Saturday, June 9, 2018

I make no claims here about originality.
When fly fishing for trout, I have previously fished a team of flies, usually two droppers and a point, it's not long before I get the droppers tangling or even knotting around the leader. This is frustrating because it means breaking things down and starting again. Recently I was reading an article on lure fishing for predators that talked about using a Rapalla knot, which is a loop on which the lure can hinge or articulate. It was suggested that this allowed the lure to move more freely and perhaps be more attractive to the target predators.
Something else I was aware of was the twisted loop used by coarse fisherman to create booms to which a feeder or the like can be attached. The doubled line of the boom helps to keep the feeder away from the main line.
So instead of tying in droppers using a Dropper Loop or a Water Knot, would a tied off twisted loop work with the fly on the loop when it is made? The advantages would be that the stiff loop would be more likely to stay away from the leader, if it didn't and fouls the leader it would be easier to untangle and lastly the fly would hinge/articulate on the loop creating more movement (perhaps?).
So I tried it, the twisted loops I made were not very long but that can be set when you make the loop. With the fly threaded onto the leader, place your thumbs and forefingers on the leader at twice the distance that you want the loop to be. Rolling the line between thumb and finger creates the twisted loop. The loop can be made tighter by pulling the two ends apart and twisting again. An overhand knot at the base of the loop ties it off. I know knots are chosen for their strength or to avoid weakening the line. I accept that this may be the weak point of this idea, it's a case of suck it and see!
Pic 1. My leader - The Booby is the Point fly with the Buzzer and Diawl Bach on the twisted loop droppers.
06-06-2018 I fished this on a WF5I fly line. On the cast the Intermediate fly line starts to sink and takes all of the flies, including the buoyant Booby down into the depths. This has the effect of the flies being presented on a "washing line". A varied stripped retrieve it causes the Booby to fall and rise, which also adds action to the dropper flies.
In a short 30 minute session I had a quick pull on one of the droppers. It wasn't on the Booby because I could see it in the clear water. Then I had a trout swim up to and chomp down on the Booby. I watched as the fish chewed on the fly, then I woke up and realised I needed to strike. Too late the trout spat the Booby out with obvious distaste. 15 minutes before I had to go home, I was watching a beautifully coloured Rainbow trout swim slowly past me and was thinking, could I intercept it and present my flies to it? Bang! Another fish had hit one of my flies and proceeded to accelerate around the lake. In doing so it gathered a bunch of slimy green algae on the line. This added weight created an angle in the line, so I wasn't in direct contact with the hooked fish. This can often mean a lost fish, but my luck was in and I landed it. It weighed 2.2lb and swam off strongly when I returned it to the lake. This fish broke my duck of over 5 sessions without a fish landed.

Pic 2. The trout took the Diawl Bach dropper. So far so good.

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