- 1). Find a good work space with adequate lighting to tie your backing and fly line to the tapered leader and tippet. These lines will arrive from the manufacturer coiled in small boxes or plastic spools. Use both hands to carefully uncoil the lines with a back and forth motion.
- 2). Begin with the backing. Use an arbor knot to tie the backing to the reel. Wind roughly 100 yards of backing around the spool arbor. Attach the backing to the fly line using a nail knot. A standard nail is then used to wrap the backing around the fly line.
- 3). Attach the tapered leader to the fly line using a square knot. Small loops on the end of the fly line and leader are required to tie this knot. Use a sharp utility knife to cut off any excess line from the loop knots.
- 4). Tie the tippet to the tapered leader using a blood knot. The blood knot allows you to tie two monofilament lines together. Have adequate lighting as both of these lines are clear and sometimes difficult to see.
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