Posted on April 17 2014
Whether dead drifting flesh and egg patterns or tandem nymph rigs, if you’re not breaking off flies, odds are you’re not fishing deep enough. There’s no question that nymphing for trout is effective. However, it can be frustrating having to constantly re-rig new flies, tippet, and split shot every time you set the hook on a snag. If fishing out of a boat, the amount of time required to re-rig usually means passing up good water and many missed opportunites! Therefore, it’s important to use a system that allows you to re-rig and get your fly back in the water as quickly as possible. After all, the more time your fly is in the water, the more fish you’ll catch, period.
In order to allow for a speedy change after a break off, we have tried many ways of pre-rigging and organizing our nymph rigs. The most effective method we’ve found comes from a simple product used by bass fisherman to store spinner rigs and snells. We have no problem borrowing ideas from our gear fishing brethren. In fact, we do it quite regularly!
Enter the Tackle Buddy Spinner Holder. The Tackle Buddy’s design is extremely simple, a hollow tube coated in a soft rubber. Simply tie up as many nymph rigs you want before you hit the water, wrap the rig around the tube, and hook the hook point into the soft rubber to store.
Hooked up on a snag? Break ’em off, unwrap another rig, and blood knot back on to your leader. Want an even quicker change? Tie a small loop in the end of your leader AND the end of your nymph rig, and connect via loop to loop connection. Depending on the length of your rig, you may opt to attach split shot above the connection in your leader. That way, you won’t have to add split shot to each rig after a break off. Concerned about taking up too much space? Remove the end cap and use the space within the tube to store your strike indicators too!
The Tackle Buddy comes in a variety of sizes depending on your needs and costs as little as $3.99! Want an even cheaper option? Pick up a foam cylinder from your nearest craft store, or even a small piece of foam pipe insulation instead. Pre-rig your nymphs ahead of time and keep your flies fishing longer – it’ll pay off in the long run.