Many fly fishers are searching for information on how to improve their own angling skills and knowledge, but for guides, finding the most effective ways to fish is a professional obligation. To that end, guides spend hours working on their rigs, determining the optimal rod and line combinations and tinkering with materials and leader lengths to find the combination that’s most likely to produce angling success. Because these rigs are designed for clients, they must be easy to cast and use. But above all, they must land fish.
In the May/June 2018 issue of California Fly Fisher, the first “Rigging Like a Guide” article presented rigs used by Jay Murakoshi, Ken Hanley, Jon Baiocchi, Ernie Gulley, and me. This time, I’ll explain rigs by Captain Hogan Brown, Captain Chuck Ragan, Zack Thurman, and Lincoln Gray. These rigs will cover species and angling situations different than those in the previous article. These rigs aren’t just what they use when guiding — they’re also what they fish themselves.
Bass Rigs
Captain Chuck Ragan has multiple rigs that he fishes for bass throughout the year: a top-water rig, a streamer rig, and a float-n-fly rig. Chuck likes rigs that are simple and effective. He credits his rigs to Mike Schultz of Schultz’s Outfitters in Michigan. Like many guides, Chuck has fished around the country and brings back rigs and tactics that work for his local species.
The top-water rig is designed to cast large poppers or air-resistant deer hair bugs such as diving frogs or Dahlberg Divers. Chuck likes a 9-foot medium-fast 7-weight rod with a weight-forward 7-weight fly line. The hand-tied tapered leader he uses is a simple formula that is time tested. The leader is made from monofilament: 24 inches of 40-pound-test, 24 inches of 30-pound, 18 inches of 25-pound, 18 inches of 20-pound, and 24 inches of 16-pound. Chuck uses a Double Uni Knot to marry the pieces of tippet material together. He notes that you can also use a Blood Knot. To connect this leader to the fly line, Chuck prefers an Albright Knot. On the other end of the leader, Chuck likes to use a Lefty’s Loop Knot or a Canoe Man Loop Knot to attach his poppers or deer hair divers. This leader can be tied shorter simply by shortening the monofilament pieces, taking the same percentage of material away from each section to equal the length of the leader desired. To strengthen his knots, Chuck applies a UV-curing acrylic. For smaller-sized poppers, Chuck likes to build his monofilament leaders with this formula: 24 inches of 30-pound, 24 inches of 25-pound, 18 inches of 20-pound, 18 inches of 16-pound, and 24 inches of 12-pound or 10-pound-test.
The streamer rig is simple. Chuck likes a 9-foot medium-fast rod with an intermediate line or a sinking line with an integrated head. A streamer-tip line works very well for this rig. The leader is the same as the top-water rig above. The leader can be tied in both the heavier and lighter versions, but Chuck ties this leader with fluorocarbon, rather than monofilament, because the f luorocarbon can handle more abrasion. Again, the leader is connected to the line with an Albright Knot. The fly is tied on using a Lefty’s Loop Knot or Canoe Man Knot.
Captain Chuck’s f loat-n-fly rig is simple, too, but he warns that it needs to be rigged correctly for it to work. This is actually a conventional-tackle bass tactic that Chuck and others have adapted to fly fishing. It is used when targeting bass during times of low metabolic energy and lethargy: late fall, winter, and early spring.
For the float-n-fly rig, Chuck likes a medium fast action 9-foot or 10-foot 7-weight rod with a 7-weight weight-forward floating line. From the floating line, Chuck uses an Albright Knot to attach a butt section of 20-pound monofilament that is 14 inches long. Next, he attaches to this butt section a balsa wood indicator (the Jaydacator, sold by guide Jason Cockrum through his Instagram site) made specifically for this application. It has a swivel mounted in the bottom, which provides a 90-degree drop. Chuck uses Lefty’s Loop Knot for this connection and attaches it directly to the swivel ring on the bottom of the indicator.
