ORIGINAL HOOK DIAGRAM
Set the loop, wrap the standing line, return through the same side.
Original Hook the Horizon schematic. Same-side re-entry gets the emphasis because nobody miscounts four wraps, but it’s very easy to lose track of which side the tag came out of. I know because I’ve done it.
Best jobStraight to the lure or the fly, when whatever’s on the end actually fishes better with room to swing. Not every fly needs this — some fish just as well on a clinch.
Loop control
Your loop size gets decided by that first overhand, before the line touches the eye. Too big fouls on itself. Too small and you gave up the only reason you tied a loop instead of a clinch.
Hardware check
If there’s already a split ring or a snap on there, the swinging is handled. A loop on top of that is just a second hinge doing the first hinge’s job for no reason.
Failure clue
Tag comes back through the overhand on the wrong side and you’ve built something else entirely. It’ll probably still hold a fish. It just isn’t the knot on this page, and it won’t swing like one.
THE LOOP SIZE STARTS BEFORE THE WRAPS
You pick the loop size before it even looks like you’re tying anything.
The overhand goes in first and stays loose, before the line has been anywhere near the eye. Then the tag runs through the eye, back through that overhand, four or five wraps around the standing line, and back through the overhand again, going in on the same side it came out.
That last part is the whole knot, and it’s the part that goes missing on the days a streamer fishes dead for half an hour before anybody notices. Miss it and the rest of what you did was tidy and pointless. When it’s right, the knot seats by pulling the loop one way and the standing line the other, and you end up with a loop that stays open instead of sliding down against the hook eye. The same-side business sounds fussier than it is. Tie it backwards once on purpose, look hard at what you got, and your hands won’t forget which side is which.
How to tie the Non-Slip Loop / Kreh Loop
- Tie a loose overhand knot a few inches down from the tag end. Leave it sloppy on purpose.
- Run the tag through the hook, fly, or lure eye.
- Bring the tag back through the overhand knot.
- Wrap the tag around the standing line about four or five times.
- Send the tag back through that same overhand, coming out the side it exited before. Slow down here.
- Moisten where it makes sense and snug the wraps down a little at a time.
- Pull the loop and the standing line apart to seat it, then look at what size loop you actually ended up with before you trim.
WATCH + VERIFY
Watch which side the tag goes back in on. The rest is easy to copy.
Orvis — Non-Slip Mono Loop video · Orvis — close-up tying technique · NetKnots — Kreh Loop animation
Checking the same-side return on every loop you tie costs a couple of seconds. Fishing a loop that closed up costs the rest of the run.
Open the deeper knot workflowJob, material, route, dressing, seating, pull-test checks and the standardized comparison record.
THE SIX-MOVE CHECK
Job → Material → Route → Dress → Seat → Test
- Job. Name what the connection has to do before choosing the knot.
- Material. Confirm the line, leader, rope, wire, and hardware actually suit this structure.
- Route. Trace every pass before tightening anything.
- Dress. Put strands, wraps, and loops in their intended order with no accidental crossings.
- Seat. Tighten in the order this knot needs. More force does not repair bad geometry.
- Test. Inspect the finished shape, load it by hand when appropriate, and retie if anything moves or fails the article-specific checks.
Practice / pass test. Tie this knot three clean times without rushing. A tie passes only when it matches this article’s What to check before you trust it geometry, shows none of the listed failure clues, and survives the stated load/inspection test. If you cannot tell why one attempt is better than another, keep practicing—the lesson is recognition, not memorization.
KNOT SPEC
Non-Slip Loop Knot — the short answers
- ALSO CALLED
- Kreh loop, non-slip mono loop, Lefty’s loop. Named for Lefty Kreh, who popularized it rather than invented it — the same structure appears in older knotting books. Fly anglers and inshore lure anglers use it most.
- KNOT TYPE
- Fixed end loop — overhand-based, tied at the fly or lure
- WHAT IT CONNECTS
- Line or leader direct to a fly, jig, plug or hook, when the bait should swing on a loop instead of being cinched to the eye. Not a line-to-line knot and not a loop for loop-to-loop work.
- LINE TYPES
- Monofilament and fluorocarbon first. It forms in braid but grips poorly there, and heavy stiff leader needs the wrap count dropped or the overhand will not close. Not a fly line knot.
- STRENGTH BAND
- Solid as a fixed loop in appropriate monofilament. Fluorocarbon results are more variable across loop-knot tests, and I do not treat a loop knot’s published percentage as portable from one line to another. The useful tradeoff is simpler: you are buying controlled movement at the eye, so inspect the lock and choose a snug terminal knot when movement is not part of the job.
- DIFFICULTY
- Intermediate, but only just. Nothing is physically hard; the one thing to learn is that the tag must re-enter the overhand on the side it came out of. A child can tie it once shown that single detail.
- STEPS AND WRAPS
- Seven moves. Four or five wraps in ordinary mono, three in heavy leader, five or six in fine tippet. Braid gains nothing from more wraps — it slips regardless, so use a different knot there.
- TIE TIME
- A boat knot once the same-side return is automatic, a home knot before that. Thirty to forty seconds when fluent.
- POOR CONDITIONS
- Reasonable. There is no fussy count, but the same-side return is easy to lose in low light and with cold hands. Tie it, then look at it — a wrong-side return still holds and still looks tidy.
- THROUGH THE GUIDES
- Tied at the fly, so guide passage rarely matters. The knot itself is moderately bulky for its size and sits slightly proud, which you notice only when a long leader is drawn back through a small tip ring.
