For anything light enough that the leader dominates it, it matters a great deal: a small jig, a single fly, a slim minnow bait on stiff fluorocarbon all swim visibly worse on a tight knot than on a loop, and the stiffer the leader the larger the effect.
SO THE DECIDING VARIABLE IS THE RATIO OF LEADER STIFFNESS TO LURE MASS. Heavy leader and light lure is where a loop transforms the presentation. Light leader and heavy lure is where it changes almost nothing, and where the extra operation is not worth it.
WHAT MAKES IT NON-SLIP IS THE OVERHAND KNOT TIED FIRST. The tag passes through an overhand knot in the standing line, goes round the eye, comes back through the same overhand, and is then wrapped and returned. Because the overhand closes on itself, the loop cannot draw down against the eye under load the way a plain slip loop does. A loop that closes is a tight knot with extra steps, and it is the commonest way this knot is got wrong.
IT IS A DIFFERENT OBJECT FROM THE OTHER TWO LOOPS THIS CATALOGUE HOLDS, and `loop-knots-and-when-a-loose-connection-helps` is explicit that they do not substitute. A double overhand loop is made to join to another loop, and it is too small and in the wrong place to swing a fly. A dropper loop stands off the body line and is not a connection to anything at the end. This one is tied AT the lure, and its only job is to leave it free.
SIZE IT DELIBERATELY. A loop of a few millimetres gives the movement and stays out of the way. A large loop hinges, fouls the hook on the cast, and gives a pike or a toothy fish something to find.
- Used for
- Forming a loop
- Holds in
- Monofilament, Fluorocarbon
- Do not use in
- Braid
How to tie it
These written steps are the instruction. The diagram supports them.
- Tie a loose overhand knot in the line about 15 cm from the end, and leave it open.
- Pass the tag end through the hook, lure or fly eye, then back through the open overhand knot, entering it from the same side the tag originally left.
- Wrap the tag around the standing line four or five times, working away from the overhand knot.
- Bring the tag back and pass it through the overhand knot once more, from the same side as before.
- Set the loop size now, before anything is tightened — a few millimetres is enough to free the lure, and a large loop hinges and fouls.
- Wet the knot thoroughly.
- Draw it up by pulling the tag first to close the wraps against the overhand, then the standing line to seat the whole knot, then trim the tag close.
Finishing it properly
- Set the loop size before tightening. It cannot be adjusted afterwards without retying.
- Pull the tag first and the standing line second, so the wraps close against the overhand before the whole knot seats.
- Check the loop stays open under a firm pull. A loop that closes has been tied wrong, not tied loosely.
- Retie after a fish, or after any run through structure — this knot carries its load on a small overhand and the loop rubs on the eye.
How it fails
The characteristic failure is that the loop closes. If the tag re-enters the overhand knot from the wrong side on either pass, the knot becomes a slip loop that draws down tight against the eye under the first serious load — it does not break, it simply stops being a loop, and the presentation quietly reverts without the angler noticing. Inspect by pulling firmly on the standing line and watching the loop: it must stay open. The second failure is slippage in braid, which is why braid is listed as a material to avoid; the wraps have too little to grip and the tag draws through.
Which lures it transforms, and which it does nothing for
This knot is worth an extra thirty seconds on some lures and worth nothing at all on others, and the deciding property is not the lure type but where its action comes from.
WHERE THE LOOP TRANSFORMS THE PRESENTATION. Anything whose movement is generated by the water pushing on a light, unballasted or loosely-hung body: small jig heads, single flies, slim minnow patterns fished slowly, soft plastics rigged weightless or nearly so, small metals fished on the drop. On all of these the leader is stiff relative to the lure, and a tight knot means the leader — not the lure — decides the angle. The stiffer the leader and the lighter the lure, the larger the difference.
WHERE IT MAKES NO USEFUL DIFFERENCE. Anything with a diving lip, because the lip generates far more force than the connection can suppress. Anything heavy relative to the leader. Anything whose action is a hard vibration — lipless crankbaits, heavy blades — where the connection is simply not part of the mechanism.
WHERE IT IS ACTIVELY UNHELPFUL. Fishing that demands direct contact and instant hook-setting through the connection loses a little of both to a loop. Deep vertical work and heavy cover fishing are the usual examples, and the loop also gives a pike or a toothy fish a larger target of nylon to find.
THE PRACTICAL TEST COSTS ONE CAST. Tie the lure on tight, retrieve it past your feet in clear water and watch it. Retie on a loop and watch it again. On the lures where this knot matters the difference is visible from the bank, and on the lures where it does not, nothing changes — which is a more useful answer than any general rule.
