wets on droppers

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To Redietz: SHOW OFF!

[Ruard]

I fish most of the time two flies. The most heavy one on the point. In our canals I have landed several "doublets" but in the river I had only two in my live. Several years ago I landed only one trout but this year I had a doublet too, one brown and on rainbow. The rainbow grabbed the point fly when I was playing the brown.
They were not to big so I could land them both.
Sometimes I tangle but if you stay patient and remove first your two flies then it gives you not to much anger. I make overhead backcasts too but do not try to make a small loop and use a rod and casting techniek (?) so that you don't cast a tailing loop.
I use two flies because if gives me the opportunity to try out another color or another hook size, mostly the dropper is more little than the point. And I have the feeling that my leader has more balance with two flies.

Greeting

[redietz]

When you get right down to it, two flies are a lot less likely to tangle than one fly, a strike indicator and several pieces of shot. I'm always amazed when people who fish nymphs that way think that two flies are difficult to cast.

Part of the reason that's true is because you've got shot above the fly. Ruard is absolutely correct that putting the heaviest fly out front make casting much easier.

[zen leecher]

What I've found that's hard is casting a double chronie rig w/indicator from a float tube. I had one last year that was 17' of 4x flurocarbon tippet, two flies abut 18 inches apart with a split shot in between and an indicator up by the fly line. It was frustrating enough to get me to quit for the day. I hooked my hat, my shoulder, the rings on the float tube, my fly rod, my line...a bunch of other stuff and one lone 26 inch trout. Figured next time I tried that at least half of the leader would be tapered as 17' of tippet is too much to try and cast.

[Mataura mayfly]

Bob, I agree the split-shot, fly and indicator set up is asking for trouble , but (dependant on the type of indicator used) a single fly and indicator seldom lead to disaster- unless you use a big wind resistant indicator prone to spinning through the casting stroke.
I also dislike the heavier fly as point. To me it reverses the engineering of the leader tippet make up and you rely on the weight of the point fly to complete the turn over of the tippet, which can lead to shock loading the tippet. I find it much easier to get my presentation and delivery of the flies on the water much nicer with the weighted fly up front.
But that is just my opinion and what works best for me.

[Mataura mayfly]

What I've found that's hard is casting a double chronie rig w/indicator from a float tube. I had one last year that was 17' of 4x flurocarbon tippet, two flies abut 18 inches apart with a split shot in between and an indicator up by the fly line. It was frustrating enough to get me to quit for the day. I hooked my hat, my shoulder, the rings on the float tube, my fly rod, my line...a bunch of other stuff and one lone 26 inch trout. Figured next time I tried that at least half of the leader would be tapered as 17' of tippet is too much to try and cast.

Agreed, you are going to have problems casting a single dry fly on 17' of 4X tippet straight off your flyline. I would suggest getting yourself some 9-12' Tapered monofiliment leaders that taper down to 4X and adding your sacrificial tippet/two fly set up to that and see how you get on.
The weight of the flies and shot on your long soft tippet leader are not giving the correct turnover and loop forming. The weight at the end will be dropping as the supple fluro struggles to transmit the power from the fly line to the terminal tackle and will be forming tailing loops- explaining the flies coming in low on the forward cast and smacking into head, body or tube.

[zen leecher]

The reason for the straight fluoro tippet material is it sinks fast to get the chironomid down in the strike zone. That thought works once the fly is out on the water. But casting from a sitting postion in a tube it's kinda flawed.

I was fishing 15' deep for the April opener from a standing position in a boat and had no issues. Oh, and used a tapered leader and added tippet for the appropriate length.

[redietz]

Bob, I agree the split-shot, fly and indicator set up is asking for trouble , but (dependant on the type of indicator used) a single fly and indicator seldom lead to disaster- unless you use a big wind resistant indicator prone to spinning through the casting stroke.
I also dislike the heavier fly as point. To me it reverses the engineering of the leader tippet make up and you rely on the weight of the point fly to complete the turn over of the tippet, which can lead to shock loading the tippet. I find it much easier to get my presentation and delivery of the flies on the water much nicer with the weighted fly up front.
But that is just my opinion and what works best for me.

I was thinking strictly about ease of casting without tangling. I can think of any number of reasons to not put the weight on the point -- one of which is that I like one of the flies to drift a few inches above bottom when my weight is ticking it. I lose fewer flies that way. (Not that I fish nymphs with shot very much any more.)

[Ron Eagle Elk]

I usually attach a thinner piece of tippet material to my normal tippet. When trimming the tag ends from the blood knot, I leave the tag from the heaviest tippet material long, about 9 inches long in fact. I tie the top fly to that tag end then the point fly on the thinner tippet. Using the heavier tippet tag for the top fly almost eliminates tangles when casting, at least in my experience.

It seems to me that using a weight, whether a bead head fly, shot, whatever, between the flies would create a hinge effect when cast. The weight will surely travel faster, for a longer time than the light point fly. Add another +1 for Ruard's idea of putting weight (if you opt for it) at the point fly.

[Ruard]

Another thing is: don't use a bite-indicator. The bite-indicator is the biggest problem/cause of tangling up!! Even the least tailing loop give a beautiful tangle. Nip of the flies try to untangle your leader and tie the flies again on the point and the dropper: don't forget to remove your bite-indicator. In my opinion the bite-indicator indicates that you don't have any bite if you have a bite you can see it on the part of your line that is on the surface, exactly on the spot where your leader or line goes under the surface.

Greeting