Remember to carry a few small split shot with you. You can clamp them on the tippet just ahead of the knot and get any fly to go deeper.
Rick
I don’t know, Rick: the very idea of using a split shot – it’s like I’d be a bait fisherman again.
Hey, I took yesterday off work. Hit the lake and ripped into the 'gills. Also caught a couple of nice crappie. The tail end of the action was the hottest, when I was using three different flies that you tied. (A pheasant tail nymph, and a minnow imitator with silver body/red & yellow nylon fibers, and a light brown thick-bodied fuzzy fly that you told me was good on crappies.)
Joe
The only difference between a bead headed fly and one with split shot is the shape of the weight and where they are located.
Now I will duck and run fromthe purisits.
Rick
You can hide under my rock with me when the purists come because I go one step farther and question the difference between a bead head fly and a jig and call them both flies when fished on a fly rod. Split shot is a time honored tool for panfisherman of all stripes, fly, spin, or otherwise. I’ve sold streamers to bass fishermen to use on drop shot rigs, and marabou crappie jigs are just beadhead wooly buggers with no hackle (or maybe that’s the other way around, who cares). So what’s a split shot or two between friends, eh?
I’ve found there is a difference in the fly motion according to the location of the weight. As far as I know a beadhead/beadchain acts like a jig as long as they are forward on the shank behind the hook eye but the split shot rig is like a Carolina rig with the weight down and the fly above it and free moving. I don’t use the split shot rig unless its a sandy or hard bottom because it just gathers too much weeds and other bottom crud.
For me it’s about…how easy is it to cast
That’s not exactly all…somehow to me when I add that split shot…I’ve just taken a step into the past…Now, I’m not being elitest…it’s just how I personally want to fly fish.
Rick,
Dixieangler and Ducksterman bring up another couple of points that I’ve considered myself, but didn’t think to mention in yesterday’s comment. Namely: 1) with a split shot on your like ahead of the nymph (or whatever) the split shot rides lower in the water column than the fly does, and; 2) the added weight affects casting.
I need to try it anyway, though, and will sometime. Somewhere in my gear I’ve got some dinky fly-type split shot.
Curious: The times you’ve used a split shot ahead of your fly, were you fishing from the bank or from your canoe? It seems to me that if I’m fishing from the bank then the 2-depth effect (split shot lower, fly higher) would make it tricky to manage the retrieve. Maybe it’s easier done from a canoe?
As for the casting issue with a split shot attached, does it feel like casting two nymphs in a tandem rig? I don’t know about you, but I’m about done fishing tandem rigs. I acknowledge that the fish are probably getting excited seeing two flies moving along together. But the tandem rig doubles my risk of hanging up – both before a strike and especially AFTER a strike when the hooked fish is searching for stickups and weeds to pull you into.
Last question: With a split shot clamped ahead of the fly do you find yourself hanging up more, or hanging up less (or no change) compared to fishing a fly without split shot ahead of it? Hanging up is a big issue with me as I really hate losing gear.
Joe
“Better small than not at all.”
I put the split shot on right ahead of the knot to tie the fly on. It is also a small split shot.
It does not seem to affect or effect my casting(this may be due to my casting).
It does not seem to pick up any more debrie.
I have done it from shore and from the canoe.
Since I tie way more flies that I may need, I don’t worry about loosing them as I tend to cast into the places where I would loose them.
Rick
Rick,
Well, Okay; if you put a split shot at the knot then that’s definitely not how I envisioned the setup looking. I thought if a fly fisher used split shot you were supposed to clamp the shot farther up the line, like about a foot or two above the fly (like you’d do when bait fishing).
I did look through my gear yesterday, couldn’t find that split shot container, so I bought a multi-size dispenser at K&K Flyfishers in Kansas City. Pretty dinky split shot, aren’t they?
When I was in K&K’s I also asked if they sold the McGinty fly and the Improved Black Gnat (mentioned by Dixieangler in another post). They don’t. Turns out those are two very old patterns, classics. The salesman goes, “You can tie them pretty easy; we’ve got the pattern for them if you’re a tyer.”
