Double nymph rigging question

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Xterra123

Smolt
Hopefully a good rainy day question to ponder…..

I have always rigged my double nymph setups from the “J” of the hook on the top fly to the eye of the trailing bottom fly……probably the most popular simple method.

I have fished with one guide who rigged from the eye of the top fly to eye of bottom fly. His rationale was more hooked fish on top fly. It seems that this method would probably also change the drift orientation of the top nymph for good-bad-indifferent I have no idea other than my suspicions.

Has anyone experimented with (or use) eye-to-eye rigging on double nymphs? Advantages or Drawbacks?

Best regards, stay dry out there!!
 
I use both methods. The eye to eye seems like it may orient the fly differently but I don’t notice any distinct difference in acceptance from the fish and hookup rate “ might” be a tad better. During aggressive feeding times probably no difference.
The bend of the hook method while probably the most popular has resulted in me losing flies to fish on occasion. On a trip to a lake a few years ago I lost the leader and fly 3 times in about 45 minutes. This past week I had the bottom fly come off of the bend of the other hook when I netted a fish. Luckily it was still in the fish which was in the net. I should note, that these instances all occurred while using barbless hooks and 8 to 10 lb tippet. Flies were size 8 to 12. Smaller flies and thinner tippet hasn’t seemed to have the same issue for me.
 
When I have experimented during the weedy season on the Missouri I believe that the top fly seems to catch more weeds (probably weeds traveling down the line) with the eye-to-eye technique than rigged to the hook bend.
 
After tying off to the bend for the longest time, I switched to running the upper fly off a dropper several years ago now, which greatly increased my catch. I did just get a tip about rigging a egg/nymph setup at the eye of the upper fly which I'll get a chance to try after this rain event.
A lot of things I think you just need to try for yourself. Take the time and try the same flies rigged different ways. Experiment, I get a kick out of it.
 
I believe I have lost a lot of nice fish over the years by rigging bend-to-eye, and so I’ve moved away from it with nymphs especially. My theory is that when the fish eats the top fly and swims around with the dropper trailing, and the dropper catches on something, and if it’s tied to the upper fly’s hook bend, that the caught dropper pulls the upper fly right out of the fish’s mouth.

I mostly limit tying droppers to the hook bend with dry-dropper setups like hopper droppers (with a dropper hopper?) where the nymph makes the dry fly ride funny if it is tied eye-to-eye.
 
I almost always add some tippet to the existing tippet with a triple surgeon's knot, leaving the tag end long, to create a dropper set up.

Occasionally I'll tie the tippet to the hook bend of the upper fly, but I never tie off the eye of the upper fly. I just never learned to do it that latter way.
 
Changing small habits can reap big dividends.
I typically rig the second nymph from the bend of the first hook. It works, but I can see how "eye to eye" might provide a better presentation. "Bend to eye" seems to prevent fouling...I've been running a floating nymph in a bump rig lately which has really paid off in hook ups and not hooking the bottom much....
 
Depends on the situation. These days, I use droppers seated at the tippet knot in most of my double nymph setups, and I tie off the hook eye of the top fly in most other situations. I feel like I've had more issues with losing bottom flies to fish and unknowns tying off the hook bend, but all techniques have their potential drawbacks.

Dropper loops do a surprisingly good job of avoiding tangles while fishing, but they cause all kinds of problems when moving place to place, most notably wrapping around things and the dangling fly getting snagged on stuff. When using light leader material on the loops, they can be a major pain to get off the main leader when re-rigging.

When fishing two small nymphs, it can be difficult or impossible to tie a lower fly off the hook eye of the top fly (those tiny hooks have tiny eyes). In that case, either a dropper or tying off the hook bend is the answer.

I love it when one fly is all I need. Much less cursing on those days....
 
I tried tying off of the hook for one season and after a while I observed my hookup rate seemed a lot lower than normal for the top fly.

I prefer to tie off a tag from a double or triple-surgeon's knot. The other way I do it is adding a backing barrel and creating a sliding dropper with a perfection knot and 6" of tippet.
 
