TyeeTanic

For meat heads, definitely nothing under 48" leader length. I'd tie some up at 48", and then up to 72" (not sure how long your rod is, but if you can get away with 72" I'd do it.

No. Generally it's a shorter leader for flies and longer for meat heads. Reason is flies do not impose any action on their own, so you rely on the SD to create the action. Whereas, meat heads spin (about 1 to 2 turns per second is optimal). Some guys use as short as 48" to meatheads and others 72". For a fly, a good rule is 3x the lenght of the flasher, so an 11" paddle would get a 33" leader, and a 8" paddle around a 24" leader. I typically run mine around 32".

Just a variety of names you can consider applying to any of the fly patterns: Middle finger (a funny twist in respects to the finger lakes) Grass hopper Bandit Duke's Dinner Mesmorizer Trigger or Trigger Happy Spanish Fly Full Moon Fusion Black Hole JAF (just another fly) Crackhead Stinky Toes

They all look good, and will probably all catch fish. The first 2 and the 3rd and 2nd last will probably catch the most fish though.

I don't use snubbers. I don't think they are necessary, and just add unecessary complexity.

I assume you're not putting the wire on the down rigger, you're just clarifying that you'll have 2 downrigger rods out at the same time, with mono line on them, right? After you've deployed the dipsey to the desired depth, the drag should be set that it creeps out a little, like a click every 30 seconds or so. There's many reasons for that, but mostly for the initial hit (no stretch in wire) to provide some shock absorption, so the hook doesn't rip through the fishes mouth. Wire goes to quick snap ball bearing swivel (I use spro). Here is a good knot that I use. http://www.lotsa1.org/Wire%20Line%20Knot.htm Only thing extra is run a trout bead through the wire before you tie that knot. When you reel up to the swivel, it will protect your swivel end from being damaged. Generally, I let the fish run and tire itself out. You may have to tighten the drag a little, but not much. Then you pump up and reel on the down. Be careful on the downswing to reel before you drop the rod, otherwise that creates slack in the line and the fish could come off. For storage, you need to keep the line tight to avoid pig tail kinks. You will get them though, no matter how good you are, and need to trim a foot here and there to keep the line clean. I just break my rod in two and put the tip on the butt end of the second piece, and keep the wire semi-tight. I've had wire for 5 years, you don't need to replace until it gets too short. Generally when I see my reel capacity has dropped below around 70% (1000 ft should fill a size 30 reel to the brim), then I replace it completely. In fact I have to do that now with probably 2 of my rods. Maintanence - see above, keep line tight and cut off curly ends when they appear. Check for kinks especially in the first say 6 to 10 ft (full rod length), they're easy to spot, just slide your pinched fingers up and down. Don't be afraid to cut wire off if you find a kink. I generally don't like to turn more than what gets my wires to around the center of my stern on the outside lines.

We've pulled regular Size 1 dipsies with TX44s. It works. I'm not guessing as we've tried it.

I currently have an albright knot between the braid backing and copper. Next time I replace my copper, I'll be adding the spro swivel. I just don't want to peel 300 ft of copper off right now to do it. But I've go the spro swivels ready to go in my tackle box!