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 Doublegun |
Fishing a dropper |
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Posts: 26 04/19/2009 14:30 |
I have never been a big fan of fishing droppers but I am going to give it another try this week when I stalk the wild bluegill haunting Indiana farm ponds.
Question is the best way to tie on a dropper: from the eye of the floating fly or off the bend? If from the bend, what knot do you use.
Thanks |
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BobS |
#1 | |||
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Posts: 1071 04/19/2009 14:52 |
I fish three midge (#18 - 28) nymphs all the time. No droppers. Instead, I tie them in-line.
For example: The top fly is run about two feet up the tippet and clinch-knotted in place. This leaves a 2-foot tag end. The middle fly is run about half-way up it and knotted in. Point fly goes on what's left. Obviously, you can space the flies as you choose. I usually wind up with a pretty even spacing. Very little tangling, unless you get careless with beadheads. You've also got to keep track of where the other two flies are when you're removing the third from the fish's mouth. Pain and blood (yours), if you don't. PETA loves it when this happens. 
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tiptop |
#2 | |||
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Posts: 544 04/19/2009 14:58 |
I prefer from the bend. I use an improved clinch knot although it's much criticized -- I've been using it for 50 years. Any knot should be fine as
long as it cinches up tight on the bend. I don't like to fish a dropper with any line less than 5wt. which I think is the minimum to get the 2 flies to
turn over well. Bluegills usually aren't too picky -- you might want to fish just a single fly once you see what they prefer. Good luck!
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firehole |
#3 | |||
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Posts: 3855 04/19/2009 15:12 Local user |
For the bend of the hook I just use a clinch knot.
Dennis |
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joaniebo |
#4 | |||
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Posts: 1834 04/19/2009 15:44 |
I do the same as Dennis, from the hook bend approx. 24" behind. Sometimes use two of the same pattern (a "possible hatch"?) or one light and
one dark pattern to see which might be preferred.
Cheers and Safe Fishing Bob |
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Larry Swearingen |
#5 | |||
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Posts: 399 04/20/2009 08:05 |
Hello Doublegun,
When stalking the wily, and wild, Bluegill or Redear here around Fort Wayne I usually don't bother with a dropper. Although sometimes I will drop a smaller nymph off the bend of a small popper if I'm getting a lot of little ones nibbling at the legs of the popper and want to teach 'em a lesson.  But usually I prefer not to mess with it for panfish.
Now for Trout it's another story. If I'm fishing deep with nymphs I'll tie a BHPT on first with something different, and smaller, off the bend to give 'em a choice. The difference being that if I'm seriously nymph fishing with shot and a bobicator I'm not really "casting' but sorta flipping the rig back upstream after the drift. Larry Swearingen Fort Wayne, IN New Hoosier |
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Doublegun |
#6 | |||
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Posts: 27 04/20/2009 08:32 |
Thanks for the direction, gents. I'll give it a go tied to the bend, but I may go with just a popper, as Larry suggested, IF the weather permits me to get
out at all while in Indiana. However, Saturday morning will find me on the South Branch of the AuSable and I'll probbly try hanging a small Hare's Ear
off a Hendrickson, if the weather permits. If the weather does not cooperate I may just plain "tie one on" and cast myself in front of the fireplace
and dream of big trout (and bluegills).
Tight lines! |
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mattcliff |
heavier fly on the dropper | #7 | ||
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Posts: 105 04/20/2009 12:22 |
When fishing 2 nymphs, I've found some benefit in avoiding tangles by doing the counter-intuitive thing and tying the smaller fly on first, and hanging the
larger, heavier fly as the dropper. Within reason, of course -- I don't hang size 2 salmonfly nymphs off of #18 pheasant tails.
