Figure 8 Dropper Tag Knot: Master it in 5 Minutes! 

Started tying this knot on a contact nymphing rig with dropper and point flies. This is a superior knot, it does not fail. I am also losing about 75% less dropper nymphs. I purchased a Dr. Slick 4” forceps to tie the knot with while on the water. Thanks again OVTB for another very useful bit of information

Thanks Cory, Anytime I can get my fingers out of the process is a good thing!

Great tip. I sometimes struggle with this knot when tying by hand. The hemo method is much easier.

Like always, high quality tips. Thanks Cory!

Cory thanks for simplifying this not. Been using it since I watched Devin’s video. The hemo’s really helped me out. Tight lines brother.

Thanks Cory, love it! DVB

Huge thank you Cory! I was never able to do a triple surgeons, so I never used a tag. I always just did the eye to eye method, but that doesn’t allow the top nymph to swing free. This video was super easy to follow, unlike most knot videos

been using the figure 8 knot since i was a kid, grandpa made sure we all knew how to tie knots. the figure 8 and the trilene knot are the best for fishing and strongest.

King of the hacks! I've been doing this since Devin showed his video. One challenge I've found is trying to do this with a doubled over segment to mimic your hack of creating a tag and point fly from a single piece of tippet. You showed this a few years back using a triple surgeons knot. I find it sometimes works with the figure of eight knot,but sometimes the tippet cuts into itself and the knot breaks. Have you tried this? Also, Devin showed a hack for the 16-20 knot sometime back, and says he can tie this leaving only a few mm of tippet wasted. However, he achieves this using a callous on his finger, something I'm not prepared to do! Your 16-20 trick with hemostats is great, but does waste some tippet, which doesn't matter when attaching tippet to a tippet ring, but doesn't fly when trying to attach a dropper fly to 3 inches of dropper tag. Your hacking genius is needed to solve this dilemma. Til then it's the Davy knot for me.

Thanks for sharing this stronger dropper tag knot with us Cory...like the way the dropper tag hangs away from the main line compared to the triple surgeon's knot...take care,all the best

This is a Seaguar knot. One of the fastest, easiest knots for attaching line to line.

Great video! This for my tags and 16/20 for my flies, all tied with hemos. So quick and easy, even in tough conditions. You never want to hesitate changing flies or adding tags because of poor knot tying.

ny thanks, I've always used the figure of eight knot as its very tidy and strong, but never using haemostats.👋

Cory, that is brilliant!

Pretty clutch! Thanks

Very nice!

Used the Grinner for years, I now use the Fig 8 knot, I find it is quicker and easier and also beds in better than the Surgeons. Tight lines. 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿

Thanks that was great!

Nice demo, thanks

This is brilliant 🤝

Strong work.

Hey Cory! You sure made that look easy. I’ll have to give it a shot. My go to has always been a double surgeons.

I've been using a trick you taught me... Tying a tiny perfection loop on a short bit of tippet and affixing it to the leader so it slides up and down. For me, it's a great help not to have to tie tag knots with 7X on the stream. This DOES look like a very stout knot, how-so-ever.

All your videos are so helpful I’d love to spend a day on the stream with you !!! Do you guide?

cool tips as always, especially when the fingers are cold the forceps help alot! going to practice this and thank you Cory also the tag end specifics !

I'll definitely try this. Thanks for sharing! If you get a chance, please go fishing or make another fly tying video. Your jack Daniel's is now My top nymph. I have it in a few different sizes. It flat out catches more trout than anything in my box. It should be in every fly tying book, for me it's better than a pheasant tail. Thanks for all that you do! Nate

Thanks Cory, I've experimented with this after Devin's video too. One of the best things about this knot I think is the ability to go from a single fly rig to a double without having to cut the fly off. Because you only need to pull the fly through the loop once instead of 3 times like a triple surgeon, it makes it super easy. :)

In several of the cobbled sandstone shoals in the Little Red River, a growth that I believe to be didymo has taken over, almost, re: the native stringy green algae. Do you have any experience with this diatom-gone-berzerk? Photographed it, perhaps?

thanks for the multi-view aspect of the vid! super helpful! what's your school of though on dry dropper in this config? dry on your tag followed by a heavier nymph on the longer section? how about double nymph? heavier on the longer bottom section? thx again!

