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Hook bend to hook eye droppers

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When your using the dropper method of having your second hook tyed to the bend of the first hook, does this get in the way of the fish biting your hook at all? Does having tippet and a knot attached to the hook bend interfere with the fish biting the hook? Does this line get in the fishes way, not allowing the fish the eat the first fly as easily? I know that this method works and plenty of fish have been caught on the fly with the line tyed to the bend, but does it lessen the chances of a fish getting caught on a hook more so than the the fly with no line attached to the bend. Ive just been using this method of dropper lately and was curious.

 

Thanks

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I do know that if the dropper is tied to the bend, and gets caught on a log while a fish is on the first fly, the fish gets away... I've never had a dropper get in the way though.

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I've never had a problem either. My strike to hook up ratio doesn't seem to be affected by whether or not there's a dropper. On the other hand, there have been a couple of memorable occasions where the fish slipped off the hook, only to get snagged by the dropper....

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I have spent most the last few years nymphing with a dropper tied to the bend. I can't say that there has been any effect on my hooking fish on the lead fly. Like the above posts, I have had fish occasionally get snagged on the dropper. I have also snagged myself on the upper fly when sliding my hand down the leader to release the fish. You do have to be a little more careful when using multiple flies. Your a little more likely to snag yourself and anything else your leader hits also.

 

Steve

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I have wondered the same thing myself but I have not noticed any problems with this method. It is the most effective and efficient method of tandem fishing in my estimation. It's about the only way I fish a nymph anymore.

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came across this article a while back called "The Two Fly Setup"some interesting information. I always used the method of tying the dropper off the hook bend but recently I've been trying it with tying the dropper off the hook eye seems to work fairly well can't really see much difference and cast well with not much tangling.

 

Mike

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I don't fish more than a single fly now. Did in the past, but wasn't for me when fishing nymphs. Never got good at it & had too many snags & tangles so simply have stuck with singles ever since. Have fished poppers & droppers with the trailing line tied to the popper hook bend more than any and that's never been a problem since the hook gaps are rather large on the poppers.

 

IMO, It's more likely to be a problem with the lead fly if you've already hooked up on the trailing fly and a second fish attempts to take the lead fly. With tension on the line it might be harder for that second fish to get the fly in it's mouth, because the line might get in the way & cause the fly to be pushed away. Probably would also depend on the angle of attack whether or not the fly is taken into the mouth. Snagging might happen in that scenario, but I'm sure not too many here are interested in that as a legitimate "take"! unsure.png

 

Otherwise, that trailing line probably just folds as the fish strikes the lead fly & is taken into it's mouth with the fly. Trout may at times sip dry flies, but most fish inhale a subsurface fly with vigor! wink.png

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When doing multiple flies I always used the dropper line so each fly is separate. When using two flies I tie the tippet in with a blood knot and leave the tippet tag end about 6-8" long. Tie the first fly to that. Run about 12-15" of tippet and tie in second fly. When I've used a 3 fly setup for 'gills in MN I would do first fly as described, then run a longer tippet. Use the knot "I don't know what they call it" but you wrap a 6 or 8 wrap overhand knot loop, then pull the loop thru the middle of the wrapped line. When you wet and tighten this it becomes basically a blood knot and you trim one end close and tie fly to that dropper, then tie 3rd fly to tippet.

 

I know it sounds complicated, and it is in comparison to just tying a leader to bend of first fly, but this gives each fly an open hook and it actually works quite well with a lot less tangling problems than you'd think. AS LONG AS you avoid a tailing loop you're fine. Use an open loop and you're golden.

 

I was using this setup off a dock at the resort we kept our camper at and people on shore in their lawn chairs were getting a kick out of 2 or 3 gills at a time coming in. They really woke up when I had 2 gills and small bass on the flies as just as I got within lifting distance of the dock a northern around 3' long grabbed the small bass and took off in an explosion of water with the bass and my tippet fly. I almost jumped off the dock going backwards when he exploded like that.

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I tie dropper to the eye. I never had any problem when tying to hook bend as far as fish strikes go (occasional snag as mentioned above), but because I use barbless hooks I have lost a number of dropper flies to simply sliding off the hook. Probably just tied them poorly, but tying in the eye solved that.

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