I’m sure the answers to this question will make me say “WELL, DUH. WHY DIDN’T I THINK OF THAT?” but I’ll ask anyway.
I fish a lot of dry/dropper rigs or 2 nymph rigs. Tying on the dropper can be troublesome for me on the water. The ?? year old eyes ain’t what they used to be. I would like to pre-tie the dropper to a 24" or so piece of tippet before hitting the water to save myself some time and frustration.
What would be the best way to store and carry these pre-tied rigs?
Thanks.
Here is your answer
http://www.bluequillangler.com/Products/Orvis_4/Orvis-Dropper-Rig-Fly-Box
Leroy Hyatt showed on one of his videos how he does it. They aren’t pre-tied. He threads his dry, or top, fly up the leader without a knot. Then he ties on his tippet with a double overhand (surgeons knot) then his dropper is tied to the end of his tippet. The top fly, or dry, actually slides up and down the leader. He said he has never had a fly pop over the leader/tippet knot.
This is the same system I use and recommend it highly.
Kelly.
I used to tie droppers with an improved clinch that I tied around a pencil and slipped it off leaving it open so you could slide it tight around the hook bend. I woud pre tie a micus shrimp (or whatever) on the other end. I stole one of my wife’s curlers - the kind with a spring and net and bottle brush inside. I stuck a tooth pick through, broke off the ends so just 1/4 inch extended past the curler net and would loop the clinch knot loop over it being careful not to pull it tight, and then wind the leader atround the curler till I could hook the fly into the curler net. Then more tooth picks and more droppers. Drop it in a loose pocket on your vest that doesn’t get crushed. There are many new gadgets on the market now, but this worked for me then.
Bob
I pretie several of them – mostly nymph rigs with 2 or 3 flies and then use a cork from a wine bottle – stick the bottom fly in and wrap them around the cork. Then drop them into the pocket of my shirt or vest. Simple and cheap and floats if I drop it in the water.
The Orvis set up mentioned above works good when I am in the Drift boat but it is kind of large for my vest.
I cut a small stick and hook the bottom fly in the end of the stick & wrap the rig along the stick. Then I take the stick and put it inside a plastic pill bottle. That way I don’t have to worry about it becoming unwound and the bottle floats if dropped into the water.
Tim
Hi Royce,
Don’t feel bad about pre-tying dropper rigs at home. I also do that and have been doing so for years. Before Orvis came out with their dropper rig box (which is excellent by the way) I made a holder by cutting a wooden paint stirrer from the hardware store and gluing some foam on each side of the stirrer. I used that comfortably for a couple of years and then bought one of the orvis boxes. Cut the paint stirrer so it is 5 or 6 inches long. Then cut a notch in both ends about 1/2 inch deep and about 1 inch wide. Sand all the edges smooth so as to protect the leader and tippets. Glue a layer of foam on each side and you will have a home made holder similar to the plastic ones just not as fancy.
Gerri
Cut a rectangle of corrugated cardboard that will fit in your vest pocket, perhaps the pocket have for leaders. Use sharp scissors to cut slits in one of the short ends of the rectangle. Insert pre-tied fly hook barb in one of the corrugated “tunnels” on the non-slotted short end. Wrap leader around rectangle the long way. Catch the end of the leader in one of the slits. It helps if you use really sturdy corrugated for this. Cost is zero.
If somebody wouldn’t mind, what’s the secret to getting the Orvis inserts to work? I have one and so does a friend and we’ve both commented on how we can’t get our flies to stay in the foam. Granted, we typically are using barbless flies, but I assume many others do as well. Mine was given to me, so if there were instructions, I’ve never seen them. I sink the bottom fly into the foam, wrap the tippet around the long dimension of the insert and then sink the hook of the top fly in wherever it happens to fall. In addition to the fact that I can’t seem to store as many as I would have imagined on the doggone thing, far too often I find that some of the flies have come loose. More tension wouldn’t seem to be the answer, because it will just exert downward pull on the top fly. Too little tension seems like it doesn’t help either. Just curious - thanks for any help!
Perhaps use of a rubber band would help.
I don’t follow, Gerri. Rubber band where?
I started pre-tying and carrying tandem nymph rigs earlier this year. I have a chunk of high density foam that’s about 1" by 2" by 5". It started out as a letter “H” that I bought in the local craft store. I cut the two legs off, glued them together face to face, and trimmed it a bit. I just insert the trailer hook in the foam, wrap the tippet around the foam chunk, and then insert the lead hook in the foam. It fits in my pack alongside my fly boxes.
It was particularly helpful in the winter when cold fingers made knot tying on stream difficult, but it’s handy enough that I’ve continued to use it this spring.
Hi John,
use a rubber band around the middle of your holder (not placed vertically) to help preserve the tension to keep everything in place between the hooks and tippet/leader.
Great idea - thanks for posting - plus another reason to drink wine! 
Here’s what I use. A Tackle Buddy from Bass Pro. I made a protective cover out of a Fluoresent light safety cover.
I use the Orvis insert with great success. The way I do it is to tie on my nymph with a clinch knot then at the other end of the tippet I tie a duncan’s loop. I place the duncan’s loop around one of the clips on the side of the insert, then I wrap the tippet around the short way, then I stick the fly point into the foam covering the tippet. I am able to put six setups on each insert with no tangles.
I think our difference is that you wrap the long way around and I wrap the short way around.
I hope this helps!
OK here is the best thing I have seen for a while, but not so great if you are carrying your gear on foot. I use this in my boat and also on my big boat for tuna and shark rigs and it is great. I saw it while watching a very clever old guy demonstrate loch style fishing where they use a lot of different rigs and change frequently.
Basically he got a length of pool noodle, you know that kids floaty spaghetti stuff, cut it to a short length, and slid it into a very short 5-6 piece rod tube he got dirt cheap. Wrap the rigs around the tube, tie off with a rubber band, put a label on if you want, and slide into the tube. As I have several of these on the boat I use those little bags that small thermos flasks come in and you never use anyway. They fit perfect, cost almost nothing and work like a million bucks. Once of the big advantages is that because of the larger diameter of the noodle the rigs are not all corkscrewed up when you go to use one.
Not great if you have to put them in your pocket, but otherwise very useful.
Try this. Tie a triple surgeons knot leaving a tag end for the dropper every 48" with your tippet material and wind it on a tippet spool. When you need a dropper rig, pull out the tied tippet and cut it in between the droppers. You will have a dropper and 24" of tippet to the point. If you want to tie on three flies, leave and extra long tag for the dropper. You need only tie one knot to have a three fly rig.
It would look something like this:
//________________/___________
Good luck.
