Dropper Rig Question

[TroutRinger]

I use a dropper almost all of the time and I fish 6x down to 7x almost all of the time too- I think a lot of people set their hooks too hard and use rods that are too stiff. I use my 4wt alot and my 5wt pretty often- but my 3wt is awesome when fishing 7x. Unless I am fishing a really heavy rig I opt for a smaller rod to protect my tippet and my hook-set is pretty much just a gentle lift- not that I didn't start out breaking off every other fish- I'm a bass fishin convert myself.

I imagine the rod and hook set definitely have something to do with it. My rod is a 5wt with I'd say average flexibility, but my hook sets are relatively gentle, especially when I am standing in front of a bunch of low hanging trees. I am usually cautious to not set the hook hard so as to avoid the line and flies flying into the branches.

I would say my break offs on this last trip were about 50-50 between hooked fish and hook sets. I just don't know. I have landed tons of trout in the 3-4lb range (and some in current) on 2lb spinning gear without breaking a sweat, but that is because I have expensive spinning reals with quality drags.

Maybe it is just a crappy drag on my fly reel which is nothing special. When I look back at the breakoffs I have on hooked fish on fly gear, I always think of similar circumstances. The fish goes on a few short runs and the fly reel drag does fine, but then they put their head down and take one good run down current (maybe twice or three times as far as the other times) and my drag cant keep up and the line snaps. Can't think of a time I've had a spinning real drag do something like that.

[vanven]

Lots of wisdom here.

I tend to fish only fluoro tippet during the day, specially between a lead fly and a dropper. The stretch on mono wont matter in 18 inches of line and the fluoro sinks better and is less visible. I also tend to fish 6x and 7x respectively. I also always try to put a heavier fly above a lighter dropper to minimize tangles and messes. It seems to help me at least. I also limit myself to shorter casts. There is nothing fun about a two fly + indicator tangle.

On break offs....

Part of me want to say it is poor knot tying. I have been a victim of that more times than not. I have actually switched to simply tying a cinch knot and have cut down on the number of broken knots I have considerably. I think we tend to get caught up in out ability to tie a fancy knot and lose sight of tying a knot well. Small tippets and big fancy knots don't seem to mix for me.

Part of me also wants to blame the hookset. Whether it is too hard or the wrong direction resulting in poor hook placement. It doesnt take much pressure to drive a hook deep, I have done it several times to myself just tightening a knot. All the fisherman has to do is remove the slack in the line, the weight of the fish and the current should do most of the work for you.

It could also be equipment. My Orvis rod has a very stiff butt section and very flippy tip. It does not transition well. My Sage is buttery smooth and consistent tip to tail. I feel a lot more comfortable with the hook set and the rod's ability to dampen big runs on my Sage. Of course, that isnt the only big difference between those rods. I wouldn't blame the reel. Typically the difference between a cheap drag and a great drag is the startup, how fast and smooth the drag kicks in at the start of a run. I have never had a drag give me issues in the middle of a run unless it was something dumb and explainable like sand in the gears. These aren't tarpon that might melt a cheap drag.

-Jerod

[TroutRinger]

Lots of wisdom here.

I tend to fish only fluoro tippet during the day, specially between a lead fly and a dropper. The stretch on mono wont matter in 18 inches of line and the fluoro sinks better and is less visible. I also tend to fish 6x and 7x respectively. I also always try to put a heavier fly above a lighter dropper to minimize tangles and messes. It seems to help me at least. I also limit myself to shorter casts. There is nothing fun about a two fly + indicator tangle.

On break offs....

Part of me want to say it is poor knot tying. I have been a victim of that more times than not. I have actually switched to simply tying a cinch knot and have cut down on the number of broken knots I have considerably. I think we tend to get caught up in out ability to tie a fancy knot and lose sight of tying a knot well. Small tippets and big fancy knots don't seem to mix for me.

Part of me also wants to blame the hookset. Whether it is too hard or the wrong direction resulting in poor hook placement. It doesnt take much pressure to drive a hook deep, I have done it several times to myself just tightening a knot. All the fisherman has to do is remove the slack in the line, the weight of the fish and the current should do most of the work for you.

It could also be equipment. My Orvis rod has a very stiff butt section and very flippy tip. It does not transition well. My Sage is buttery smooth and consistent tip to tail. I feel a lot more comfortable with the hook set and the rod's ability to dampen big runs on my Sage. Of course, that isnt the only big difference between those rods. I wouldn't blame the reel. Typically the difference between a cheap drag and a great drag is the startup, how fast and smooth the drag kicks in at the start of a run. I have never had a drag give me issues in the middle of a run unless it was something dumb and explainable like sand in the gears. These aren't tarpon that might melt a cheap drag.

-Jerod

I'll have to check to be sure, but I'm pretty sure my Tippet is fluoro and I use cinch knots as well (I guess it's technically the improvedcinch knot). All the breaks I can remember Sunday were away from the knots. I could tell by the length of leader left on. As for why else they may be breaking off, it may be for those other reasons you stated but it's pretty much impossible to know for sure.

The drag issue is something I really need to figure out as I've lost a good number of nice fish during those long runs. I guess I didn't say before, but it seems (and this may just be in my head) that the breaks come during the long run, but it's not a long run at one speed. The fish accelerates in the middle, and the drag (already spinning) cant keep up with the new pace.

[barredrock]

Lots of wisdom here.

Part of me want to say it is poor knot tying. I have been a victim of that more times than not. I have actually switched to simply tying a cinch knot and have cut down on the number of broken knots I have considerably. I think we tend to get caught up in out ability to tie a fancy knot and lose sight of tying a knot well. Small tippets and big fancy knots don't seem to mix for me.

-Jerod

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