# What is your go to set up on your favorite river



## deljoshua (Jul 29, 2013)

Looking for tips on how to set up the fly, weights, and indicator for proper presentation. I am obviously no expert on fly fishing but I do enjoy it. Someone showed me once a set up where depending on the speed of the water you tie/leave a tag and put so many weights to make them barely bounce on the bottom. I can’t remember how to set this up. Any other help in this area would be awesome! I’m not asking for secret spots/honey holes or even what your go to fly is for a specific water so hopefully I’m not pushing that “ just give me all the secrets so that I don’t have to work for it” line.


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## HighNDry (Dec 26, 2007)

I just tie on a dry and let it fly. I move around instead of staying in one hole for hours. John Gierach said, "If you are using the wrong fly long enough, it eventually becomes the right fly."


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## deljoshua (Jul 29, 2013)

That actually sounds like it makes sense! Lol! Good advice


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## Catherder (Aug 2, 2008)

There are hundreds of different ways to rig flies and all of them can work at certain times. A lot is personal preference. That said, what I think you are asking about is how to set up a "bounce rig". Bounce rigs are a really good way to fish nymphs and subsurface flies on medium to larger sized rivers, especially those that have lots of weeds on the bottom, like the Provo and Weber. Here is how I tie mine.

1. I get a tapered leader and cut off the top 2-2 1/2 feet and tie it to my floating fly line. (See picture 1.) 

2. At the other end, I tie on the indicator and tie a loop. (Picture 2 and 3)

3. Next, I put on a variable length of tippet, depending on the depth of the water I'm fishing. I had 5 feet here. (Picture 4) 

4. I then cut 12 inches of tippet and tie it on to the larger piece with a double surgeons knot. (You can look up how to tie this knot on the internet.) Tie a fly on the distal tag end. Then cut a second 12 inch piece of tippet and tie similarly. Put on your second fly. On the bottom piece of line affix your sinkers . It should look like picture 5 when you are done. 


As for how much weight to put on the bottom, it depends on the current strength and water depth. You want the sinker to tick along the bottom, which is easily seen as you do your drift. Set the hook if the indicator stops and you might have fish on. 



Be advised that elitists like Garyfish will derisively cackle that you are "bait fishing" and scoff at your catches, but even those elitists fish this way when there are no hatches going off and nobody else is looking. ;-)


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## deljoshua (Jul 29, 2013)

Catheter
That is exactly the rig I was trying to remember! Thank you for your awesome post and explanation. And if Garyfish has an issue with this rig I will be more than happy to let him take me on a guided trip to teach me other techniques


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## StillAboveGround (Aug 20, 2011)

I put a post up a while back about the "Provo River" bounce rig with a diagram
http://www.backcountrychronicles.com/catch-more-trout-on-a-bounce-rig/
The rig will work in lots of areas with a fairly consistent bottom.

The secret is to know how to adjust it...
If it drags too much or hangs up, shorten and/or remover weights...
If it is not bouncing, you are not fishing, so add more weight and/or lengthen.
I used to say a rule of thumb for length was 1½ - 2 times the depth of the water, but I almost always go with twice the depth of the water now.


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## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

Since my name is getting thrown around, I thought I'd chime in and set these heathens straight on a few things. Or at the least, tell you the RIGHT way to do your set up. 

Small streams - I fish my 7 1/2 foot, 4 weight medium action rod, with double taper floating line followed by a 7 1/2 foot tapered leader down to 5x tippet. When I start fishing, I tie on another 2 feet of tippet. Generally, I don't like the leader to exceed the length of the fly rod, as it seems harder to make it turn over. With small streams, I fish almost exclusively with dry flies because it is the most fun. My go to for most small streams is really any kind of attractor in size 14-16. Elk hair caddis, humpy, royal wulff, stimulator, etc.... If I fish a nymph, I will tie an 18-24 inch piece of tippet to the bend of the dry fly, and then put a nymph one size smaller on the end as a dropper. Usually that nymph is a pheasant tail. 

Medium Rivers like the Provo - I fish my 8 1/2 foot 5 weight medium action fly rod, with weight forward floating line leading to a 9 ft tapered leader down to 5x, with about 2 feet of 5x tippet. If I fish bait like Catherder does, I'll put a couple of split shot above the leader to tippet knot - 18-24 inches above the fly. I'll put a bobber, or what Catherder likes to call strike indicator, about halfway down the leader. If I'm dry fly fishing on middle rivers, I always try to match the hatch. If no hatch, I use my go to flies - elk hair caddis, adams, royal wulff, or stimulator in a size 14 to start. If I'm going to bait fish like the other guys, I'll usually go with a dropper below a dry fly and then use the dry fly as the indicator. 

Bigger rivers like the Henry's Fork or South Fork by my house, I fish my 9 foot fast action 5 weight with a weight forward floating line and 9 foot leader tapered to 4x followed by 18 -24 inches of 4x tippet (though if the water is really clear like on the Henry's Fork I'll taper down to 6x). If I'm wading the Henry's Fork at the RR Ranch, I'll do the best to match the hatch. I don't use nymphs there. It wouldn't be proper. The Gods would frown on me. If I'm on the lower Henry's where I fish much more, then I'll nymph it with generic stuff like woolly buggers, bitch creek, or various stone fly patterns. In the evenings on the big rivers, it is all caddis, cast to rising fish quartering upstream. 

Really though, you've got to find what works for you. My esteemed colleagues on here find great success bait fishing with fly rods and bobbers. And that works for them. I'd rather be a gentleman and fish dry flies. But that works for me. I will admit it though - I am finding myself getting back into the spin fishing days of my youth. My 7 year old daughter loves to fish with me. And our honey hole on the lower Henry's is our "secret spot" and we regularly fill a stringer with the planted rainbows by fishing her barbie pole rigged with a colorado blade spinning on a snelled hook with half a night crawler. We call it the "Secret Weapon." So much as I give grief to the other guys, I caught a lot more fish last year on worms than I did on flies. And I'm OK with that. 

BTW - Catherder's explanation above is EXCELLENT. Very good advice and description.


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