dry dropper question

[Redsun]

ok I really started fishing the dry dropper rig this year. i am trying to get away from just nymphing or just putting a dry on top. I guess i am looking for my cake and want to eat it to. like the best of both worlds.
so i got a few questions. Should I be treating the dropper as a nymph. like making it tick the bottom or should it be in the middle of the column

-can the dropper be any nymph or should u make it a emerger?

I have been having luck with some droppers but not others. so thats why i am asking that question.

- the length of the dropper, does it matter?

I try and get it at least 18in down or so, depending on how deep the water is.


thanks for the help

~Redsun

 

[afishinado]

Redsun wrote:
ok I really started fishing the dry dropper rig this year. i am trying to get away from just nymphing or just putting a dry on top. I guess i am looking for my cake and want to eat it to. like the best of both worlds.
so i got a few questions. Should I be treating the dropper as a nymph. like making it tick the bottom or should it be in the middle of the column

-can the dropper be any nymph or should u make it a emerger?

I have been having luck with some droppers but not others. so thats why i am asking that question.

- the length of the dropper, does it matter?

I try and get it at least 18in down or so, depending on how deep the water is.


thanks for the help

~Redsun

A dry dropper is a great rig to try. I'll try to answer some of your questions:

Can the dropper be any nymph or should u make it a emerger?

The dropper can be any fly. Many times I just tie on a HE (Hares Ear) or a PT (pheasant tail) nymph. When there's a hatch, I will try a dun to match the hatch and tie on an emerger or nymph to match. Just experiment to find what works.


The length of the dropper, does it matter?

It depends on the depth of the water, flow, and where the fish are feeding. Generally a Dry/Dropper is not a deep nymphing rig. Where they really shine is in shallower water. A dry dropper in 2 or 4' of water is a great way to fish top to bottom. Also, when you see fish hanging/feeding just below the surface in deeper water, a D/D rig is a great way to present to these fish.

Use your judgment on length. If you are want to fish near the bottom in shallow water, tie on a dropper a little longer than the depth of the water. If fish are hanging just beneath the surface you may want to shorten up to present to them at their level.

Also, unweighted flies just hang in film. A nymph or emerger can be deadly, fished in the film. If the fish seem to be a little deeper, you can use lightly weighted flies and/or put on a micro shot on the tippet, and add some length to the dropper to get a little depth depending on conditions.

Try to be observant and aware of what the fish are doing, and as always.......let the fish decide. Good luck.

 

[stevehalupka]

can't say much more...

but I'll add this, a friend and I were fishing dry~droppers a few nights ago during the sulphur hatch, and prior, we long debated whether a sulphur nymph would outfish a pt of the same size, and we soon found out the answer was yes.

Even though the two are nearly identical, the sulphur nymph dropped a foot under a sulphur dun out-fished the dropper to the pt. Could have been the angler, but I would equal us in drift/casting skill.

 

[bam]

Steve, got a recipe for a sulphur nymph?

Aside from a hares ear and a few other favorite nymphs, I generally use PTs in either olive, brown, or yellow...

 

[troutslammer]

when fishing dry droppers which i sometimes like to do in certain situations , for pressured fish in fffo sections , in gin clear water where the fish are cuorteous to an indicator (they move out of the way when it passes over them ) i normally use a sz 12 elk hair caddis , because caddis are on the water alot (less spooky for the trout in my opinion ) and a 12 inch tag of four lb fluor tied to the hook of the point fly , for the dropper i almost always use midges cause they too are in the water all the time and spooky finicky trout will usually take a sz 20-26 midge pretty well , i think AFISH covered it very well , its just another "game " that fly fisher play ....well atleast some of us ....lol

 

[David]

good way to do it...

http://vodpod.com/watch/1407590-fly-fishing-instruction-super-hopper-dropper

 

[Redsun]

thanks for the replys.

it is helping alot.


~Redsun

 

[stevehalupka]

here is the emerger I use, right out of orvis. I only used the dropper scenario because I was out of these. The nymph is the same as a PT, with the brownish purple color, almost lavender.

http://www.orvis.com/store/product.aspx?pf_id=12AK