Droppers on tapered leaders?

Hi chaps,

A little advice needed please.
I'm fairly new to fly fishing and after many leader experiments I seem to have settled on Orvis Super Strong tapered leaders (with fluro tippet if sub-surface fishing).
I would like to try a team of two flies and would prefer to stick with the tapered leader - is it ok to extend the tippet to incorporate a dropper (perhaps starting with a 7.5ft leader instead of my usual 9ft to allow for the level mono/fluro extension) or would you tie a dropper on the tapered part?
Also, what sort of gap should I leave between point and dropper?

Any tips appreciated.

First of all, if you are a newcomer to fly fishing I would suggest you use only one fly until you get really proficient at casting.

Personally I only use knotless tapered leaders these days for river fishing. For still waters I use a length of 6 or 8 lbs fluorocarbon of various lengths, up to 20 feet on occasions, where it's easy to tie, using a 3 turn water knot, up to two droppers.

The distance between the droppers depends on how you want you flies to fish.

Later this year I am going to write an article on still water fly fishing techniques. The make up of leaders will be covered in detail.

Ron's right (as you'd expect). Stick with fluoro straight off the spool and save your money. If you want a tapered effect, you can use some 10lb/8lb for the first 10 feet then knot in 6lb for six, plus 6lb for three feet for your droppers, but casting three flies is something you attempt over the front of a drifting boat or with a backwind until your casting's intuitive.

Incidentally, I've been experimenting with tiny stainless rig rings to attach my droppers (for sinking lines, of course) and getting on well with them.

I've not tried these tiny rings yet Mark, but they might be a good idea preventing the dropper curling around the main leader.

To those who are proficient casters, here's a way of making sure your long leader turns over properly. Use a heavy fly, a goldhead works well on the point. Have just not enough line off the reel, so that when you put out the cast the lines stops abruptly causing the leader to fly out without tangling. It takes a bit of practice. Don't attempt this until you a good caster.

Give them a go, Ron. I found that a touch of rig glue on the knots helps everything stay in the right place. The resultant three-knots-and-a-ring looks clumsy but I doubt whether the spotties really notice. The amount of dropper-wrap I've encountered (very little) suggests that the fact that your flies are fishing rather than hitched to the leader might give the edge.