AND SIZE THE LOOP SMALL. A few millimetres frees the lure; a large loop hinges, catches the hook on the cast, and tangles. The instinct to leave a generous loop is wrong in every case.
Practitioner consensus
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
- Trout & Salmon — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Long-running published description of British game angling practice, including leader and tippet construction and the fly-line connections it rests on.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK coarse, match, carp and predator practice as reported by practitioners, including terminal convention and lure connection.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Long-running published description of British sea angling practice, including shock leaders, trace construction and the dropper loops a multi-hook trace is built from.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Where to go next
Where it is used
- Saltwater fly fishingThe standard fly connection in salt water. A baitfish or crustacean pattern on a heavy tippet swims very differently on a loop, and the heavier the tippet the larger the difference — which is precisely the situation saltwater fly fishing is always in.
- SpinningWhere a light lure is fished on a leader stiff enough to dominate it, the loop restores an action a tight knot suppresses. The effect is largest with small slim baits on fluorocarbon and negligible with anything whose action comes from a diving lip, which is what makes this a presentation decision rather than a default.
What these connections rest on (2)
Practitioner consensus — 2 connections
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Saltwater fly fishing
An arrangement joined to the knot that actually builds it, written where the knot is characteristic of that arrangement rather than merely possible in it. This is the edge a reader travels: they arrive looking for the arrangement and need the connection it depends on.
- Still Water Fly-Fishing — Andre Deutsch, 1952 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Stillwater fly practice: leader construction, teams of flies on droppers, and the joins between backing, fly line, leader and tippet.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Trout & Salmon — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British game angling practice, including leader and tippet construction and the fly-line connections it rests on.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: shock leaders, multi-hook trace construction and the dropper loops a trace is built from.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of established connection convention, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Spinning
An arrangement joined to the knot that actually builds it, written where the knot is characteristic of that arrangement rather than merely possible in it. This is the edge a reader travels: they arrive looking for the arrangement and need the connection it depends on.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: shock leaders, multi-hook trace construction and the dropper loops a trace is built from.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of established connection convention, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice: reel filling, leader and dropper construction, and the connections each arrangement rests on.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Coarse Fishing — A. & C. Black, 1912 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Classical coarse angling practice: hooklengths, loops, droppers and the terminal arrangements built from them.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
What it joins
- Drop shot rigA small soft plastic fished nearly static on a taut line is as dependent on free movement as anything in fishing, and the drop-shot's leader is usually fluorocarbon chosen for stiffness rather than for suppleness.
- Surface controller rigAn unweighted bait or fly presented on the surface has almost no mass to overcome a stiff connection, so the loop is doing more work here than on any weighted arrangement.
What these connections rest on (2)
Practitioner consensus — 2 connections
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Drop shot rig
An arrangement joined to the knot that actually builds it, written where the knot is characteristic of that arrangement rather than merely possible in it. This is the edge a reader travels: they arrive looking for the arrangement and need the connection it depends on.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: shock leaders, multi-hook trace construction and the dropper loops a trace is built from.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of established connection convention, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice: reel filling, leader and dropper construction, and the connections each arrangement rests on.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Coarse Fishing — A. & C. Black, 1912 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Classical coarse angling practice: hooklengths, loops, droppers and the terminal arrangements built from them.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Surface controller rig
An arrangement joined to the knot that actually builds it, written where the knot is characteristic of that arrangement rather than merely possible in it. This is the edge a reader travels: they arrive looking for the arrangement and need the connection it depends on.
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice: reel filling, leader and dropper construction, and the connections each arrangement rests on.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Coarse Fishing — A. & C. Black, 1912 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Classical coarse angling practice: hooklengths, loops, droppers and the terminal arrangements built from them.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: shock leaders, multi-hook trace construction and the dropper loops a trace is built from.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of established connection convention, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Worth understanding first
- Attaching line to a hook, swivel or lureA connection whose whole purpose is to change how the knot sits against the eye, which is the subject of that record's argument that the eye is part of the knot. Here the eye is deliberately left free to turn inside a loop rather than seated square against a knot.
- Loop knots, and when a loose connection helpsThe first of the three jobs that record sets out — a loop at the lure or fly, about movement — and the one the catalogue held no knot for. The record is explicit that the three do not substitute, and this knot is useless for the other two.
What these connections rest on (2)
Practitioner consensus — 2 connections
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Attaching line to a hook, swivel or lure
A knot joined to the explainer that sets out the principle it is an instance of. The explainers were written first and each names families of solution; these edges are what let a reader move from the principle to a knot that embodies it.
