How to Tie a Duncan Knot

The Duncan Loop knot, also sometimes referred to as the Uni Knot, is a sliding loop knot that is most often used when tying a fly to tippet or a lure to leader. This knot forms a loop at the end of your line, which enables your fly or lure to move freely through the water.

How to Tie a Duncan Loop Knot

Now that you know when to use the Duncan Loop or Uni Knot, it's time to learn how to tie it. You can tie a Duncan Loop Knot by following these five easy steps.
 

1. Pass your line through the eye of the hook and double back parallel to the standing line in order to make a loop alongside the standing line with the tag end.
2. Wrap the tag end around the standing line five to six times.Pull both the tag end and the standing line.
3. Moisten the knot and further adjust the size of the loop by pulling on the standing line.Trim off the tag end.

That's all you have to do to tie a Duncan Loop or Uni Knot. Once you have this knot mastered, you can learn how to tie a few other fishing knots and rigs.

When to Use a Duncan Loop Knot

You can use a Duncan Knot or Duncan Loop Knot with monofilament, fluorocarbon, or braided lines. This makes it one of the most versatile fishing knots to use when attaching a fly or lure to your tippet or leader. However, due to the fact that the Duncan Loop fishing knot retains much of its original breaking strength, it is also used for attaching fishing line to the arbor of a reel, or for joining two lines of similar diameter.

This knot is a good knot to practice tying if you are learning how to fish due to its versatility and simplicity. You can use this knot in both freshwater fishing and saltwater fishing situations.

Duncan Loop Knot vs Uni Knot

If you are wondering what the difference is between the Duncan Loop vs Uni Knot, there is actually no difference with the exception of the name. The Duncan Loop or Duncan Knot was originally named after Norman Duncan who developed fishing knot in the early 1960s. Although, Vic Dunaway, a former editor at the Miami Herald, is known for popularizing this knot as the Uni Knot in a fishing book that he wrote in 1970.