Much as I am reluctant to crash the party so to speak & risk breaking up the current debate, nevertheless whilst preferring to remain neutral would like to chuck in my two cents worth re blood knots.
I have always felt properly tied blood knots were the preferred option strength wise, in my very limited repertoire for a wide range of various materials, dias, bs etc.
Problem is that as others have mentioned I have always had trouble tying them properly & invariably took what seemed like forever to complete one which as likely as not would slip apart when testing. This has become more pronounced with advancing years, as the natural attrition factor hands become shaky along with deteriorating eyesight further complicates the situation.
Consequently I had virtually given up on attempting to tie blood knots, therefore I found that vid on how to do so quickly, using a toothpick a revelation so am eager to try it & if it works for me will be eternally grateful for the method being posted ... so thanx a million Chewy Dog in advance.
IMO when comparing various knots it pays to consider all the factors such as do they perform well when joining
different materials ( eg flouro to nylon ) different hardness or softness, supple or springy, breaking strains & dias etc. etc. For instance in my experience the surgeons knot is a worthwhile alternative inasmuch as is easy to tie but as has been mentioned only suitable if one or both of the sections is short, however the major downside in my experience is that altho fine initially, it often seems to break after having encountered a couple of hard fighting fish unless replaced, which is a pain in the proverbial.
As for using manufactured tapered leaders for anything other than dry or shallow water nymphing simply does not work for me as the sink rate tends to be far less controlled. My preferred setup is say a meter of heavy nylon
( 20 to 30 lbs ) that will throw the complete rig out of sight of the flyline to which is tied a meter of say 10 lb flouro which also carries an adjustable indicator. Finally comes another length of flouro of choice, maybe 6 or 8 lb.
with the length determined by the depth of water being fished, along with the speed of flow. Such a setup minimises the chance of spooking fish whilst allowing the nymph/s to get down quickly to where the fish are ( usually near the bottom ) & imo maximises the distance of effective drift.
