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3. leader to line, loop to loop attachments, Page 2

Ok, so you like the bigger curlers. You use the big paper clips to hold them on the curler after the wrap? Do you only wrap one pre-rigged leader/flies setup per curler or do you have a few of them on each curler? Great idea BTW!

I did it and have two on my roller, but could easily have say 4 with no crowding. And I tie my own, and have 7 fters tied with my twisted 4 ft. plus butt, a 16" of .013 to a 12" .011, and that's it. When I need a new leader I can attached the tippet section/sections at the water.

Adirman,

Sayfu has it right, you can have as many rigs as you want on a single curler (though I rarely need more than two). Remember that you have a rig on the line you're fishing with already, so a total of three quick change set-ups is usually more than enough. Again, you only need one curler. I happened to be lazy and didn't remove the rigs from the last time I was out with it (lucky for the photo). Unless I'm pretty sure of what I'll be using, I don't start the day with rigs on it. Often, it's blank in my pocket at first. I don't like leaving rigs on them for long periods as leader material (and especially knots) deteriorate over time, especially when exposed to oxygen and light. When I'm done with a trip (whether it's a day or a week), if I'm not going to be back out in a couple of days - off they come.

Sayfu - How do you plan to "quick change" your braided leaders? Don't they require loops at the connector? As I've said before threading through loops is pretty tough to do with multi-fly rigs. You can make the loops very big on indicator rigs so they can slip through, but it's still a pain in the butt. I prefer to leave the rig wound on the curler, blood the butt to the connector and then unwind it off the "spool" so to speak - less tangles that way. One of the nice features of the velcro is that it keeps the leader wraps from getting tangled.

Let me see now, what end am I talking about? It doesn't matter to me. Some of my lines have loops in the end of the flyline, and some do not. If the flyline doesn't have a loop, I nail knot the looped butt onto the flyline. I use three wraps to keep it small being that it is twisted. At the end of the 4' plus butt section(doesn't have to be exact. I surgeons knot on a 16" peice of .013, and then .011 and a tippet if it is 1x, or 2x. If smaller I have a 10" there abouts piece of .009 (2x, and the tippet. I just never go below 5x, and most often fish 4x...fly first, and if it doesn't work, I lose. My deal of casting is....if I can form a good loop, and I can with those twisted butts, I can put slack to the fly when needed. Air mends, dump casts, tippets long enough that slack is built in when the fly lands. So I don't quick change leaders. I can change a tippet. I fish out of the boat most often, and my boat is like a golf bag..different rods already made up. Once in awhile two rods will go with me on the bank. Examp. When I will put in late afternoon on Monday, and fish for cahills coming off in faster riffle water. I will have a rod with a #14 PED comparadun on it, a rod with a soft hackle cahill emerger on it, with a metal bead head sinking it some, then swinging up, and a hopper rod fishing between the riffle/runs.

Entoman;

Ok, you break them down after your off the water then? See, my idea was to prerig a whole bunch of these things on several different curlers for ease of use but you think this is maybe not such a good idea because of the deterioration factor?

Sayfu;

Hope to be there someday myself where I have 3 rods prerigged for different methods! I take it you don't wade fish too much anymore huh? Reason I say that is, when I wadefish which is 95% of the time when I'm flyfishing, its too hard to carry multiple rods around w/ you all day, especially if you plan on wading/hiking lengthy distances. Only thing that makes sense is to carry 1 rod IMHO and maybe an extra reel and change rigs onstream as needed.

No, I wade fish a lot more! But out of my boat. When I had gorilla arms, and could drink a cold on in one hand, and row down the fast water high bank holding back the boat on the oars so an angler up front could get a good drift along a cutback I seldom got out of the boat. But now, I very much like the riffles, and get out of the boat often. A new frontier for me is spey casting soft hackles and swinging them both with a two hander, but most often with my one hangers. It also gives me an opportunity to fish up in the riffle casting above rising fish. I find that particularly enjoyable. Wed. with higher flows over the riffles that have adversely effected the PMD hatches this Summer, the faster water PED's just may have benefited from the faster flow. We will probably then anchor up out in the riffles being the water will be awkward to wade. I just pull on the anchor rope to step down. And I can get just as excited fishing on the swing, and getting that surface swirl, and the big tug, as I can a dead drifted dry, and seeing it happen. Both are very enjoyable methods.

Adir -

I only bother with the curler if I'm hike/wade fishing. I have hiked rivers with two rods many times, but it's a pain. Once I came back with only one rod. That was the last time for that!:)

You can make up a a few rigs with flies beforehand I suppose, if you are very sure of what you will be using. Personally, I wouldn't be that presumptuous, even on waters I've fished hundreds of times (bad juju).:) But even then, I don't see the need for more than a single rig per style. If you want to change flies, change flies. I wouldn't use it as a substitute for a leader wallet or fly box.

