2-fly rigs

[TurbineBlade]

Hey - rigging question:  How do most of you rig up more than 1 fly when you're not fishing nymphs?  

For nymphs I've been using the "inline" method of tying the subsequent flies to the hook bends of the flies before them.  This works fine and doesn't tangle too badly, but when I've done this with streamers and (of course) soft hackles I can't help but feel that the "upper" flies being attached to tippet on both ends have very little action and may not be serving much purpose....(i.e. they're basically just stiff, lifeless hobos along for the ride).  

I've read that some folks leave a blood knot tag end a little long and use that, and others said they tie a surgeons knot and leave one tag end of that a bit longer to tie to the fly.  

What method do you recommend?  

Gene

[tperkins]

I typically tie to the bend of the hook, but i have also tied a second piece of tippet to the eye of the upper fly and then tied the second fly to that. Not sure if the action was any better though.

[Danny Barrett]

I just tie onto the hook of the privious rig. And only leave 4-6 inches of distance between them. And put the bigger nymph up top. Ive fished as many as 4 flies. Its really fun to get doubles.

Dan Barrett

(540) 222-8064
dannyt...@gmail.com

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[Rich, Marek]

Gene,

 

I almost exclusively fish a 2-rig set-up, especially when fishing the Potomac. I always tie off from the hook bends.

 

In my opinion you’ll find the “action” of the fly more associated with the actual knot tied to the fly-eye itself then the connection point between the two flies. The knot I use was taught to me by Dan at Orvis (can’t recall the name), but it essentially leaves a small amount of room between the knot and fly-eye. This provides an exceedingly and surprising high amount of “wiggle” enabling more life to the fly.

 

Marek  

--

[Richard Farino]

I tend to NOT use a 2-fly rig when fishing the Potomac, particularly when throwing big crayfish in deep holes/fast water/rocky substrate.  I concentrate on making my primary fly move better.  They also tend to be a little larger, and I prefer to lose only 1 fly to the rocks instead of 2.

 

Trout are a different story.

 

 

R

 

 

Richard Farino

Urban Angler VA | 108 N. Washington Street  2nd Floor | Alexandria, VA 22314

(703) 527-2524 | fax: (703) 527-3313 | ric...@urbanangler.com

[Matthew Longley]

Think Marek is talking about the "non-slip mono knot":

http://www.animatedknots.com/nonslipmono/index.php?Categ=fishing&LogoImage=LogoGrog.jpg&Website=www.animatedknots.com

I usually tie to the hook bend, but I've been thinking about using a tag end to try and give the first fly more movement.  Interested in what other folks say.

[TurbineBlade]

I'm a knot-addict -- no denial.  I've spent hours with spools of 8-20 pound mono tying and testing various knots on youtube, usually while watching Caps games.  My "go-to" knot is the uni (usually left as a small loop for flies).  I tie it consistently well and it has never failed me unless I was deliberately trying to break it from getting snagged on the bottom or something....and even then I'm surprised at how much effort is needed to break off, especially with 8lb+.   An 80-85% knot works great for me -- I don't need any more.  The only real problems I've run into are tying a knot incorrectly and ending up with something like 50% strength, so consistency is more important to me than max strength.  I used to have that exact problem with improved clinch knots, but Beth ONLY uses the improved clinch and has never had any problems with it.  I guess we all suck at certain knots and are better at others.  Live and learn.  

Point taken by Rich too -- I've lost nymph rigs literally 1-2 minutes after getting them tied and it really hacks me off to have to fix up the rig.  I'll have to keep this in mind and just experiment a little this weekend.  Maybe I'm imagining a problem that doesn't exist with the lack of movement on those upper flies. 

And bloody hell - this is slightly off-topic, but I need to try a 2-hander some day.  I'm really, really afraid that once I do I'm done for and that's all I'll want to use ;).  I can see some real, pracitcal purposes for a 2-hander on the Potomac.  

Thanks for the tips!

Gene

[FlyTimesDC]

Agree 100% there. Nothing like losing part of your double rig on one of the 1,000 trash bags in the duck pond.

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[Eric L]

 I fish two flies a lot, and after trying a bunch of different methods, I've found the easiest for me is to join that last two sections of your tippet using a triple surgeons knot.  Then you just leave the tag end of the knot 4"-8" long and tie the upper fly on that, and the lower fly on the end of the tippet. 

Not only is this easy, but I find that it results in less tangles (somewhat dependent on mono weight).  And, I think your point about reduced fly action when you are tying to the bend of the upper hook is a valid one.  I almost always use a non-slip mono look for tippet to fly connection - especially in cases where that matters (small soft hackles for trout, or unweighted streamers on heavy tippet). 

If you use lighter tippet for the bottom fly, half the time you only lose one fly when you get hung up.

