Wet fly leader setup

[bringthepain]

So last year i decided i wanted to try fishing wets. I didn't have any experience and was mostly looking to fish downstream on the swing. I wanted a simple set up to start with so i just ran a standard 9' tapered leader to a small swivel. At the swivel i switched to flouro and tied like a 2 foot piece (3x) to my first fly. I would place a large bright colored wet fly here (bright yellow or green). Whatever the biggest size i had which was a 10 or 12. Then i tied another piece of flouro (one size down from the first so 4x) off the eye of the first fly to the second fly which was a 14 or 16.

A couple things. I used the swivel to avoid line twist. I also felt the weight of the swivel would help get the flies down into the strike zone faster. I looked at the larger first fly as an attractor (or teaser in spin fishing terms) that would get the attention of the fish and hopefully they would eat the smaller naturally colored trailing fly.

I wanted to hear how other guys rig up and fish wet flys as it is something i want to do more of this season. Its fun and the strikes are pretty fierce. Fishing downstream and on the swing sort of seemed like the fly fishing equivalent to fishing spinners as i felt like i was targeting similar spots and swinging the fly thru the same areas i would be with a black rooster tail back in the day.

How do you like to fish wets? Thanks!!

 

[Bamboozle]

...How do you like to fish wets? Thanks!!

When using two flies I either go the old school way of creating a dropper using the tag from a blood knot to add a second wet or I tie in a dropper from the hook bend of the upper wet. I guess you could do the same thing with a tippet ring but I can tie a blood knot faster and with less hassle.

In the case of the knot tag method, I use the heavier tag from the intermediate section of leader material for the upper fly. When trying in at the bend, I use leader material a size heavier than my tippet. Using heavier leader material and keeping those droppers shorter helps to eliminate tangles.

When I'm lazy I'll I also fish a lot with just a single wet fly.

Unlike dry fly fishing, I like shorter leaders for wet fly fishing so it is usually no longer than 7 foot with my preference being a plain knotted leader OR a braided butt leader (NOT a furled leader). Fluorocarbon works for me for wet flies & dries with no issues so I don't have to carry spools of mono & fluoro.

Maybe I'm lucky but I never had a problem with line twist (even when fishing spinners which I still do) so I never bother with a swivel. Over the years I have found light tippets and poorly proportioned flies were the biggest contributing factors to line twist and line SPEED exacerbates the problem.

For that reason with wets, I lob versus making a bunch of high speed false casts and at the end of my drift, I pick up my fly S-L-O-W-L-Y so a fast pull through the current doesn't cause my fly to spin rapidly like a propeller.

If I think I need weight, I'll add some to my leader or I'll use one of my wire bodied soft hackle flies versus one tied with Pearsalls or dubbing.

 

[DomR]

I use a braided leader then put tippet off of the tippet ring. I DO NOT like tying wet flies in tandem off the bend of the hook or off of the eye. I'll one wet directly to the tippet point then I'll run a dropper either off of the tippet ring and/or I'll tie in a dropper loop on the tippet depending upon whether I want to fish 2 or 3 flies where legal. As Bamboozle said make the dropper tippet a size heavier than your main tippet to prevent twisting and tangling. If you're going to fish on the swing you can also get away with using much heavier tippet as the fish see the fly before they see the line and leader.

Keep an inch or 2 of line in a loop between your finger and the rod grip so that when the takes happen you can release it, that helps to avoid breaking off fish from the hard strikes. As does a softer tip rod.

Have fun, wets are my favorite way to fish subsurface.

 

[Bamboozle]

Keep an inch or 2 of line in a loop between your finger and the rod grip so that when the takes happen you can release it, that helps to avoid breaking off fish from the hard strikes. As does a softer tip rod.

Have fun, wets are my favorite way to fish subsurface.

I always do a couple of hand twist retrieves at the beginning of the drift so I have something to release on a hard take.

All of my moderate action trout rods are more than suitable for wet fly work, but I have a 100+ year old 9'0" 3pc Thomas Special with full intermediate wraps that I bought a LONG time ago just for "old time wet fly fishing.

It is a gas to use as long as you stick to the plan...

 

[dc410]

More often than not I fish a 3 fly wet fly rig. I tie up my own 9’ tapered wet fly leaders. My tippet section is tied off of a small tippet ring. I tie in two small dropper loops into the leader above the tippet ring. My dropper loops are always less than 1/4” long. I then tie off of the dropper loop with a heavier short section of tippet with a clinch knot. I’ll go as heavy as 10 lb. test on the droppers. This keeps the wet fly extended out away from the leader. I have very few issues with twisting or tangles as long as I lay off of any false casting. My favorite wet fly to run on the point is without a doubt - the “Breadcrust”!

 

[bdhoover77]

More often than not I fish a 3 fly wet fly rig. I tie up my own 9’ tapered wet fly leaders. My tippet section is tied off of a small tippet ring. I tie in two small dropper loops into the leader above the tippet ring. My dropper loops are always less than 1/4” long. I then tie off of the dropper loop with a heavier short section of tippet with a clinch knot. I’ll go as heavy as 10 lb. test on the droppers. This keeps the wet fly extended out away from the leader. I have very few issues with twisting or tangles as long as I lay off of any false casting. My favorite wet fly to run on the point is without a doubt - the “Breadcrust”!

I picked up a wet fly leader at the Maryland FF show a couple years ago from a guide (I think it might have been Dave Allbaugh). It’s a similar style with dropper loops for tying on the flies with a short section of heavier tippet. The only catch is that Maryland allows no more than 2 flies, whereas PA allows 3.

 

[redietz]

A couple things. I used the swivel to avoid line twist. I also felt the weight of the swivel would help get the flies down into the strike zone faster.

"The strike zone" when fishing wets is often the film to six inches under; the wets are essentially ermergers (much of the time.) The use of a swivel defeats that.

My setup is somewhat similar to Bamboozle's, in that my top dropper is tied to the thicker tag end of a blood knot. I start with a standard tapered leader, add a couple of feet of tippet of the same size to the end with a surgeon's knot, then tie the top dropper (usually the larger fly) before making the blood knot. (It's surprising easy to tie a blood with a fly already attached, provided you wrap that side first.) The blood knot is used to attach about two feet of tippet that's one size finer than the previous tippet section. (It's not necessary, but that way if I snag the point fly on something, I only lose one fly.) I then add the point fly, which may be smaller than top dropper or the same size. Maryland law prohibits using more than two flies, so I stop there.

My top dropper could be a size 12 if there are March Browns or Cahills about, but those are exceptions; it's usually a size 14 or 16. The point fly is usually a 16 or 18. (Most of my fishing is in either a tail water or on a spring creek; a larger fly may be warranted on faster water.)

I may apply floatant to the leader to prevent the flies from sinking too deeply, especially if I'm fishing upstream during a spinner fall.

On those fairly rare occasions when I do wish to fish deeper, such as in the dead of winter, my "standard tapered leader" is a polyleader/versileader or i'll just add shot.

 

[troutbert]

You can just use one wet fly.

Cut off your dry fly, tie on a wet fly, and fish. Keeps it simple.