I’m trying not to become a tyer just yet, and it’s getting harder all the time. YOU catch more fish than the average bear because you tie lots of flies and have the numbers available to attack tricky cover where lots of breakoffs are likely…but where lots of fish live. That strategy definitely has appeal.
Joe
“Better small than not at all.”
Joe, et. al.,
Split shot are just a tool, like your fly, your line, and leader.
What weight split shot you use and where you place it on the rig, effect the presentation of the fly, not just it’s ‘depth’.
Placing the split shot directly above the fly ‘at the knot’ will give you a deeper presentation and the fly will move with a distinct ‘up and down’ or ‘jigging’ motion as it’s retrieved. You get more ‘motion’ from each movement you impart to the fly (up AND down). You can make this more pronounced by using a heavier weight. Sometimes this is desirable.
You can keep this jigging motion in tact but attenuate it somewhat by moving the split shot further up the line. The closer to the fly, the more pronounced this motion will be. You’ll ‘lose’ this effect at some point, usually about 8 to 12 inches, depending on the weight of the shot, tippet diameter, and water resistance of the fly.
A split shot placed on the tippet (NOT the tapered portion of the leader) between 12 to 20 inches will give you more depth, AND it will change the DIRECTION your fly moves on the initial ‘pull’ you impart. With this set up, the split shot will ride LOWER in the water column than the fly, so when you apply initial movement to the fly it will DIVE towards the shot. You can keep this happening by allowing the shot to settle for a few seconds after each strip. You can accentuate this movement by using a more bouyant (lighter, unweighted) fly.
Placing a split shot on the fly line/leader junction will give you more depth, but not effect how the fly moves in the water.
As far as casting goes, a shot that is heavier than the fly placed up the tippet will want to ‘lead’ the cast, and can cause ‘hinging’, leading to all manner of entanglement and the saying of profane verbage. Using three smaller shot spaced a couple of inches apart wil help with this, as will using heavier tippet mateial. A more open loop is also a plus with weighted rigs. Generally, the lighter fly fishing split shot don’t cause too much trouble on the cast if you are careful.
In any event, you can use split shot to ‘fine tune’ your presentation, allowing you to cover more of the water column and change how your fly behaves in the water. Sometimes this can be helpful in getting the fish to strike.
Good Luck!
Buddy
Well, Okay; if you put a split shot at the knot then that’s definitely not how I envisioned the setup looking.
Same here, so the split shot at the knot will just replace a bead on the fly more or less.
Joe,
Send me an e-mail (under my user profile) or PM with your postal address and I’ll send you two of each type of wet fly (McGinty and Black Gnat) so you can at least have four to try out. I’m running low on size 10 wet fly hooks right now and need to get some more or I would send you more. I might send a few extras in size 12s instead.
"Same here, so the split shot at the knot will just replace a bead on the fly more or less. "
In fact, some folks slip a bead or cone on the tippet and just let it slide down to the fly.
:twisted:
Purist? How far do you take that? Bamboo, silk and gut? How about fly tying materials? No more flashy stuff. No more waders, fly floatant, fluorocarbon, fiberglass, nylon, etc. I’ve been fishing for trout for thirty five years and split shot for flies have been available far back as I can remember. That was before graphite rods and large arbor reels. We aren’t talking about the split shot that bait fishermen use. Whe are talking about stuff the size of BB’s and smaller. Just enough weight to get your fly down to the fish. Nuff said.
Please check the regs where you fish. Lead was the standard for many years for split-shot. Substitutes are now available, where lead has been outlawed.
If you are concerned about snagging the split shot and losing the rig, then an old spincasting trick might help.
Tie in a section of tippet and leave a 4-6" tag end hanging from the knot. Tie your fly to the standing section of the tippet. Crimp the split shot to the tag end.
If the split shot snags, a gentle tug will pull the tag end of the tippet out of the shot. You will lose the split shot, but you will save the fly. Crimp on another shot and you are back in business.
Tom
You can do that but it gives a different action to the fly.
By using very small split shot I don’t have much trouble in picking junk up. No more than when I use any other fly.
Rick