- LUBRICATION
- Yes. Wet before you snug the wraps, and again before the final pull apart. Several wraps bearing on one overhand concentrate heat, and fluorocarbon takes that badly.
- TAG END
- An eighth of an inch, trimmed only after you have confirmed the loop stayed open. A long tag here fouls the very swing you tied the knot for, and picks up weed on a streamer.
- TOOLS
- None. Nippers to trim. Good light helps while the same-side return is still new to your hands.
- BEST SUITED TO
- Not species-specific — chosen by the bait. Standard for streamers and baitfish patterns, inshore lure fishing for redfish, seatrout and snook, and for jigs and small plugs where the fall and the wobble matter.
The strength bands are rough on purpose. Published knot tests don’t agree with each other — the same braid-to-leader knot has tested near ninety percent of line strength on one machine and under half on another, because the line brand, its diameter, how fast it got cinched, whether it was wet and whose hands tied it all move the number more than the knot does. Use the band to compare this knot with the others, not as a number to quote.
FIELD INTELLIGENCE
Where it earns its place, and where it costs you
Advantages
- The loop stays a loop under load, which is the whole point: a suspending jerkbait, a small crankbait, a streamer and a jig on the fall all move more freely on a pivot than on a knot cinched to the eye.
- It holds its strength far better than the Homer Rhode in the same heavy leader, so it is the loop to reach for when the leader is thick and the fish is not small.
- Loop size is set deliberately, in the first overhand, before the line goes near the eye — so for once you decide the pivot instead of inheriting it.
- No wrap count that matters much: four or five is fine, and being one out changes nothing you will notice.
- It re-ties quickly at the fly after cutting back damaged tippet.
Disadvantages
- The tag must re-enter the overhand from the same side it exited. Get that wrong and you have tied a different knot that still holds and still looks right.
- It slips in braid, so on a braid mainline it means adding a leader you might not otherwise want.
- It is a poor choice on baits that gain nothing from a pivot — anything already hung on a split ring or a snap, lipless cranks, spoons with swivels, spinnerbaits. There the loop is a second hinge doing the first one’s job.
- A loop left too large tangles on itself and on the hook point during the cast; too small and you paid for a pivot you did not get.
- It consumes more leader than a clinch, which matters when tippet is already short.
Use a different knot when
- Rapala Knot — when you want the same free-swinging loop but find that finishing path easier to run cleanly. The four common loops trade holding strength for lure freedom differently, which only resolves once you name a leader weight.
- Homer Rhode Loop — when speed in heavy shock leader matters more than keeping the leader’s full strength
- Palomar or Improved Clinch — when the bait does not care about a pivot and you want the strongest simple hardware connection
- Perfection Loop — when the loop is for a loop-to-loop join at the leader butt rather than for lure action
WHAT TO CHECK BEFORE YOU TRUST IT
This is the knot for baits that need room to move. A suspending jerkbait hangs level and darts wider on a loop; a small crankbait starts wobbling a fraction earlier; a streamer jacks and glides rather than tracking stiff; a jig falls with its head free instead of pinned. Baits that genuinely do not care: anything on a split ring or a snap, spoons already fitted with a swivel, spinnerbaits, most lipless cranks. The useful variable to watch is loop size, because it is the part almost everyone sets by accident. A loop the width of a fingernail behaves differently from one the width of a thumb, and most anglers never once choose which they are fishing.
What actually makes it fail
- The tag returning through the overhand on the wrong side, which builds a different structure that can cinch shut against the eye.
- The loop closing down against the eye under load, turning the knot into an ordinary terminal knot mid-session without a sound.
- Snugging the wraps dry, which burns the line where the wraps bear on the overhand.
- Too many wraps in heavy leader, so the overhand never closes properly and the knot stays soft.
- A hook point or treble catching the loop during the cast and drawing it out of shape.
How to test it, and how it ages
Wet it, snug the wraps a little at a time, then seat it by pulling the loop one way and the standing line the other. Then look: the loop should stand open with the eye free to travel inside it, the wraps should sit in a tight even barrel, and the tag should point back along the standing line rather than out sideways. Slide the fly around the loop with a fingernail — it should move. Finish with a steady pull against the rod, never a snatch.
Over a session: Good, with one specific thing to check. The knot itself is stable over a session, but the loop wears where the hook eye rides against it, so run it between finger and thumb after every fish and after any contact with structure. Retie when the loop has gone stiff or has flattened at the bearing point.
Troubleshooting
Why does my loop keep closing up against the eye?
Either the tag came back through the overhand on the wrong side, or you seated the knot by pulling the standing line alone. Pull the loop and the standing line apart against each other so the knot closes without dragging the loop shut.
How big should the loop actually be?
Big enough that the eye travels freely, small enough not to foul the hook. For most flies and small lures that is roughly the width of a pencil. Decide it in the first overhand, because you cannot enlarge it later.
Why does it slip on braid?
Braid is too slick for the overhand to lock on itself here. Add a mono or fluoro leader and tie the loop in that, or use a different connection on braid.
Why will it not tighten in heavy shock leader?
Too many wraps for the material. Drop to three and the overhand will close. If it still will not, that leader is too stiff for this knot.
Is it worth tying on a crankbait that already has a split ring?
Usually not. The split ring is already the pivot. A loop on top of it adds a second hinge and one more thing to check.
