Favorite tandem/ threesome

littlelehigh

littlelehigh

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Dec 16, 2008
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Just started doing some extra reading on tadem rigs, czech nymphing etc. and was curious what are some of your favorite combos. Do you use a sucker spawn or something else bright as and attention getter. I'm mainly looking for sub surface set ups but if you prefer a dry/double dropper that would be ok to list too.


For the life of me I can't figure out how tying to the bend of the hook still allows the first fly to be productive, I mean the fish has to feel the line going to the second fly before you have a chance to set the hook no?


I know Jay likes his blood knots which avoids this but I can't tie one to save my life. Even after a couple beers!


Also I am still playing around with spacings and read in one article 3 flies should be no more than 20" apart. But does anyone add weight in between the flies or only onto the leader before the first fly.

My guess is first fly bounces along the bottom, fly 2 rides in the drift off the bottom and the last is closer the mid drift of the water column (I know this is not an exact). Also if the above assumption is correct why is it they recommend placing the heaviest fly in the middle?
 
I almost always nymph with three flies. I use blood knot droppers

My formula is as follows:

1st fly: moderately weighted attractor nymph or emerger. I try usually use a staple food like a caddis larva, scud, or sowbug, depending on what the stream has. I will also occasionally put an emerger on here, because when high sticking, it will ride higher in the column.

The second fly comes off a blood knot as well. This one is my weight. I tie a variety of heavily weighted simple walt's worms for this purpose. They imitate anything and everything. I choose a properly weighted fly for the conditions. In very shallow water, I'll replace the walt's worm with an unweighted green weenie or some other generic fly.

The third fly is tied directly to the tippet, and is usually whatever I think is hatching. 90% of the time, I use a PT soft hackle. The last fly swims the best, and will catch most of the fish. I have found that tying blood knot droppers has increased hookups on the other flies, so I do avoid tying in at the bend, I also use scuds or zebra midges here if nothing is hatching.

If I don't have enough weight on my flies to get it down, I use shot as needed. Afish also gave me some tungsten tacky weight, which is great.

I also like to fish tandem dries or dry/dropper rigs when fishing for risers. I will tie eye to eye here, not at the hook bend. This has been effective.

My tandems are never more than 24 inches long. This improves casting and presentation.

Contrary to popular belief, the three fly rig is very castable. I have been tinkering with level czech nymph leaders to aid sinking, but don't like how it handcuffs me to a short line presentation. I usually use a tapered leader and will add an indicator when necessary. If I can control the drift without one, I take it off. I usually end up using an indie in big runs and riffles.
 
I like to mix up the sizes. One large depth charger of a fly as the dropper and something two or three sizes smaller as the point fly. I do this when prospecting and feel that it gives me some indication of the size of fly that the fish are focusing upon.
 
I fish 2 or 3 nymphs any time I am nymphing. I now tie from the bend of the hook all the time as I did not see any differnce in hook-up rate. First fly if normally a soft hackle of some sort, then a bead head green weenie, then a non-soft hackle nymph. With the exception of the green weenie I try to match the available forage. If I need additon weight I normally add it between the first and second fly. Dropper length in normally about 20". Will on occasion use floating indicator, but most often I build them into my leader with amnesia red & stren gold.
 
I almost always fish at least 2 flies at once - even if targeting rising fish. I fugure it doubles my chance of hooking up.

When nymphing, my meathod varies as to where I put the heaviest fly - sometimes it is the first in line other times it is on the bottom. It all depends what stream I am fishing and what bugs are active in the water.

My early May trip to Penns it was a heavy black stonefly with a small peacock soft hackle from the bend and I caught fish on both of them throughout the day. On my last trip to Codorus creek it was a yellow body humpy with a small pheasant tail off the bend, again, fish were taken on both.

I like to nymph with at least one soft hackle when no visible action is on the surface. I have used small split shot between the flies, only when I have too. Slow down your casting and false cast as little as possible to reduce tangles.

My favorite current tandom is usually some type of green caddis beadhead with some soft hackle feathers on it, trailed by either an un-weighted peacock soft hackle or a 16 or 18 beadhead pheasant tail or green bodied hares ear. Distance between the two flies is greater than 14" and less than 24"
 
Me, Erin, and Haley.
 
Pheasant Tail
Caddis larva
midge larva
 
David, I second that!

