How to tie the speed nail knot when fly fishing

Once you are comfortable tying this knot with backing, do it with some heavy monofilament, up to 30-pound-test, to simulate the stiffness of the butt section of the leader. You'll quickly find that the mono is much less compliant than backing, but all the manipulations are identical. Lubricate everything to help the wraps slide up the fly line as you tighten them. It's good to have a bowl of water on the table with you so you don't get caught spitting on your knots at the kitchen table! Be careful about the number of wraps. It's hard to properly tighten more than four wraps of this heavy butt material. In light lines such as 3- and 4-weights, I sometimes use just three turns to reduce the weight of the knot and keep it from sinking the tip of those light floating lines.