We?ve all heard the advice about the advantages of fishing two or more flies at the same time. It helps you find out what the fish are eating. You should start with a light and dark nymph (wet fly, dry fly, steamer) to see what the fish want. Use a big dry fly as a strike indicator. Use a heavy, weighted nymph to carry down you delicate size #18 pheasant tail nymph. Tie a small wet fly in front of a large streamer and fish get jealousy and try to snatch the wet fly before the other ?fish? can get it. A big gaudy dry fly helps you to find the midget dry fly in shadows or other poor light condition.

We?ve also gotten pages of advice on how to rig two or more flies. Tie the hind-end fly to the hook bend of the front fly. When tying a double or triple surgeon?s knot, leave the tag end of the larger diameter tippet to tie your second fly. If you make your own leaders you can tie a dropper line at any (and all) knots in your leader.

My question is this. With all this good advice on why and how to fish multiple flies, how many warm-water fishermen routinely start their fishing with two or more flies. I?m not asking have you ever done it. I?m asking how many of us get to our favorite river, pond or lake and have our rod pre-rigged with multiple flies. Put another way, how many start probing their favorite water with two or more flies before they try anything else? If you fail to use this obviously superior method (at least according to the sportswriters), what?s your main reasoning for sticking with just one fly when you could have a dozen or more in the water? Just curious. Sorry Doug, thinking again . 8T