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corlay.fiberglassflyro... |
#8 | |||
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Posts: 39 04/20/2009 12:26 |
I had great luck,
when fishing dries last fall, by dropping a small #16 Pheasant Tail nymph, of the hook-bend of the Larger (#12-#14) dry fly I was fishing. I just tied ~15" or so of 5x flouro tippet, to the bend of the dry fly with a clinch knot. Worked great. The dry fly worked like an indicator, whenever a trout took the sub-surface nymph. And they took the dry itself occasionally, too. Great fun!
"From my observations I think that most of us spend too much time worrying about our tackle and too little time
learning the intimate characteristics of the fish and streams we fish most."
- Ray Bergman
Trout, New York: Knopf 1938 |
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seattlesetters |
#9 | |||
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Posts: 644 04/20/2009 12:33 |
I use a standard clinch knot with no more than four turns when tying a dropper "Western style" from the bend of the hook.
"You know how much I love a nice rack!" |
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firehole |
#10 | |||
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Posts: 3860 04/20/2009 14:58 Local user |
One of the reasons for tying a simple clinch knot is due the fact some dries have material hanging around the bend of the hook. It makes it less complicated
without getting material caught in the knot.
Dennis |
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booyah |
#11 | |||
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Posts: 126 04/20/2009 15:29 |
I have actually tied flies with tippet material tied into the body and cemented down. I tied a blood knot and then after the glue dried, I wrapped the body as
normal. Worked pretty well with a two nymph rig but was very effective with soft hackle.
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Blue Quill |
#12 | |||
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Posts: 114 04/20/2009 16:09 |
Hi Gents,
I'm not a big fan of droppers, but many of my friends are. I always found them to be unwieldy and one more thing to tangle. Also, in that I would catch fish on either fly, and in that both flys are in the immediate visible and striking range of a given trout, I think they provide more of a percieved advantage than an actual one. I would think differently if double hooks-ups were common, which they are not, or if the flys were greatly apart from one another and in very separate feeding lanes, which they are not. That said, as far as technique; I would tie a blood knot in the tippet about 24" up from the tip, and leave one tag-end of the blood knot 24" long. The point fly would go where it normally went, and the dropper would go on the long tag-end. This technique acts as a spreader, keeping them as far apart as possible, and would usually leave at least one fly if I had to break-off a snag. Chuck |
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mattcliff |
Tag-end method | #13 | ||
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Posts: 107 04/20/2009 20:33 |
I like the tag-end method because it keeps the knot from getting tangled up in the hackles & whatnot of the upper fly. The problem is that when I get
snagged (often), I tend to lose both flies and have a big leader re-build job. Whereas when I tie the dropper on the bend of the hook, I can use a size
lighter tippet material, so that I usually lose only the dropper fly. It's a trade-off. Depends what mood I'm in that day.
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bwoemerger |
#14 | |||
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Posts: 39 04/21/2009 10:45 |
I fish droppers all the time and just use a very simple knot to attach them to the bend. I basically just do two overhand loops and stick the second loop
through the first loop and snug the first loop around the second. Pull the tippet through the loop and creat sort of a slip knot. Put it around the hook then
pull tight. Fast and strong. I have landed some of my largest fish with this simple dropper knot. I also use this knot with all of my small flies. Just put
the fly on the tippet, make the two overhand loops and insert the second into the first and snug it up. Put the fly through the loop that is created and pull
tight. Works great for me!
It is much easier to do than to explain 
"And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you become fishers of men."
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trouting |
#15 | |||
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Posts: 354 04/21/2009 13:53 |
I am having a hard time visualizing that sequence bwoemerger!!! For a dropper off a dry fly I like to tie a uni knot to the bend of the hook - you want the dry
to move when the dropper is taken. For a two-nymph rig I think any knot for the last bit of tippet that leaves a tag will work. I think this allows the nymphs
to drift more freely from each other, and the leader acts as your indicator of a strike for either fly - keep the cast close and get control of that leader
immediately, leading the flies downstream. Expect a strike immediately after entry or you will miss the majority of strikes. Oh - and try two equally sized and
weighted flies - this goes against the logic of presenting different food forms, but is very effective. Have fun!
