What type of nymph rig are you using?

[1cam]

I am curious as to what setup most people use. For years I have used a two nymph setup with a second nymph tied to the bend of the hook on the first nymph. I have seen other setup's but don't see any advantage to them. I've seen the lead nymph tied directly to the tippet and then another section of tippet tied to the eye of the lead nymph etc. What do you like the most and why?

[Magnet]

hi 1Cam.
Its advantageous to attatch a dropper tag for the second fly 20 inches above the lead fly. This distance between flies should be held regardless of the length of tippet to the sighter which may be determined by river conditions and depth. In Aaron's DVD he goes over in exacting detail everything you need including a very descript tutorial on all the knots required for leader construction. For example, the dropper can be lighter than the lead fly enabling it to saunter along in the current at a little higher position in the water column. Heres one for you from grampa Jasper. Aaron quotes him often. "If tippet was meant to be tied off the bend of a hook they surely would have put an eye there."

[1cam]

I seem to get an answer that I am not asking for. I have got the video and all I am asking is what type of DIFFERENT rigs people seem to use, not what everyone from this web site seems to think is the ONLY rig to use.

[AaronJasper]

I use

Indicator set ups
Dry dropper set ups
Single nymph long leader
And of course weighted nymphs

I do whatever technique I feel has the beat chance of being successful. I think that the tone of your response wasn't too nice. The guy thought he was answering your question. Bob fishes that style 99 percent of the time. Do you really think that EVERYONE here thinks that's the ONLY way to fish nymphs. Why don't you start off telling us what techniques you use? Then we can have a discussion about that?

Also, by looking at your post it looks like you have your mind made up regarding what you think about nymph set ups. So why ask a question like you did? I wish that everyone was open minded like the first graders that I teach!

[tim_y]

1cam,

I like you were pretty set in my ways. I always used to fish that way, primarily because it was how I was taught, and I caught many fish over the years doing just that. I had heard Aaron mention in the past, but ignored it for 3 reasons:

1) Humpreys in his book shows the dropper extended from the eye of the hook
2) When first trying droppers I couldn't figure out the surgeons knot (I know, I know)
3) The droppers always APPEARED to twist when out of the water, so I figured that they were doing so in the water

Last year I started to tie it the way Aaron suggested because a good buddy of mine swore it works and he catches fish too. Now its pretty much my norm - I have caught more fish, but I would like to think that I've become a better fisherman altogether. I do firmly believe Aaron's logic about it allowing you to be tighter to your nymphs. I used to fish the hook bend method under an indicator and was having a very hard time with some strikes. I can't tell you how many times I either had a fish take, or had hooked a fish with no movement under my indicator, as of late it hasn't been a problem. I would suggest doing what I did - give it a shot, if you don't like it, don't worry about it, but at the end of the day, at least you can say that you tried to expand your horizons.

[AaronJasper]

What my main point was, and as Tim addressed it was to try everything. Don't go into it saying I like my way better, and why "should" I try to do something different. Pretend that you are a blank slate and learn EVERYTHING that you can. To me that is what makes fly fishing fun, learning all the time. I used to think that some of this stuff was nonsense as well, that was until I gave up and TRIED it. It is not until you try it that you can truly judge how or why something is better than something else. People can give you subjective opinions, but to really judge something you have to try all of the different permutations. Then you will see the benefits and shortcomings of ALL of the techniques.

[1cam]

My statement was meant to be unpleasant. I have used many many systems and I really don't find one method better than the other. I did this deliberately to get some responses going other than " look at the video". I believe boards like this should have many people answering and not just looking, and responding to the question with what they use. If this upsets you I'm sorry, but too many boards are just like a bunch of sheep following the leader. If you would like for me to drop my name off that's fine.

[frankm205]

1 cam may I ask you what are some of the " many ,many systems" you use? Reason I ask is if we respond with one of the systems you already use then it dosen't help you out.

[AaronJasper]

Drop your name off? It doesn't upset me at in the least. I was only pointing out that you said the following:

[quote author=1cam link=topic=5788.msg41651#msg41651 date=1299332928]
I am curious as to what setup most people use. For years I have used a two nymph setup with a second nymph tied to the bend of the hook on the first nymph. I have seen other setup's but don't see any advantage to them. I've seen the lead nymph tied directly to the tippet and then another section of tippet tied to the eye of the lead nymph etc. What do you like the most and why?
[/quote]

I am happy that you purchased the video and like it. But when someone starts off with a statement that is standoffish, they are not really willing to listen to what is going to be said. I know that because I do it. It's human nature. Why do you see no advantage in rigging up differently than you do now?

About sheep following the leader, that again could be true to some extent. However, you want to put it, it goes on everywhere. People listen to where good information comes from. Whether it's George Daniel, Joe Humpheys, Davy Wotton, Oliver Edwads, Kelly Galloup as well as others who put high quality good information and have credibility to back it it they will always have people who follow them. Is that a bad thing? If you get a limited amount of time to enjoy fly fishing is it a bad thing to have people like us who put in the legwork and fish constantly to give information to the average angler to help them get better?

My grandpa always said that those with "secrets" don't have anything.

As to your original question. The way I tie my flies on the leader has to do with the method that I am fishing. When fishing dry dropper or EU methods where no weight is attached to the leader, I use dropper tags. This gives me maximum strike detection. When the fish takes the nymph, the bite is detected quickly due to the fact that there is nothing in the way between the nymph and the dry fly or sighter besides tippet.

However, when fishing indicator style or when using split shot I tie the line to the eye. This is done because the split shot is dampening the strike so attaching the flies onto dropper tags is not gaining me anything.

[H Dot Verseman]

I'm not going to switch my nymph set up until I pick up a copy of Aaron's dvd *hopefully this friday*. Speaking of Aaron, will you make more money if I buy it from TPO or from a fly shop? I know with books, the author usually gets more if its sold through their site, or publishing house versus a store. Just let me know, its either from TPO or through Shannon's Fly shop.


I nymph pretty poorly, as I'm not all that familiar with sighters. I currently drop the dropper off the hook bend, I don't want to switch until I see how Aaron's set up goes. I think a friend told me he leaves a long tag end and ties it to that beside the top fly. Not sure how he rigs 3 fly set ups though. I will wait and see then experiment once I know the rigging. It can only improve my nymphing success as I'm sure I miss a lot of strikes.