- How to Tie Fishing Knots — uni, blood, improved blood, surgeon's and loop knots — Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (Take Me Fishing) (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: The double surgeon's knot sequence, and the grouping of knots by the connection each is for.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Fishing Knots — which knot for which line — Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: A state wildlife agency grouping knots by job and stating that the surgeon's knot joins lines regardless of diameter or line type.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice: reel filling, leader and dropper construction, and the connections each arrangement rests on.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Coarse Fishing — A. & C. Black, 1912 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Classical coarse angling practice: hooklengths, loops, droppers and the terminal arrangements built from them.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Loop knots, and when a loose connection helps
A knot joined to the explainer that sets out the principle it is an instance of. The explainers were written first and each names families of solution; these edges are what let a reader move from the principle to a knot that embodies it.
- How to Tie Fishing Knots — uni, blood, improved blood, surgeon's and loop knots — Recreational Boating & Fishing Foundation (Take Me Fishing) (Angling or fisheries organisation)Relied on for: The double surgeon's knot sequence, and the grouping of knots by the connection each is for.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Fishing Knots — which knot for which line — Vermont Fish & Wildlife Department (Government fisheries body)Relied on for: A state wildlife agency grouping knots by job and stating that the surgeon's knot joins lines regardless of diameter or line type.States this directlyPassage read and verified
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice: reel filling, leader and dropper construction, and the connections each arrangement rests on.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Coarse Fishing — A. & C. Black, 1912 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Classical coarse angling practice: hooklengths, loops, droppers and the terminal arrangements built from them.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Instead of this
What these connections rest on (1)
Practitioner consensus — 1 connection
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Double overhand loop
An explicit non-substitution, written because the shared word 'loop' is what causes the confusion. The catalogue held both jobs described in prose and only one of the two knots.
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice: reel filling, leader and dropper construction, and the connections each arrangement rests on.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Coarse Fishing — A. & C. Black, 1912 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Classical coarse angling practice: hooklengths, loops, droppers and the terminal arrangements built from them.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Still Water Fly-Fishing — Andre Deutsch, 1952 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Stillwater fly practice: leader construction, teams of flies on droppers, and the joins between backing, fly line, leader and tippet.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Trout & Salmon — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British game angling practice, including leader and tippet construction and the fly-line connections it rests on.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Safety reading
What these connections rest on (1)
Practitioner consensus — 1 connection
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Hook injuries
A connection joined to the harm it can actually cause, written where the knot's own construction or the situation it is tied in creates the risk rather than where fishing in general does.
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: shock leaders, multi-hook trace construction and the dropper loops a trace is built from.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of established connection convention, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice: reel filling, leader and dropper construction, and the connections each arrangement rests on.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Coarse Fishing — A. & C. Black, 1912 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Classical coarse angling practice: hooklengths, loops, droppers and the terminal arrangements built from them.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
History and culture
What these connections rest on (1)
Practitioner consensus — 1 connection
Widely and independently recommended by experienced anglers and specialist sources. This is real angling knowledge, not proof: controlled evidence for it is limited, and FishingHQ records it as convention rather than as a demonstrated effect.
Nylon, and what synthetic line changed
A knot joined to the material transition that produced or transformed it. Written where the knot is genuinely an artefact of synthetic line rather than merely contemporary with it, which is why the wire termination in this file does not carry it.
- Freshwater Fishing — Macdonald & Jane's, 1975 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Comprehensive angling practice: reel filling, leader and dropper construction, and the connections each arrangement rests on.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Coarse Fishing — A. & C. Black, 1912 (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Classical coarse angling practice: hooklengths, loops, droppers and the terminal arrangements built from them.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: British sea angling practice: shock leaders, multi-hook trace construction and the dropper loops a trace is built from.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of established connection convention, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
Sources for this page
- Trout & Salmon — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Long-running published description of British game angling practice, including leader and tippet construction and the fly-line connections it rests on.States this directlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Sea Angler — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Long-running published description of British sea angling practice, including shock leaders, trace construction and the dropper loops a multi-hook trace is built from.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- Angling Times — Bauer Media (Specialist angling publication)Relied on for: Contemporary UK coarse, match, carp and predator practice as reported by practitioners, including terminal convention and lure connection.FishingHQ's interpretation of what it saysCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
- General angling website restatements of established technique — Various (Credible secondary source)Relied on for: Widely restated descriptions of established connection convention, recorded as practitioner consensus rather than as scholarship.Background and mechanism onlyCitation checked — the work exists and is described correctly
How FishingHQ labels evidence is explained in the evidence policy.