Team of flies but no droppers.

[Blueback]

Thanks, fellas, for the welcome. Yeah, the reversed spiders have a well-earned reputation around here, especially, in the tidal stretches. I should probably fish them more, but I have a fair amount of success just fishing basic soft hackles. I'm going attempt to tie some winged wets this winter when I've got some more free time. I've been watching some Davie McPhail videos on Youtube, where he uses a lot of bronze mallard, teal, etc., for the wings. Good stuff! I fish fiberglass mostly, and really enjoy swinging soft hackles and playing these searuns on these rods. My arsenal consists of all Cabela's rods: (1) 7'1", 4-weight -- Prime; (1) 6', 3-weight -- Prime; and (1) 5'9", 3-weight -- CGR. I'm looking forward to spending a lot of time on the water in the next couple of months....

[4thru8weights]

Hello everyone ! It seems I'm a bit late to this party, but here goes.

First off re: Team of flies but no droppers. I've never tried it but it would seem to have the advantage that the fly could be attached anwhere on the leader.

The method I used to use was to use one of the tags of a blood knot. Most people find thats a good method. It more or less keeps the dropper at a 90 degree angle to the leader. I never had any real problems with tangles even in the wind. If it's that windy I usually just head home. As someone else said earlier, creative casting can sometimes lead to a tangle. I'll also add that I began using the Davy knot on blood knot droppers because it was the one knot I could tie on when the dropper gets very short.

Nowadays I use a different which I stole from Kelly Galloup. A while back he did a video on drop shot nymphing where he takes a short section of mono and ties a perfection loop in one end. That perfection loop is then laid perpendicular to the leader and the other end of the dropper goes through the loop. Cinch it down and jam it against the top of a blood knot.

It has the same advantages/disadvantages as the blood knot dropper method as far as casting but makes it easier to change flies.

I've never fished snelled wets but isn't the other end just a loop?

Anyway, good topic!

[joaniebo]

I seldom fish more than two flies at a time and use both the old "dropper fly" on the tag end (approx. 8" long) and then the point fly approx. 24" - 36" from the dropper. This is done because I tie my own leaders using Oliver Kite's leader dimensions from "Nymph Fishing in Practice" and the last length of the leader is 36".

For the past few years, I've been using a tippet ring on the leader before adding the last 36" length which then makes it easier to add a short length of tippet and a dropper to the leader. If I want to change flies, all I have to do is cut off the dropper at the tippet ring and attach another piece of tippet and another dropper fly. Since the last length of the leader is 36", changing point flies is also easy. Once the last length gets down to 12" or so, I cut it off and add another 36" tippet and start all over again.

This allows me to use the same leader most of the day (or several days) and easy changing of flies by just adding new dropper or point fly lengths of tippet.

That being said, if I use a knotless leader, I'll tie the dropper tippet to the hook bend of the first fly, "New Zealand" style.

Bob

[4thru8weights]

Thanks for the welcome. I'm glad to see this forum up and kicking again. Long may it reign!
I think I'm sort of acquainted with about half of the regular posters on here through the internet. Good company.
I grew up in Michigan so the first time I was able to try drop shot nymphing I thought, wow, the most effective form of flyfishing just became that much more effective.
And I totally agree. I fish wets not only because it catches a lot of fish but also because I enjoy it and these days it fits my style.
Not only is a soft hackle the world's best suggestion of a nymph ( not just my opinion) but these flies can be presented in so many ways. They're almost never the wrong choice. I generally always hit the stream with nothing but wets in my pocket and I've never felt caught short.
Anyways, I love this forum!
I've never tried tippet rings. People say they get a lot of mileage out of their leaders - not that there's anything wrong with knotting up a pile of leaders!

[Greenwell]

8thru4, you stole nothing from Gallop, that method of adding a dropper has been around for at least a century and most likely much longer. Ray Bergman illustrates it in 1938, W.A. Hunter in 1927, and If I look a little I'm sure I can find earlier illustrations. I have used it extensively for many years and it works very well. One of it's advantages is that one can pre tie one's flies to droppers of the proper length which makes them easy to change or replace, especially with cold fingers.

In the last 10 years I have pretty much settled on tippet rings for setting my droppers. I find them to be very easy to work with, very secure, and, while hard to prove, less likely to tangle.

For me, the ideal tippet length is somewhere between 18" and 24". I've fished both longer and shorter tippets but find something close to 2 feet about optimum. My droppers run between 4" and 6".

[Old Hat]

What knots are best used to attach the rings?

[ronr]

Old Hat... I use tippet rings quite a bit.. have connected droppers with clinch and Davy knots...not had failures with either... also a former Central Oregon guide Bill Meyers taught me a setup where a nymph was added to the rig with the tippet through the hook eye and that section of tippet was secured on both ends with triple surgeons knots... it was usually the top fly and point fly added below. Caught fish on that fly 90 degrees to the tippet and able to slide up and down the roughly 10" section of tippet it was riding on.

[redietz]

It has the same advantages/disadvantages as the blood knot dropper method as far as casting but makes it easier to change flies.

It has one advantage over the blood knot dropper in that with the latter you're stuck with whatever size tippet that your leader is made of. For me, that's often 5x, which tends to tangle, or at least wrap around the main leader. With the perfection loop method, I can use a piece of stiff 4x or even 3x, which tends to remain at 90 degrees to the main leader and tangles less. That's not even considering that the dropper can now rotate freely around the main leader, making twisting even less likely.

[Greenwell]

Because the tippet rings are kind of small and can be hard to handle, I most often use a Uni-Knot to attach the various parts. Once you thread the leader or tippet through the ring you can just let it hang on the loop that you've formed. It stays out of the way while you form the knot. Also, the tag end points away from the ring and can be trimmed quite close to the knot. Actually, the Uni-Knot is pretty versatile and I use it for attaching fly to tippet also. A double Uni-Knot is an excellent knot for connecting leader sections smaller than 2X. I use a Blood knot for the larger sections. The classic Improved Clinch Knot works just fine as well for attaching rings but I find I have to hold the ring with my forceps to make the knot wraps.

[Theroe]

I was taught, and still fish with snelled flies. My leader is as follows:
1. Nail knot 6” of .021 hard Maxima to the flyline. Add a figure eight loop, 5/16” in diameter to the Maxima.
2. Add a tapered leader(loop to loop) to the Maxima - I use Varivas’s 9’ tapered to 2X. Put a 5/16” diameter figure eight loop on the 2X end.
3. Take 7’ of Umpqua 3X mono- putt a 5/16” figure eight knot in each end. Add two “no end” dropper loops, spaced evenly on the 3X.
4. Loop to loop your 3X Umpqua to the 2x Varivas. Your 15’ leader is done.

I snell all of my flies on Damyl Tectan .007, 7.3 pound test. Changing flies is a breeze, as is changing your 7 foot bottom section if it becomes nicked - I carry half a dozen premade spares. This set up has endless possibilities- in fast deep water I put a 6” mono tag on the bottom loop and add split shot. If the shot gets caught on the bottom, it pulls right off. I have caught many fish after becoming snagged, while jiggling my line trying to get loose!

All of my flies are snelled with the Damyl Tectan; 4 1/2 inches in length, with a 5/16” figure 8 loop on the end.

I’ve very rarely get tangled -

Theroe