I want to learn how to ties tandem flies for trout and salmon. What size hooks would i use for salmon, and trout. How do you attach the hooks together, and what do you use. What are some of your favorite tandem patterns, would love to see some pictures. Always wanted to learn how, figured might as well now before the salmon fishing starts heating up hear. Thanks.
CD
cdpaul, are you asking about flies with a dropper or possibly flies with a trailing stinger hook? Curious minds want to know.
REE
There are various ways of connecting flies together for fishing two patterns (or three) on the same line…
You can attach to short sections of heavier tippet material above the fly at the end of you tapered leader, that are positioned out to the sides of the dropper fly (normally heavily weighed). I like the more stiff Mason tippet material for this, with the side lines being no more then 12 inches in length, and staggered so that none of the top two side lines will become taggled.
You can tie tippet material to the second fly and attach the second fly to the bend of the hook of the first fly (helps if you leave the bard on the firs fly to hold the 2nd fly on the hook of the 1st fly.
You can also dress a the first fly pattern with a loop (using tippet material) on the top of the hook shank as part of the pattern, then attach the second fly to through the loop as you would attach a tippet to the end of your tapered leader.
Then there are the articulated patterns that connect two hooks together for one pattern…
Normally you secure the second hook (rear) to the from hook, using wire or tippet material, after you have remove the eye portion from the rear hook of the pattern, doing this before you dress the hooks.
You could also attach the rear hook to the front hook using a loop on the rear of the first hook, with the loop perpendicular to the axis orientation of the eye on the second hook.
Should leave some wiggle room in the loop to allow motion of the rear hook when fishing.
i am wanting to learn how to tie articulated flies.
… but I have seen a number of excellent fly tiers tie them at demonstrations.
Typically, mono tippet material is used to connect the trailing hook to the main hook. You can use a single strand of suitable strength tippet tied with a clinch knot to the eye of the trailing hook or a doubled length of tippet through the eye of the trailing hook.
Typically, build the back half of the fly first, then add the tippet of choice using the technique of choice. Bind the tippet material down along the entire shank of the main hook, then double it back over the shank and wrap back on it. This technique will make a very secure connection between the trailing hook and main hook. Then just build the rest of the fly on the main hook.
A couple guys I’ve watched have used a bead on the tippet between the two hooks which is intended to keep the trailing hook in better alignment with the main hook and avoid fouling between the two hooks. Not sure how or why that works, but it is something I have observed during several demonstrations on tying articulated flies.
If I were going to build an articulated streamer for trout, I would probably build the back half of the fly on a standard size 6 hook. After building the back half of the fly, I would use the doubled over tippet method with 2X tippet to connect it to the main hook. A stiffer tippet material would be preferable. I would likely use a size 6 4X long hook for the main hook. This combination would lend itself to a pretty long / large streamer ( in trout terms ), which is about the only reason I can think of for tying an articulated pattern to start with.
John
P.S. It just occured to me that I did tie one articulated pattern - a worm. See post #8 in the linked thread showing the connection method.
http://www.flyanglersonline.com/bb/showthread.php?34409-Bitterroot-Worm
REE pointed out not long ago, when I showed a pattern using a stinger hook, that in some places the regulations permit only one hook on the fly. In those places, you would have to choose between using or clipping off the hook of one of the hooks. I believe a discussion of which one should be clipped would involve an interesting debate on how trouts take streamers. Personally, I would clip the front hook and fish with the trailing hook.