Part of my wet fly lessons includes leader construction. As we’re building a team of three flies, I tell students that the single best material I’ve found for dropper rigs is 4-lb. Maxima Ultragreen. In fact, I tell them, it’s the only stuff I use. But every once in a while, I try to cheat the process and make the tag with some other stuff, thinking it will be OK. And it usually isn’t.
The most recent incident came last week when I tied a simple two-fly wet fly team for smallmouth. I lazily decided to attach a piece of Maxima Ultragreen to the end of the tapered 3x leader. A few casts into my fishing, the non-Maxima tag section was already tangling. What do you know? I re-rigged the leader with Maxima Ultragreen 4lb for the dropper tag and point fly, and suddenly all was right with the world.
How much do I love and use this stuff? I buy it in the One Shot spool size, which gets you 280 yards of glorious green dropper goodness. I just wrap 30 yards of it around a smaller spool, and it fits easily into my pack or on my tippet holder. It’s so true: confidence catches fish.
currentseams.com 
“two fly wet fly team for smallmouth”
can I ask you to elaborate this? type and size of flies, how you fish it, type of structure.
and just so i’m clear, you are using the ultragreen 4LB as the tippet itself (like the flies are actually tied to it the maxima?) thanks!!
Regards,Arthur E. Urban
Hi Arthur. There’s a lot to unpack in your questions, so here we go. The type of flies would be wets: soft hackles, winged, wingless, whatever. The size of the flies would be dependent on what’s hatching. White flies? Size 10 August White: https://currentseams.com/2022/08/03/amidst-the-heat-the-august-blizzard-arrives/. Caddis? Isonychia? Other? Match the hatch in size and color with the appropriate patterns. Note that I’m using two flies, so you can double up on a single species or cover two different bugs. The fish will always tell you what they prefer to eat. I only use two flies for smallmouth (instead of my usual three for trout) because the probability of multiple fish on a single cast is much higher with smallmouth, and landing two is plenty challenging!
How I fish the rig has been covered in multiple articles I’ve written over the years. Please do a search to learn more. Here’s one to get you started: https://currentseams.com/2014/06/24/a-team-of-three-wets-in-the-current-issue-of-mid-atlantic-fly-fishing-guide/
The type of structure may be highly relevant or not at all. If there are actively feeding fish, structure is usually a non-factor. If I’m searching, I may focus on faster water that’s 1-3 feet deep that’s moving at a good walking pace. I’m most likely to be fishing a team of wets for smallmouth in late afternoon/evening, or if there are actively feeding fish near the surface, or there’s evidence of a strong hatch.
The team is built with a butt section of 3x-4x, and the droppers are constructed of the Maxima. You can reference the diagram in the article above, and adjust it two flies.
I hope that helps, and thank for reading and for the great questions.
thanks!! never thought to try this technique for smallmouth; i’m always hucking a popper or large streamer so this is interesting.. my local water is the Kankakee River in Illinois so i’ll be sure to try soon thanks again!
Regards,Arthur E. Urban
Thank you what would be your preference when fishing in a river for smallmouth
I’m not sure what you’re asking me…if you can be more specific, I’ll get back to with an answer!
Hi Steve, since i’m new to this type of technique overall, i guess i’m asking what would the best go to leader / tippet set up for smallmouth with 2 team hopper/ nymph combo .on a 5/6…fishing a river similar to the Housatonic.
For a hopper-dropper I’d probably use a 3x tapered leader, maybe add some tippet to it to get a better drift. You want leader material that’s thick enough to not get all twisty from throwing a hopper. For the tag, I’d be comfortable with Maxima 4#, or something in a 5x or 4x. I hope that helps! 🙂
What are you using for salt water these days?
Rich
Good health is true wealth
Hi Rich, can you be more specific? Do you mean for striper dropper rigs? Thanks!
What leader material are you using for your striper leaders?
Good health is true wealth
Rich, would you believe that I’m still using material from my 2007-purchased stash of Worldwide Sportsman Camo mono?!? True! 20, 25, and 30# still going strong.
Steve Thank you for this tip. Do you use Maxima Ultragreen only when fishing wet flies ? David Edwards
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Hi David, I’ll also use it for larger dry flies as a tippet, especially during the white fly hatch .
Steve Thanks David
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