The topography of this knot is the same as the Orvis Tippet Knot. It's not the same as a figure 8. Before cinching this one tight, you can twist one side half a turn and the apparent "figure 8" element opens to reveal the knot's true shape. Try it, you'll see. What you end up with is something that is similar, but different from a figure 8. To make matters worse, there are two versions of the Orvis Tippet Knot out there -- even Orvis doesn't seem to know the difference as it features both methods without any acknowledgement that the two versions are different knots. In the later version, the knot actually does take a figure 8 shape that can't be untwisted. Yet it is still distinct from a proper figure 8 knot. I've argued this with several people to no end. But I've done lots of side-by-side tying with different color monos, comparing the different versions. I'm not a youtube person, so I can't really do a video on it, but there's no doubt about them being different. The figure 8, the original Orvis Tippet, and the second version of the Orvis Tippet are 3 distinct knots. I also did some pretty extensive testing of the comparative breaking strength of each -- I tested every tag of each knot versus each of its other tags, and against every tag of each of the other two versions. The test involved some complicated tying involving 3 sections of tippet where, after the knot, one of the tags leads into a second knot, allowing a head-to-head of which knot (and which tag connection) is strongest, and observation of where the knot breaks. The strongest knot, and the best combination of tags to use for the point and the dropper, is the one you show here. Believe me, I spent countless hours doing this silly research, because it bothered me so much that people (even Orvis, and some influential tightline blog/podcast folks) were talking apples and oranges as if they were the same. I still have the paper on my wall where I taped up the uncinched knots, labeled them, and notated which were the stronger and weaker tabs. OK -- last thing, a bonus fact to add to the confusion. There is a non-hemostat method for the Orvis Tippet Knot, which actually is the original and most widespread version of the knot. It's the same as what you show, except in mirror image. In other words, what you show as the dropper actually becomes the main line, and vice versa, when compared to the hand-tied version. The knot is not a symmetrical one, unlike a double-surgeon's knot, hence this possibility. But the difference in them is that with the hand tied version the break is much more likely to occur just above the knot, leading you to lose two flies instead of one. Long comment.

Hey Cory, is this knot stronger than your other dropper knot video? Looks easier and less complicated.

Cory, tried it this winter. Hemostats will help old fingers. Otherwise a plus. Tony

Thanks for clearly explaining this great knot. I would encourage people to at least try it with their fingers first. If it works for you, it’s faster than using a tool.

Thanks Cory for continuing with your informative videos! They are much appreciated! Last year I had great success straightening my dropper line if it starts to wind around the main tippet. I'm curious, what knot do you use above this "figure 8 stop knot" once the initial tag gets too short? I use double davy sometimes improved clinch and haven't determined any winners yet....

I learned this knot years ago as the Orvis knot.

That is a great knot! Does this also work with braided line to mono or fluoro?

With 3 turns, this is the Seaguar/Lefty Kreh knot used by saltwater anglers to connect fluorocarbon to a running line.

Another great video and a new knot to try! Where can i get the neck lanyard you are wearing with the hemostats?

I've watched twenty or so videos on the figure 8 knot. Everyone else uses only one and a half turns instead of two and a half. It cinches down much neater with one and half turn. Have you tested the strength between the two?

I prefer using a tippet ring,once it's too short,just replace ,just as easy cory 👌🎣

Cory, Thanks for the videos. Very helpful. Whar line to you use? I am trying to replicate your setup. Airflo Euro? You mentioned "braided", but I can only find Airflo Euro Nymphing line. Many thanks.

I've watched you switch flys in seconds , which knot do you use on your flys

What hemostats are those? They look solid and quality ones. I’ve had bad luck with the ones I’ve bought.

Wondering if you can/should use the tag pointing up to right instead so comes off at more of a right angle?

What do you think of using the tag pointing up instead as the dropper?

do you have the specifics on how much better/stronger etc. the 8 is vs triple surgeons?

Okay, this may be a silly question: I like your short hemostats with scissors. Who makes them??

Just wondering the strength of the figure 8 knot Cory? Could it be used to tie a fluorocarbon leader like an FG knot?

Great video, do you plan on making a hat with the new patch available for sale?

I have seen some people add a half hitch to the bottom portion to help the dropper tag stick out a little bit more. Do you do that as well?

Excellent! What else can you say? Thank you.

Does this replace surgeons knot when adding tippet?

I use this knot and this method as well, but I was told by someone to keep the top tag and lose the bottom piece. Not 100% convinced either tag is stronger, but I do like the top tag as it helps keep the fly away from the main line, or so it seems.

I use the upper tag - heard that’s the stronger of the two… never tested it. Any truth to that?

The Figure 8 is the exact same thing as a Double Surgeon's Knot; the difference is only how most people tie it. I don't like this for a dropper because both terminal ends are parallel. There are good t-knots that are just as simple. They form a loop to the side, then you just cut one leg off it to make a 'boom'. I use an Alpine Butterfly, but so far I've only used it on small trout. Maybe you lose a tiny bit of sensitivity, but that's preferable to lining the fish or tangling your cast, IMO.

An additional over hand knot will make it stick out from the main line

I’ve used this all this time thinking I was doing a hemostat version of a double surgeons knot.

I combine figure 8 knot with your approach from another video when you don't cut a separate piece of tippet for a dropper tag. I don't use forceps.

Seems to me its just a double square, i tie that all the time for drop shot.

isn`t that sorta like a ORVIS knot..... i don`t like how the tag lays against the line.... needs to come out at a 90deg to help prevent tangles

great jod

Old Dominion Trout Bum, You're awesome! Let's be friends, okay?