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bwoemerger |
#16 | |||
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Posts: 40 04/21/2009 15:57 |
Sorry for the crude drawings but hopefully this will give you a better idea. There might be a name for it, but it was shown to me many years ago by an old
timer on the stream. Super easy, strong, and fast! I use it for my dropper knot and all of my small flies (14 and up).
DROPPER KNOT 
FLY KNOT 
"And Jesus said unto them, Come ye after me, and I will make you become fishers of men."
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JPMarci |
#17 | |||
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Posts: 183 04/21/2009 18:33 |
Only thing I can add is the dropper should be one tippet size larger than the tippet tied to the upline fly. The stiff dropper prevents tangles.
I use a improve clinch knot tied to the bend. Regards John |
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 WatercolorMan |
#18 | |||
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Posts: 1388 04/22/2009 03:31 |
I fish a dry with a dropper often. I like off the bend with one size larger tippet and like to keep the dropper 4" away. You always see the strike, I like
to watch.
I fish a dry I can see when it hits the water, lots of quick strikes, the dropper is often a 18 to 22, no tangles. Sometimes I run a 14 to18 wet and all the way to 6" behind the bend. I use the cinch knot and if the fish are running big I'll do the improved. If I fish dbl trouble- 2 drys I go off the bend and keep them close, this allows me to fish a fly I have trouble seeing using one I can see. Just adapting to the reality of the aging process. Alan
Last Edited By: WatercolorMan 04/22/2009 03:38.
Edited 2 times.
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mmorris236 |
#19 | |||
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Posts: 297 04/22/2009 10:05 |
I used the clinc knot for years and was always dropping the fly, or having difficulty getting the knot right. Just this weekend i hit on the perfect solution,
it was so simple I had one of those "how was I so stuipid not to see this one" moments.
When one rock climbs you tie a figure eight knot in the rope around your torso. To make sure that the tag end does not slip back into the knot, a situation that is most disconcerting when the only thing between you and a craggy rock filled canyon bottom is 150 feet of thin air, you tie a stopper knot . All a stopper knot is is a fishermans hitch. You take the tag endand make 3 or four wraps around both lines back toowards the knot and then pass the tag end through the loops and pull. It is identicl to a nail knot only rather than end to end you just form a loop. I had just used this and thought how simple it might be for a droppe because you can make the loop so easily in your hand and then just put the hook through the loop and tighten buy pulling it snug. So I tird one up. It was very simple and after a try or two I could do it quite quickly. Then I looked down at my little pile of trial knots and realized that not only is the loop easy to tie, the knot is snugged down already, prior to the hook insertion and the loop will not tighten at all until pulled snug. I tied up a half dozen 18 inch looped droppers and just wadded them up in my pocket and headed for the river. I fished all day, lost some droppers in the rocks and no matter how hard I tugged to get that snarl of prepared dropper loops out of my pocket or how much I had to pull and weave to get one untangled the loop was intact. It made putting a dropper on a fly a matter of les than a second. One could easily tie up several dozen in a couple minutes in the comfort of your living room, while re-runs of Cops play in the background, and not worry about them til they are used. They coulrd even be hung od a snap swivel without risk of losing the loop. For a graphic on how to tie this without a nail!! go here, just don't have a hook in the loop, tighten the knot around a finger or dowel. http://www.marinews.com/Nail-Knot-with-Loop-342.php http://www.thaifishingguide.com/fishtechequip/techniques/knots/nail_knot_with_loop_steps.html http://www.marinews.com/Nail-Knot-with-Loop-342.php |
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trouting |
#20 | |||
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Posts: 356 04/22/2009 12:11 |
Thanks for the pics bwoemerger! It looks like for the for the dropper you could just use the second loop, snugged up, rather than adding the last step. I see
why the last step is used for the fly knot though. Lawrence
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