[Brendan]

not sure what kind of setup you're talking about really...? streamer followed by nymph?  

honestly, i'm terrible with knots... but davey's knot is very simple and easy for tying a dropper to the bend of the hook. 

two flies can be very useful this time of year on trout, when you're not sure where they're looking. also sometimes use them as a strike indicator on shallow rocky streams. throwing a 10-16 buoyant dry with a tiny 16-22 nymph is usually my preferred method of two fly casting. 5x tippet to dry, w/ nymph bounced along 15-36" behind by a 6x towline. Generally for trout I prefer to have a leader to fly of distance 10'+, then go shorter (~18" ) on the dropper.  cast around in the grass w/ out hooks to find what the sweet spot is for you. getting them both to land correctly and accurately at a reasonable distance took me awhile. 

very rarely -  i have tied a small streamer behind a popper while trying to figure out what the bass around here or even resident silver salmon on puget sound are doing.  also on very cold days will run a nymph a 12-24" behind a streamer for trout.  don't really recommend either setup unless you're getting skunked and running out of ideas. both are a pain to fish and lead to snags, tangles and less quality time in the water than you would have fishing them separately.  99% of the time bass fishing i'm throwing flies han solo, as streamers and poppers don't really like company when casting. 

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 10:43:51 AM UTC-4, TurbineBlade wrote:

[Carl Z.]

For droppers, I use the "tie it to the hook bend" technique.
For streamers, I don't use two flies.
For nymphing, I'm starting to use tippet rings instead of knots. I
think it works much better, but they are awfully small and I seem to
have lost the package that I just bought (and they are expensive if
you just loose the whole package like that :-) ).

Carl

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[michael.d...@gmail.com]

There are a few good knots that create a loose and small loop through the eye of the hook. This is the one recommended by Lefty Kreh. He says it is as strong or stronger than the tippet which is usually not the case with other non slip loop knots like this. I'm going to start using it exclusively this year:

http://www.animatedknots.com/nonslipmono/

He uses one other knot that I am trying to remember now, will think of it later..

Mike Vance

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 11:33:45 AM UTC-4, Marek wrote:

Gene,

 

I almost exclusively fish a 2-rig set-up, especially when fishing the Potomac. I always tie off from the hook bends.

 

In my opinion you’ll find the “action” of the fly more associated with the actual knot tied to the fly-eye itself then the connection point between the two flies. The knot I use was taught to me by Dan at Orvis (can’t recall the name), but it essentially leaves a small amount of room between the knot and fly-eye. This provides an exceedingly and surprising high amount of “wiggle” enabling more life to the fly.

 

Marek  

 

From: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com [mailto:tidal-potomac-fly-rod...@googlegroups.com] On Behalf Of TurbineBlade
Sent: Thursday, April 04, 2013 10:44 AM
To: tidal-potoma...@googlegroups.com
Subject: {Tidal Potomac Fly Rodders} 2-fly rigs

 

Hey - rigging question:  How do most of you rig up more than 1 fly when you're not fishing nymphs?  

 

For nymphs I've been using the "inline" method of tying the subsequent flies to the hook bends of the flies before them.  This works fine and doesn't tangle too badly, but when I've done this with streamers and (of course) soft hackles I can't help but feel that the "upper" flies being attached to tippet on both ends have very little action and may not be serving much purpose....(i.e. they're basically just stiff, lifeless hobos along for the ride).  

 

I've read that some folks leave a blood knot tag end a little long and use that, and others said they tie a surgeons knot and leave one tag end of that a bit longer to tie to the fly.  

 

What method do you recommend?  

 

Gene

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[johnfarr]

I just tie at the bend of the hook. A favorite set up for trout fishing is a size 14-16 parachute adams or elk hair caddis with a size 16-18 emerging caddis pupa below, with a bit of sinking agent on the pupa to make sure it breaks the surface tension. I'll do something similar with poppers and nymphs for panfish and bass.

On Thursday, April 4, 2013 10:43:51 AM UTC-4, TurbineBlade wrote:

[Adam Soller]

I've also always tied at the bend in the hook.  Last night I received an email from cutthroatleaders.com, which I've used before, that included the below excerpt on a two fly rig.  Thought I'd share as its an interesting concept.

I have no experience using the swivel they note below, but an internet search showed a couple of hits where one can find purchase it.

Streamer  Tips...

I was lucky enough to be surrounded by some world class fly fishers on my last outing, each and every guy had their own specialty.  I picked up many tips and tricks.  One that really made a difference was the following. 

  

If you typically throw a double streamer rig (especially in lakes) this is for you.  Many fly fishers attach the first fly to the main line and then tie a piece of tippet to the bend of the hook and then you tie your second fly to that.  This system does work, but it eliminates much of the natural action of both flies.

  

On this trip, I tied a blood knot and left a long tag end. I attached my first fly to this tag end.  (this keeps the fly away from the main line)  Then about 12" below the blood knot, I attached a small swivel (SPRO 10) to the tippet.  I then used between 12"-18" of tippet between the swivel and the second fly.  The swivel allows the second fly to act as a natural.  Twisting / flipping / moving in the water. 

This simple arrangement made a huge difference in hook up ratios.  Yes, it does take a little longer, but what's a few minutes getting ready,
 if it means that many more hook-ups.

  

I was throwing a 7/8 wt fluorocarbon cutthroat leader with 8lb and 6lb tippet.