To fish this rig, Chuck uses a fish finder to target fish that are suspended in lakes in relatively shallow water, 8 to 15 feet deep. Once you know what depth the fish are suspended, you can construct the rest of the leader. If you’re without a fish finder, you have to use the trial-and-error approach to find the right depth. If the fish are suspended in 12 feet of water, you would attach 12 feet of 8-pound-test fluorocarbon tippet material to the same bottom swivel ring. Again, Chuck uses a Lefty’s Loop Knot for this purpose. At the end of the tippet material, he attaches a Balance Minnow or crayfish pattern, also with a Lefty’s Loop Knot. This is a fixed rig. There is no adjusting the depth without cutting back or adding tippet material. Chuck doesn’t fish this rig deeper than 15 feet. Landing fish may be difficult with a long leader and fixed indicator.
The float-n-fly rig is simple and effective when you use the correct components: a post-style indicator, a long tippet, and a Balance Fly pattern. But Chuck cautions that as you increase the length of the tippet material, casting becomes difficult. Using a water haul to load the cast is recommended.
River Stripers
Hogan Brown likes a fast-action 9-foot 9-weight rod for all his striper fishing. He prefers large-arbor reels, because he says that he would give up backing for faster line pickup any day of the year. He adds that river stripers usually don’t run a great distance, but just want to slug it out. Hogan likes fly lines that are made on a braided core, because a fly line breaking isn’t good. He also likes braided lines for their no-stretch qualities and sensitivity in detecting very subtle grabs.
The first setup that Hogan uses is a Type 7 sinking shooting head with a braided core on a braided-core intermediate running line. The leader is simple: 3 feet of 30-pound fluorocarbon and 3 feet of 20-pound fluorocarbon. The only time Hogan adjusts his leader is when he is fishing in an area with a lot of snags. He then adds 20 inches of 17-pound fluorocarbon off the 20-pound section, because it is easier to break than the 20-pound stuff. When adding the 17-pound material, he shortens the 20-pound section accordingly. His leader is no longer than 6 feet on this rig. To attach the leader to the fly line, Hogan uses a Perfection Loop Knot for a loop-to-loop connection, a Blood Knot to connect the leader material together, and a Lefty’s Loop Knot to attach the fly.
Hogan uses a second rig to fish shallower water with heavy flies and a slow retrieve. The line is a Type 3 sinking shooting head with a braided core on the braided-core intermediate running line. The leader is a 6-foot fluorocarbon furled leader designed to turn over large, heavy flies. The braided leader Hogan uses is a Feather-Craft Sinking Bulwhipp Fluorocarbon Furled Leader, which has a tippet ring attached to it, and at that point he adds 3 feet of 20-pound fluorocarbon. He uses a Perfection Loop Knot for the loop-to-loop connection to the shooting head, an Improved Clinch Knot to connect the tippet material to the tippet ring, and a Lefty’s Loop Knot to attach the fly.
A third setup is for shallower water and sight fishing. This setup is also for a presentation that mandates a slow retrieve. The fly line is an intermediate shooting head made on a braided core with the braided-core intermediate running line. For this setup, Hogan uses a longer leader with a less aggressive taper: 6 feet of furled fluorocarbon leader with 3 feet of 20-pound fluorocarbon, then another 2 feet of 17-pound fluorocarbon. He lets the fish’s reaction to the length of the leader dictate leader length at times. He uses a Perfection Loop Knot for a loop-to-loop connection to the shooting head, an Improved Clinch Knot to attach the 20-pound tippet material to the tippet ring (same as above), a Blood Knot to connect the 20-pound and 17-pound tippet material, and a Lefty’s Loop Knot to attach the fly.
Shallow Stillwater Setup
Zack Thurman’s stillwater stripping rig is for shallow trout lakes that have ongoing fishing pressure. Zack likes a stealthy approach to these lakes. He used a medium-fast 9-foot 6-inch 6-weight rod lined with an 6-weight intermediate fly line. Zack fishes only fluorocarbon tapered leaders and tippet material.
