question on droppers

The past few years I've been fishing 2 nymphs, tying a dropper off the
hook of the top nymph. I've found that about 95% of the time I only
catch fish on the bottom nymph. I've even switched them around on some
days just to experiment. I was wondering if others have the same
experience and might know why this is?


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flyman23

:fish:
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flyman23 wrote in
:


The past few years I've been fishing 2 nymphs, tying a dropper off the
hook of the top nymph. I've found that about 95% of the time I only
catch fish on the bottom nymph. I've even switched them around on some
days just to experiment. I was wondering if others have the same
experience and might know why this is?



Some might say the top nymph will get the attention, and the bottom nymph
will get the bite. For me, though, its much closer to 50-50.

Great technique. Doubles your chance of getting a good dead drift in the
right place. I like tying a beadhead on as the top nymph, and a beadless
version of the same imitation as the trailer. If the water seems real
fast, a tungsten bead might be the way to go.


--
Scott
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In my experience, tying on the hookbend -seems -to interfere with
hooking fish. I switched to tying the "top" fly off the tag end of the
knot i add my terminal section of tippet to and have seen improvements.
it also seems to cast better for me with fewer tangles.


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eddavidson9
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On Nov 6, 6:43 am, eddavidson9
wrote:
In my experience, tying on the hookbend -seems -to interfere with
hooking fish. I switched to tying the "top" fly off the tag end of the
knot i add my terminal section of tippet to and have seen improvements.
it also seems to cast better for me with fewer tangles.

--
eddavidson9
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I agree. At one point a guide showed me a method he used that I have
adopted. He would take a short (3-5") section of fairly stout and
stiff material, say 6-8 Lb test, tie a perfection loop in it, and loop
it onto the main leader above the tippet knot. With knotted leaders
you can place several of these up the leader with different selections
for the fish to inspect. I like this rather than tying to the bend in
the hook method because it allows me to change the upper fly without
retying the lower and it allows me to change the separation between
the two flies without much hassle. When the upper dropper gets to
short you can tie another one on without rebuilding the leader.

JM

flyman23 wrote:
The past few years I've been fishing 2 nymphs, tying a dropper off the
hook of the top nymph. I've found that about 95% of the time I only
catch fish on the bottom nymph. I've even switched them around on some
days just to experiment. I was wondering if others have the same
experience and might know why this is?



It is mainly because the action of the first nymph is "strangled" by the
way it is attached. Also this method of attachment interferes with
hook-ups, and will also prevent you from detecting takes. It is likely
that you get just as many takes to the dropper nymph, but the fish
nudges it away, and you dont see them. This also depends on the patterns
you use. patterns with a little more hackle or rough dubbing tend to
work better even when somewhat strangled, than weighted streamlined nymphs.

Also, you might like to try using a leader ring to attach your dropper
fly and point nymph;

http://www.mike-connor.homepage.t-on...s/leaders.html

TL
MC

On 6 Nov 2007 13:15:53 GMT, Scott Seidman
wrote:

If the water seems real
fast, a tungsten bead might be the way to go

Or very deep. When it is deep of fast, I tend to use a weighted
stonefly nymph as the top one (to get the rig down) and the *entended*
fly as the bottom one.

Years ago when I got into nymphing I always fished with multiple flies
(I stopped at 3). The biggest problem I had with them was tangles,
especially after catching a fish. There is also the danger of
catching two or three (!) fish at a time. I know it sounds good, but
you really don't want that to happen. I've had two on at the same
time and it broke the tippet. And, the only time I have hooked myself
deeply was on a multi-fly set up while removing the hook from the
fish. One slip, the fish was back in the water, and the other hook
was deep in my finger - no barb, thankyouverymuch!

I now fish with only one nymph and use non-toxic shot to get it down.
Remember, you want the drift to be slower than the surface water
(bubbles, foam, stuff on the surface is how you would measure the
surface speed). Having more than 1 fly can often upset your "tuning"
of the rig, i.e., getting the drift at the right depth and speed.

But, hey. Experiment. It is always a good practice to do so. Best
to learn the circle cast also as used by Lefty. No false casts.
Simply pick up the rig after it has gone past you down-stream and in
one giant lob, cast it back up-stream.

Dave

On Tue, 6 Nov 2007 09:43:15 -0500, eddavidson9
wrote:

In my experience, tying on the hookbend -seems -to interfere with
hooking fish. I switched to tying the "top" fly off the tag end of the
knot i add my terminal section of tippet to and have seen improvements.
it also seems to cast better for me with fewer tangles.

I agree. There are several methods beside using the bend of the hook,
but I like the tag end of the tippet/leader knot.

Dave

Dave LaCourse wrote in
:

I agree. There are several methods beside using the bend of the hook,
but I like the tag end of the tippet/leader knot.



That's what I'll usually do, if I can remember to do it. If not, I'll just
tie on to the bend and take my lumps.

--
Scott
Reverse name to reply

On 6 Nov, 23:44, Dave LaCourse wrote:
On Tue, 6 Nov 2007 09:43:15 -0500, eddavidson9

wrote:
In my experience, tying on the hookbend -seems -to interfere with
hooking fish. I switched to tying the "top" fly off the tag end of the
knot i add my terminal section of tippet to and have seen improvements.
it also seems to cast better for me with fewer tangles.

I agree. There are several methods beside using the bend of the hook,
but I like the tag end of the tippet/leader knot.

Dave

If you only fish with one nymph, why would you need the tag end of a
knot for attaching another one?

Apart from which, using the tag end of a knot is asking for a break,
it is a very weak rig, and not at all advisable.

MC

"Mike" wrote in message
ups.com...

snip

Apart from which, using the tag end of a knot is asking for a break,
it is a very weak rig, and not at all advisable.

MC


Maybe so, but in 30+ years of fishing for steelhead with a two fly rig,
swinging flys on or near the surface, that has been my standard set-up and
it has never given me any problem. I almost invariably use hand tied leaders
of Maxima Chameleon with 8# tippet and 10# next section. The dropper fly is
tied on the 10# tag end.

I don't know how many steelhead I've caught in that time, but it has to be
high in the thousands with the largest being a 22#er. Many many years ago I
thought it was my duty to catch as many steelhead as possible, and in the
last season of that period of my evolution as a steelheader I stopped
counting 2/3 of the way through the season at 200 fish brought to hand..

Have I had fish break off? Of course, far more than I like to admit. But
I can probably count the number that broke off at the first blood knot as a
result of using the tag for a dropper on my hands with fingers left over.
Most breaks occured: 1. At the connection of the tippet to the point fly,
2. At previously unnoticed rock nicks, or 3. At unnoticed (or to lazy to
deal with) wind knots.

I have however acquired some leader rings (per your suggestion) and will
likely switch over to them so I don't have to replace both the 8# and 10#
sections as often.

Bob Weinberger