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Which would be your preference for attatching a dropper line onto your main tippet. A) dropper loop with a short tippet section Davy knotted to the loop? Or b) triple surgeons knot using the lower tag to attatch to the fly?
I have been playing with a) and it seems to give some separation from the main tippet which method b) does not provide. Any thoughts?
I just saw Davy's and Toad Hunter's responses on the dropper roller thread. Sorry I should have posted this there. As DW taught us in his clinic, if your dropper tag gets short from changing flies, just trim the tag off and Davy knot a tippet section above the knot. Slide it down and back in business. What I was refering to with the dropper loop is get some separation from the main tippet stem.
I was out fishing yesterday and my dropper kept getting wrapped around my leader. The dropper was 5" long, 4X and it was the upper tag end of the surgeons knot. Is that rigging right? If so why was it wrapping around the leader.
If I attach a dropper with a loop knot, does it have to be a double perfection loop knot? I would think that would have a less chance of tangling.
I tie it onto the bottom tag. The dropper will wrap around the leader, but when its under the water it comes undone. Tangles and knots are a whole other ballgame.
Personally right or wrong I enjoy the perfection loop dropper rig. Less tangles and all that for me.
Killinger,
As Aaron has stated and has taught many of us on this forum to use the bottom tag of a triple surgeons knot. That works great. Above I was referring to two thoughts. One was a dropper loop . Cross two pieces of tippet and hold on to the tag ends while twisting the two pieces around each other a number of times then slipping the middle section of one through an opening. When you pull tight you will have a loop perpendicular to the tippet. Then you can Davy knot a short section of dropper material and it stays out away from the main tippet. Does any one like this? The other thing was when your dropper tag gets too short, nip it off and Davy knot a new section above the knot and slid it down. This works great. Just one of a thousand tidbits of information you get if you get a chance to take a Davy Wotton clinic.
Magnet,
I believe that is the setup that Joe Humphreys suggests in his book Trout Tactics. Great read, I've yet to try that one out myself...
I've had all sorts of issues with the dropper getting tangled and did some experimenting with different setups this past fall. For me personally, I've found the triple surgeons loop attached the dropper fly to the lower tag to work well. One twist I've added though is after tying the surgeons loop, use the lower tag to tie a half-hitch above the surgeons loop. This makes the tag come off at a right angle from the line. This is similar to or may be the Orvis tippet knot (can't remember). I'm not sure what this does to the knot strength but I have not had any fail, but then again I don't catch fish as big as Aaron!
Any way you do it - tangles will happen though, it's part of the deal.
Should you use a smaller tippet on the last section of tippet?
Yesterday I watched the Euro nymphing video with Vladi and Jack Dennis. It's a little hard to follow Vladi's double perfection loop knot.
I'll try the lower tag, when I used the upper tag it wrapped around the leader every time.
JK - depends on the arrangement and size of flies, water clarity and how wary the fish are. If I am fishing a larger point/anchor (e.g., size 6 or 8) fly and a smaller lighter fly (e.g., size 12 or 14) on the dropper above, I'll run 4x to the point and 5x to the dropper. If I am fishing a smaller cast of flies I'll run 5x to the point and 6x on the dropper if needed. There are no hard and fast rules; play around with it and you'll find a setup that works for you.