Back to fishing, I would have to say a parachute adams on top and a pheasant tail nymph as a dropper.

Setup #2 would be two soft hackle flies, a bigger one followed by a smaller one. Sometimes they see the bigger one, refuse it and nail the smaller one.

My tandems are spaced about a foot apart. Any more than that produces problems.
 
littlelehigh wrote:

For the life of me I can't figure out how tying to the bend of the hook still allows the first fly to be productive, I mean the fish has to feel the line going to the second fly before you have a chance to set the hook no?


My hook set ratio drops when I use a dry/indicator fly as the first fly in tandem. The tippet between flies -- no matter how thin -- acts as a barrier on some takes. Either the fish can't completely engulf the fly or the line actually pushes the lead fly a bit.

But I still fish it because when I go to this tandem the fishing is always slow on top. Most of my takes are on the trailer anyway.
 
I always nymph with 2 flies. I tie the dropper to the eye of the first fly hook and normally put weight between the 2 flies.

This is certainly not the most advanced or prettiest way but it is effective. People spend time making dropper lines off tag ends etc... but truthfully of the guys I fish with that use those methods I catch as many as the do. For me, the best solution is always the most simple.

I know, I know- no weight on the line yatta yatta. Must be those competition types- aggggh.
 
I've been tying two nymphs and a wet in the space of about 2' to 3' of tippet alot lately.

Usually, the heaviest fly is on the bottom, either a prince or a hare's ear. After that comes a small uncased caddis, and then my wet's either been a peacock and partridge or a black pennell.

About a foot above that I'll use a torn piece of foam strike indicator just so I can follow where my line is.

The first two flies would be hanging off the main tippet via surgeon's loops that let them stick out about 1-2" the last fly is clinch knotted on.
 
Thank you for all the input, once again so many different techniques to accomplish the same thing very interesting. The part I found very different from all the online articles I read was the use of a wet fly as the 3rd. No article even mentioned using a wet at all and it never crossed my mind.

I think I will take a few empty pill bottles and tie up a few different tandems and store them individually. That way on stream I only have 1 cinch knot to tie.

Here are my initial combos I think I will try:
1.) sowbug, BHPTF, midge pupae
2.) Prince, walts worm, pt wet
3.) BHHE, green weenie, BHPT


Thanks so much to everyone for their input so far
 
As of late, I have been usin the dry/dropper method and have some greedy fish.

I set the hook when I see the fish clearly take and swim away with the dry, only to find that it was hooked on the nymph. I think the fish has been taking the nymph and being so close to the dry, takes it as well. This has happened to me 5 times in my last 2 outings.
 
if you are talking 12 or 14s those little clips that look like hooks work great as you can change flies with out shortening dropper line.
They also a little weight.
 
I never fish 3 flies and never considered doing so.

This thread has not changed my mind, i hate when i lose 2 as is and catch plenty of fish on the double version.
 
salvelinusfontinalis wrote:
I never fish 3 flies and never considered doing so.

This thread has not changed my mind, i hate when i lose 2 as is and catch plenty of fish on the double version.

And we're all here to learn. Except sal. He knows it all.

;-)

In an attempt to curb the loss of flies, I'll often use heavier tippets to my first few flies and lighter to the later ones. This prevents losing entire rigs. In any short line nymphing scenario, you are usually only a few feet from your flies, and can easily retrieve most snags. A hook file is crucial, and heavier tippet is preferred. Most snags are sticks or other debris, which comes up with the more direct pressure that you can exert from only a few feet away, which is one of the more useful things I've learned from this method.

When I have to add an indicator to fish a far off riffle, I'll occasionally ditch the first or last fly, as it is harder to retrieve far away snags.
 
I actually learned very much JayL. I just came to the conclusion i have no desire to do such a rig. Sorry if that bugged ya :lol: Even after this post and your remark.
 
I just realized.....if i know all then theres no reason to argue with me anymore ;-)
 
This is probably gonna get me in trouble , but you asked for our "favorite" so here goes........a strung minnow for the end , redfin preferably , and two flies , tied in as droppers 15-20" up the leader.
 
salvelinusfontinalis wrote:
I actually learned very much JayL. I just came to the conclusion i have no desire to do such a rig. Sorry if that bugged ya :lol: Even after this post and your remark.

It didn't bug me at all. I was just messin around. I mean... I used a winking smiley!
 
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