His first rig is used while fishing larger flies: leeches and minnow imitations. It is a 9-foot 3X tapered fluorocarbon leader with 3 to 5 feet of 3X or 4X fluorocarbon tippet. Whether you use the 3X or the 4X tippet is based on how heavy the fly is — 3X for Woolly Buggers or conehead flies, 4X for smaller flies such as beadhead nymphs and lightly weighted streamers. Zack uses an Albright Knot to connect the leader to the fly line, a Blood Knot to marry the leader to the tippet material, and a Lefty’s Loop Knot to attach the fly.
Zack’s second rig is used while fishing smaller flies, such as damselfly and Callibaetis nymph imitations, size 10 to 12. Zack uses the same 9-foot 3X tapered fluorocarbon leader with 2 feet of 3X fluorocarbon tippet, then 4 feet of 4X fluorocarbon tippet material. He notes that you can add 5X f luorocarbon tippet to the 4X tippet material to make a longer leader if you are using flies smaller than size 14. Again, Zack uses an Albright Knot to attach the leader to the fly line, a Blood Knot to marry the leader to the tippet material, and a Lefty’s Loop Knot to attach the fly.
Zack told me he likes long leaders in shallower water to create a natural presentation. He adds that fish in shallow water are finicky and are very wary. The longer leader helps keep the line from spooking them.
The Hex Setup
Lincoln Gray has two different rigs that he uses for the Hexagenia hatch at Lake Almanor. With both, he fishes a 9-foot medium-fast 6-weight rod when fishing from a boat. From a personal watercraft, he prefers a 9-1/2-foot or 10-foot rod, because longer rods cast better from float tubes and pontoon boats, in which the angler sits closer to the water.
His first setup is for fishing flies at the surface during the Hex hatch. Hex imitations are large and wind resistant. His leader is a standard 9-foot 3X tapered monofilament leader. He prefers leaders that are made from stiffer material to help turn these big flies over. The leader is loop-to-looped to the fly line using a Perfection Loop. He fishes two flies with this rig. The first fly is attached to the terminal end of the tapered leader using a Nail Knot. This fly is usually a large Hexagenia emerger such as Milt’s Paranymph or Lance’s Loop Wing Hex Paranymph. Then he attaches an 18-inch piece of 3X fluorocarbon tippet material to the bend of the first fly’s hook using a Nail Knot Loop (like a Hangman’s Knot) and uses a Nail Knot to tie on a Hexagenia cripple or stillborn pattern. He ties both knots with Tie-Fast’s knot-tying tool.
His second rig is equally simple. It’s for fishing subsurface using either an intermediate line or a Type 3 full sinking line. If he wants to cast and strip, he uses the intermediate line. If he is going to be trolling the fly, he uses the Type 3 line. To either he attaches, with a loop-to-loop connection, a 7.5-foot leader tapered to of 3X monofilament. He loop-to-loops it to the fly line using a Perfection Loop. Again he fishes two flies on this rig. The first is a large Hexagenia nymph such as Lance’s Hex Nymph or Milt’s Hex Nymph, attached to the leader using a Nail Knot. Then he attaches an 18-inch piece of 3X fluorocarbon tippet material to the bend of the first fly’s hook, again using a Nail Knot Loop, and, with a Nail Knot, ties on a smaller Hexagenia nymph pattern, a traditional nymph, or a streamer. Knowing how to rig is very important to angling success. The rigs explained in this article and the previous one are not just for you to take out in the field and fish. They are also for you to use in formulating your own original rigs for your own fishing situations. Modify them as needed or desired and go with what works best. That’s what guides do when developing their rigging. Then you’ll really be rigging like a guide.
“A rig is the way your terminal tackle is set up: The type of fly line, the length of the leader,
— Dave Hughes Trout Rigs and Methods Stackpole Books, 2007
the fly tied to the tippet, and any trinkets fixed to the leader and tippet — split shot, putty weight, strike indicators, point flies, and indicator flies — all constitute a rig. It might be as simple as a 10-foot knotless tapered leader and a single dry fly or as complex as a hand-tied tapered leader with a couple of indicators a foot apart and three flies of ascending or descending size with putty weight or tiny split shot pinched to each short section of tippet between flies.”
