Essential Knots - The Four-Turn Water Knot

Good, reliable, well-tied knots are vital. Here we look at some that every angler needs to know…

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The four-turn water knot is a versatile, easy-to-tie knot, and like many knots it goes by several names – the Cove knot (named after top fly angler Arthur Cove) and the double surgeon’s knot. To confuse things even further, the knot can actually be tied successfully using only three turns rather than the four that it is named for!

One of the main uses of this knot is as a means of tying a hook length to a main line, as the resulting knot is small, neat and strong.

However, it is a versatile knot in that it can be used as a dropper knot if one of the tag ends is left long, making it a useful knot for simple rig construction.

Another use is to form a simple, light paternoster rig, where the long tag end of the main line can have a lead attached to it.