Man, that tiger shot is a great pic! And those Crappie had some shoulders on them.
You like that 3rd dot on the front of the nose of that ultra minnow?
I fished with a dropper over the weekend and had a hard time with the top, smaller fly wrapping around the line and causing tangles. Maybe, I had too much line of the top fly.
Keen eyes, my friend. I put an extra dot of color either on the nose or near the tail of most of the jigs that I make with glow. Makes it easier to differentiate at a glance…instead of having to cup them in your hand and see if they glow in the dark. Apparently it does not scare off the fish.
**Rigging droppers could probably be the subject of a pretty lengthy writeup. There are a ton of different options. **
1. Standard dropshot. Simply use a Palomar knot to attach your dropper hook directly to the line. Good from the perspective of avoiding tangles and also provides instant “feel” when a fish hits the dropper.
2. Blood knot dropper. Good for creating a dropper of several inches to a foot or more in length. Best for cast and retrieve or trolling…with flies or lures that will not spin and tangle. Also good for fishing tandem jigs when making short to moderate casts…and the twists can come out after each cast.
3. Surgeon’s loop knot. Almost as good as a standard dropshot, but extra length is easy by lengthening the loop when you tie it. Also allows you to change flies or lures by using the loop to run through the hook eye, etc. You can also clip one side of the loop where it comes out of the knot and have a single line dropper. Pretty much the same as a blood knot.
4. 3 way swivel. Not as good for finesse fishing, with light tackle and finicky fish. Extra hardware, etc. But, great for trolling flies or lures that might twist. Also good for fishing heavy tackle down deep for big fish…or for “chuck and chance it” bait fishing.
5. Small crane swivel. I use these small swivels…the kind I use for making Roadrunner jigs…to help reduce tangles. I tie the main line to the top ring and both the long and short leaders to the bottom ring. That way, when they twist, they do not tangle the main line and easily untwist themselves. Good rig for fishing tandem jigs for larger fish…like walleyes or wipers. A stronger connection than a blood knot. Less likely to break if you get a double hookup.
**I usually carry an extra spool of the same kind of line I have on my reels, just for making blood knot droppers. Saves a lot on the main line if you don’t keep shortening it to make droppers. **
I don’t have any exact formula for lengths of dropper leaders but I usually use something around 4" or less for vertical jigging…6" for small tandem jigs…8"-12" for larger tandem jigs. You want enough line to let the jig work, but not so much that you miss strikes by not feeling the fish. You also want enough like to allow the fly or jig to work, but not so much that it tangles easily. That is all a balance of size, weight, length of line, stiffness of line, etc. Sometimes takes a few casts to determine just what will work best.
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