Here's the point by way of a story - You show up to the river and start out on a nice run. You look around, check for bugs and rises (none observable), roll the chicken bones, etc. and decide to try an indicator rig with a couple of nymphs and a little split- shot to get them down along the bottom. After you tie up the rig, you have a decision to make. Which nymphs to try? Perhaps you turned over a few rocks and found a lot of active whatevers to imitate and perhaps you've also had good luck lately with the B.H. Purple People Eater - so on they both go. You fish for a half hour and nothing. Soooo, you decide to change flies but you still want to fish with the same method. You don't need to replace the whole rig - just change flies. Ok, so you finally found the right combo and fishing's been great but you've come to the end of the run and the water upstream is a broad shallow riffle with a nice pool quite a ways above it and who knows what's around the bend. Hmmm... You could walk around it and hike the quarter mile (or more) up to the next run that matches your tackle, or you could change rigs. Out comes the rig storage device (curler) and on hooks the first fly, wind it up and put the butt under the clip and back in the pocket it goes. Now you take out your leader wallet and decide to put on a leader you will probably use for dry flies during the day. On it goes. Then you fish out a bushy dry from your box and hang a nymph below it to fish the riffle. After tons of fish in the riffle you finally get to the pool, but it's dead so you walk around it to find a good long section of boulder strewn pocket water. Out comes the storage device, on goes the leader as before and you put it away again. On this piece of water you decide it might be worth a try to do some high sticking, so you tie on the proper leader from your wallet, a couple of heavy nymphs from your box, and you're back in business. At this point in the morning, you now have three rigs at the ready so you can fish the river completely. No need for skipping sections unsuited to your tackle only because changing it out is such a burden.

Back to the river - above the pockets is another nice run. The tackle you have on is clearly unsuited for it so again, out comes the storage device and on goes the high stick rig. Still nothing's rising, so you decide to tie the butt of the indicator rig to the connector, unwind it from the devise (stretch it) and you're ready to go again - and in less time than it takes to select and change a fly. On the way back down the river you come across the pool that is now alive with rising fish - You get the drill... On goes the dry fly leader but you snip off the bushy dry and nymph combo, add a finer tippet and tie on the size 16 Head Banger Parachute that makes the selective fish go crazy. Heck of a way to end the day.

Now I don't always use it this much. Sometimes I'm in the mood to fish a certain way, or the water type is more uniform, or sections fitted to my tackle aren't that far apart, etc. Also, I do leave all the rigs on the devise and often even my rod strung up (usually, but not always with the last rig I used) if I'm going to fish the same water for several days. Sometimes to save time, I'll even throw the rod under a wiper on the windshield to drive to a different part of the river (my mentors are probably rolling in their graves over this one, they were from the days of pricey bamboo and before no-fault break guarantees):)

Anyway, that's how I use it.

Entoman:

GREAT post!! Very well articulated! I totally get it as will any other readers I'm sure! So, next thing on my shopping list is a couple of curlers to store my rigs! Reason why I said earlier that I wanted to have a few pre-rigged nymphing leaders is cuz as you said in your post, I do fish a couple spots, for example parts of the Esopus, where thhe same nymphs always seem to produce and so if I've decided to fish there, I can't go wrong with a rig or 2 already setup. Again, great idea though w/ the curler thing and I'll be sure to get a few. BTW, you didn't get any strange looks when you purchased yours did you? Heh! heh!

Your friend,
Adirman

Nice.

Has most everyone figured out what the loop at the bottom of a fly vest is?...and then the short strap snap below the shoulders? That is for holding a rod while you change a leader etc. I had a boss way back when that was a fly angling legion of sorts that fished the Yakima River often using two rods. One was fixed to the vest as mentioned, while he fished the other on down through the run, or up...then vice-versa. The flies of choice at that time, and the flies he used almost exclusively, were the elk-haired caddis, and a Royal Trude. And he most often fished after the sun got off the river in late afternoon.

I sometimes carry two rods, but am at risk of losing one. I've had to hike back to recover a few.

When bass fishing on the hoof I normally carry 2 to 4 outfits. Some people have done double takes and had to comment "What are you going to do with all those rods?" "Is it worth the hassle??" "Whad'ya think you're a Pro??" I just smile.

Odd how no one would ever ask something like that on a golf course. "Why do you have SO many clubs?" "Whad'ya think you're a Pro??"

No strange looks. I "borrowed" mine from my wife more than 20 years ago, I think. If she noticed, she hasn't said anything...:)

OK, you guys got me organizing..something I am always in need of. I took a leader wallet, and have the tippet end portions for 3x, 4x, and 5x that will attach to my furled, mono butt section that has a .013 single strand attached. I have two of the furled, twisted butt sections in the wallet, and can just blood knot on the tippet section I need. I never go smaller than 5x. Now I can sleep well at nite knowing my wife doesn't have to go shopping to replace that curler, and come home with bags of goodies.

Organizing... Ha! A never ending struggle (at least fore me)! But as my wife says, "You must enjoy it!", since I've been "organizing" fly gear for over 40 years now...:)