11-04-2012, 08:46 AM
The way I set up my leader for a bounce rig is by starting with about a 6 or 7' leader, then I tie on about 8" of 4X tippet with a blood knot. I tie the blood knot so that one of the tags is 3" long and clip the other tag flush. Then I tie another 6 or 7" piece of 4X leaving another 3" tag. The 3" tags are where the flies are tied on and the weight goes about 6" below the bottom fly.
I always use a thingamabobber now because the boyancy cannot be matched. I usually use this setup in deeper runs so I use a pretty good amount of weight to get it down but it can be used to nymph shallow by adjusting the weight and indicator placement.. Customise your setup to the run you are fishing so that the weight is ticking along the bottom every couple feet or so but not dragging the whole way.
The short (3") tags keep the rig from getting tangled and I think it presents the flies better than longer tags. You won't be able to change flies more than once but really, a sow on the bottom and a midge larva or mayfly nymph on top nearly always fools 'em on the provo. While you don't want (or need to ) false cast with this setup, I can do a pickup and laydown cast without any problems if my upstream lob after a drift is off the mark. Just open up your loop on the backcast.
Other ways to avoid tangles are to avoid using weighted or beadhead flies and hand land your fish rather than messing with a net. Lately, I have been using just one fly with the bounce and I havent noticed any huge dropoff in catching fish. Using a single fly works pretty good on other waters where big stonefly nymphs are a go-to tactic.
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I always use a thingamabobber now because the boyancy cannot be matched. I usually use this setup in deeper runs so I use a pretty good amount of weight to get it down but it can be used to nymph shallow by adjusting the weight and indicator placement.. Customise your setup to the run you are fishing so that the weight is ticking along the bottom every couple feet or so but not dragging the whole way.
The short (3") tags keep the rig from getting tangled and I think it presents the flies better than longer tags. You won't be able to change flies more than once but really, a sow on the bottom and a midge larva or mayfly nymph on top nearly always fools 'em on the provo. While you don't want (or need to ) false cast with this setup, I can do a pickup and laydown cast without any problems if my upstream lob after a drift is off the mark. Just open up your loop on the backcast.
Other ways to avoid tangles are to avoid using weighted or beadhead flies and hand land your fish rather than messing with a net. Lately, I have been using just one fly with the bounce and I havent noticed any huge dropoff in catching fish. Using a single fly works pretty good on other waters where big stonefly nymphs are a go-to tactic.
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