Two Fly Question

Two Flies - How do USUALLY you rig them?

  • 1. Leech up top and midge on the bottom.

    Votes: 8 50.0%

  • 2. Midge up top and leech on the bottom

    Votes: 7 43.8%

  • 3. I never use two flies.

    Votes: 1 6.3%
  • Total voters
    16
  • Poll closed .
ifsteve

ifsteve

Steelhead
So if you are fishing 2 flies. A leech and a midge. How do you arrange them. Leech up top and midge on the bottom of the opposite way?
 
If the leech is balanced, midge on top with leech on the bottom.
Conventional leech on top with midge below.
 
Paul_ said:
You should add a number 4 option-

-4. I start with 2 flies, they get tangled multiple times, I finally get frustrated enough and just go back to using 1 fly. 😂
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Exactly!

Yeah...two flies are often quite productive, but I find that's more than offset (for me anyway) by the time consumed (and aggravation) straightening out the inevitable spectacularly tangled clusterf*ck that occurs when I use two flies. And I see the same thing happening to experienced folks that regularly do so.

Even worse for folks that fish two flyrods (on lakes that allow such), especially if both rigged in two fly configurations. While I fish with three flyrods on my kayak, only one is fished at a time.

*** And if I'm floating a river with a guide the selection of said guide is at least partially based on their ability to hide their mounting frustration at having to untangle/re-rig the non-stop godawful messes I create casting their multiple fly indicator split shot terminal rigs.
 
Last edited:
I'm waiting for 2 fly waders
 
yup...
Gonna patent it
 
Put the leech on top and hang the midge off the back. The heavier fly acts as an anchor to get everything down in the water column quickly. I always tie the dropper right to the bend of the top hook.
 
Don’t want to hijack the thread but when fishing leech+midge what kind of line are people finding themselves using majority of time? A midge tip/sink tip, or an intermediate, or ? Short sink tip? Long sink tip?

My current default stillwater setup includes a floater and a full sink. I keep running into the “darn I wish I had some kind of hover or slow sink tip” situations though and am wondering if I need to broaden my horizons.
 
I go both ways on that one....even though I voted for leech on top....often, the leech prefers to be on the bottom.
 
That sounds like a great still water selection of bugs. I don’t fish still water but when I fish 2 nymphs I typically put the heavier fly on the bottom.
 
If there's buzzers poppin then I'll go bruised leech on the bottom and a midge (Gray Boy, Zebra or red & black) on top and fish fairly shallow. If no buzzers going then leech on the top and bloodworm on the bottom, 6" to a foot off the bottom. If the electronics aren't showing what depth the fish are I will go about 2 or 3 casts and then up 1 or 2 feet. And keep doing that up thru the column until some action or at the top. If nothing then...if I'm patient...I'll change out the blood worm for a basic mid (Gray Boy, Zebra or red & black) and do it all over again.
If still no action the stripping rod with the type 3 comes out. And that will be just one fly, most likely my black & sparkly green white bead bugger. Unless it's damsel time. If nothing with that then the type 6 comes out. Usually with a Borden Special since it has blob colors, but also is the most "lure" like. Again, unless the damsels or dragons are poppin. If they are, a #12 damsel nymph or #8 dragon nymph.
If nothing after that I usually pack it up. There must not be any fish. 😁
 
My two cents. Midges ascend the water column in mostly a vertical orientation, so I like to make sure they are presented as such. Leeches and other macro invertebrates tend to be more horizontally oriented and I attempt to present them as such when I fish them. So for me, it is easier for me to present a midge vertically as the bottom fly without compromising tangles and hooking.

For example, I can tie a midge on a dropper loop as the top fly, but that tends to lead to more tangles. If I instead tie the mid as the top fly and then tie my bottom tippet off the bend of the hook, this does present the mid vertically, but decreases hooking ratios, because the leader interferes with hook ups. If I instead tie my dropper tippet off the eyelet of the mid, the mid hook is free and less likely to tangle, but now the bottom fly pulls the midge into a horizontal orientation that doesn’t present as well.
 
Irafly said:
My two cents. Midges ascend the water column in mostly a vertical orientation, so I like to make sure they are presented as such. Leeches and other macro invertebrates tend to be more horizontally oriented and I attempt to present them as such when I fish them. So for me, it is easier for me to present a midge vertically as the bottom fly without compromising tangles and hooking.

For example, I can tie a midge on a dropper loop as the top fly, but that tends to lead to more tangles. If I instead tie the mid as the top fly and then tie my bottom tippet off the bend of the hook, this does present the mid vertically, but decreases hooking ratios, because the leader interferes with hook ups. If I instead tie my dropper tippet off the eyelet of the mid, the mid hook is free and less likely to tangle, but now the bottom fly pulls the midge into a horizontal orientation that doesn’t present as well.
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Like Ira said I ty my bottom fly to the eyelet of the top fly but sometime I have had all of my fish hooked on the top fly with it sitting sideways from the weight of the bottom fly.
 
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