Shad said:
Depends on the situation. These days, I use droppers seated at the tippet knot in most of my double nymph setups, and I tie off the hook eye of the top fly in most other situations. I feel like I've had more issues with losing bottom flies to fish and unknowns tying off the hook bend, but all techniques have their potential drawbacks.

Dropper loops do a surprisingly good job of avoiding tangles while fishing, but they cause all kinds of problems when moving place to place, most notably wrapping around things and the dangling fly getting snagged on stuff. When using light leader material on the loops, they can be a major pain to get off the main leader when re-rigging.

When fishing two small nymphs, it can be difficult or impossible to tie a lower fly off the hook eye of the top fly (those tiny hooks have tiny eyes). In that case, either a dropper or tying off the hook bend is the answer.

I love it when one fly is all I need. Much less cursing on those days....
Click to expand...

Have you found a sweet spot in terms of dropper loop length that accomplishes a good drift while not being so long as to get increases in tangles around the main line?
 
Xterra123 said:
Have you found a sweet spot in terms of dropper loop length that accomplishes a good drift while not being so long as to get increases in tangles around the main line?
Click to expand...
Not really. Like I said, all techniques have their drawbacks. It does help to use the heaviest tippet you think you can get away with. Unweighted flies also tangle less.

I try to keep my droppers between 4 and 6 inches or so. Not sure if that's "correct" or not....
 
I have seen the use of the tippet ring with double rigs. Never understood it really. Tie two different flies to tippet ring. One fly 2’ another 3.5’. How they don’t get meshed up and make a mess is unknown to me. But some do very well with it. Must be in casting method. ????
 
in a similar vein, when running a nymph dropper under a floaty dry, try tying to the eye instead of the hook bend, creates a more direct connection for the nymph take and doesn't interfere with 'shallow' bites on the floater.
 
Shad said:
Depends on the situation. These days, I use droppers seated at the tippet knot in most of my double nymph setups, and I tie off the hook eye of the top fly in most other situations. I feel like I've had more issues with losing bottom flies to fish and unknowns tying off the hook bend, but all techniques have their potential drawbacks.

Dropper loops do a surprisingly good job of avoiding tangles while fishing, but they cause all kinds of problems when moving place to place, most notably wrapping around things and the dangling fly getting snagged on stuff. When using light leader material on the loops, they can be a major pain to get off the main leader when re-rigging.

When fishing two small nymphs, it can be difficult or impossible to tie a lower fly off the hook eye of the top fly (those tiny hooks have tiny eyes). In that case, either a dropper or tying off the hook bend is the answer.

I love it when one fly is all I need. Much less cursing on those days....
Click to expand...
There’s a fix for the moving place to place tangles I picked up from troutbitten. Get some small o-rings at the hardware store and put a few on the rod where the dropper flies would sit. Use them as hook keepers for the droppers.
 
Porter2 said:
I have seen the use of the tippet ring with double rigs. Never understood it really. Tie two different flies to tippet ring. One fly 2’ another 3.5’. How they don’t get meshed up and make a mess is unknown to me. But some do very well with it. Must be in casting method. ????
Click to expand...
That sounds like a recipe for a headache. My preferred dropper length is 6" but I sometimes go 8"-10" to allow for a few fly changes...definitely no more than that. I've never seen a need for tippet rings for droppers...the only reason I use them is to keep an indicator from sliding all the way down to the flies.
 
If I just want to catch the most fish, I'll tie a dropper off a tag above my tool fly. I find that when fish take that dropper, that I get way more tangles though but it provides great connection and feel.

My standard is to tie a lightly weighted or unweighted dropper off the hook eye of my tool fly. I don't get many tangles at all and don't feel as though I'm sacrificing a ton with regard to numbers. I keep that dropper length to 6-8", otherwise there is a loss of feel to it.

That's how I roll and it works great!

Ymmv
 
I move around with 3 flies all day long. Keeper, tippet around reel to dropper fly in keeper, then hang top fly from a guide. Or stripper frame, then hang droppers on guides. Usually just fly in keeper. Ya learn to move without bouncing and tangling. I fished 3 fly softhackle rigs so long that part is second nature, few tangles. I start with longer droppers, about 5-6" and change when I can't tie any more. Surgeon tags, then replace with 4 turn uniknot, which I think fishes better anyway.
 
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