Reply To: Rigging a dry dropper on a barbless hook

Dave here I am trying to give advice when I’m still fairly new at the fly fishing game. I have been working on Dry droppers and and other tandem rigs most of this year. I think tying off the bend of the hook works great but I do have problems with the dropper sliding off of a barbless hook. One solution is to carry a small tube of super glue and put a small amount at the tie in point in the bend. This works pretty good but does require that extra step. I’ve found that I can prepare tandem rigs at home with the right tippet so that all I need to do is attach the top fly to my tippet from the tippet ring and I’m good to go. These rigs can be wound on to a sheet or spool of foam and tucked into your vest. The problem there is not knowing what flies you will want to start with when you get to the stream.

I’ve also tied on tippet off of the eye of the top fly and dropped down below by 8 -24 inches depending on what and how you are fishing. I found this to be prone to tangles more so than other ways. The third way is to tie in a dropper tag above your bottom fly so the line come off of the upper part of the tag line at an upper angle. This will hold your dropper line out a ways from the main leader helping  to prevent tangles.

Like I said I’m still a new-be and I’m sure you could get a lot more and better ideas form more experienced FATC members or from on line articles from Orvis, Troutbitten and so many other sources.

Just remember, experience on the water will be your best teacher.

Good Luck Steve Baker