Multi fly rigs with fly tied off tag ends

[greenlander]

I find that when I tie my upper fly off an intentionally oversized tag end of a double surgeon's knot, that the action I get on that fly is considerably higher. When I'd normally catch 90% of fish on the lower fly, when tying to the tag end, I think that drops to about 60-70%.

However, my tangle and rat's nest rate goes through the roof. Whether tangling with the rest of the leader, the other fly, or any possible streamside obstruction -- that tag end fly seems to grab onto anything and everything known to man.

Just curious if these experiences are typical for other folks.

 

[just_jon]

I've not had that problem. I tie my dropper 20-24 inches above the anchor fly and keep the tag end no longer than 4". My overall experience is 90% on the anchor fly. Over the last month, I've been fishing a #14 BH black stone with a #16 or 18 BHBWO as the dropper. I have caught all my trout on the stone fly and nothing buf chubs on the BWO.

 

[attackone]

how do u replace the tag for the dropper when it gets to short

 

[bam]

I rarely fish this setup... much more hassle free to tie an unweighted nymph or wet off the anchor fly. If I'm fishing wets I'll tie them in tandem with no weight.

 

[pcray1231]

I generally do use the tag end method.

1. Keep the tag short, less than 4"
2. Dropper MUST NOT be able to reach any knots or shot along the main line, other than the blood knot it originates from.
3. Always use the LARGER sized line from the blood knot.
4. Even then, it helps if it is pretty thick stuff. Generally 2x or 3x for me. The thinner the dropper line, the shorter it needs to be.

That, plus opening up your casting stroke to more of a lob, will prevent your tangle issues.

When the tag gets too short, you can just clinch knot a new 3-4" length of line just above the blood knot. Blood knot keeps it from sliding towards the point.

I have been intrigued by tippet rings, though, and may give them a shot this year. Seems like a good way to do this.

 

[chrism80]

I just started setting my leaders up this way this year. don't know if it matters but i use the triple surgeons knot and keep it short. such as the four inches already mentioned. only issue i have really had was my dropper fly will sometimes twist around the main leader. not really a big deal just takes a second to undo. i think its because of the surgeons knot and using a blood knot may remedy this. its interesting you guys having more success on the anchor fly my results have almost been half and half.

 

[bikerfish]

I always fish my soft hackles off the tag ends, usually 3 of them, sometimes 2. I rarely have tangle issues, but then again, I use slower bamboo and glass rods so my loops are never that tight anyways, so maybe that helps avoid them.
I do get tangle issues if using a weighted rig with multiple flies and an indicator, and it doesn't seem to matter if I used the tag end method or tying off the hook bend. still doesn't happen that often to really worry about it, and i think it's sometimes my fault for trying to rush a cast and not being patient.

 

[attackone]

pcray i do the something that u do with the clinch knot, was just wondering if anyone else did it that way...i have some tippet rings and i have been thinking about doing it that way also, might try it this weekend

 

[Tups]

I tie a perfection loop at the end of my leader and then tie my 24" tippet to the loop with a clinch knot (tail fly obviously tied to end of tippet). I then tie a short piece of mono having the same diameter as the loop section to the loop as well. I tie my dropper to this short tag. To avoid the dropper tangling with the main line, the dropper tag is never more than 3 inches long, preferably 1 inch. My hook-up rate is about 50:50. I have found that fishing two flies usually increases my chances of catching fish. Perhaps when a fish sees 2 flies drifting by he get twice as excited.

 

[YoughnessMonster]

I've always tied dropper to the hook bend but am intrigued by this method and will give it a shot this weekend if conditions are not blown out.

 

[pcray1231]

Another trick here is instead of a fly on the dropper, put your shot there with no fly. That way when you snag up, it's just the dropper snagged, and the shot will slide right off the end with a nice steady pull. Replace shot, go back to fishing.

 

[greenlander]

YoughnessMonster wrote:
I've always tied dropper to the hook bend but am intrigued by this method and will give it a shot this weekend if conditions are not blown out.

I've found I get the least amount of action on the upper fly when I tie the dropper off the hook bend of the upper fly. As mentioned, I get the most action on the upper fly when tying off the tag end of a surgeon's, but if I'm not doing that I'll tie the dropper off the eye of the upper fly and typically see better results vs. tying to the hook bend.