Easily adjusting depth on a dry dropper rig

[C_kreek17]

My favorite rigs to run are dry droppers. I personally feel I am able to get a better/more delicate presentation with the lighter dry fly as an indicator, as opposed to a larger foam or plastic indicator. It’s also nice to have an extra fly in case the fish decide to start looking up.

With that said, does anyone have any tips or secrets for running an adjustable dry dropper rig that allows to easily adjust depth of the dropper without completely retying the dropper (this is where the indicator has its advantages)?

It can be frustrating to have to rerig when you move to a spot that is shallower or deeper than what you are rigged for, although I could probably use the exercise in patience and quicker knit tying. Or maybe I just just switch to indicators.

 

[a23fish]

I'm interested if anyone has an answer to the question. In my "vast experience" from 2 years of fly fishing, I've only had fish hit my dry fly dropper maybe 3 or 4 times. For relative ease in adjusting to changing depths, I use either a yarn or New Zealand wool indicator. Other types of indicators, e.g., Thingamabobbers, etc., are the easier to adjust, but I've grown to dislike the "plop" they make when hitting the water. If I really want to use a solid body type indicator, I'll use a small foam Trout Magnet float. They seem to hit the water a bit softer than the harder Thingamabobber, and adjust very quickly.

 

[Roofin' Trouter]

My favorite rigs to run are dry droppers. I personally feel I am able to get a better/more delicate presentation with the lighter dry fly as an indicator, as opposed to a larger foam or plastic indicator. It’s also nice to have an extra fly in case the fish decide to start looking up.

With that said, does anyone have any tips or secrets for running an adjustable dry dropper rig that allows to easily adjust depth of the dropper without completely retying the dropper (this is where the indicator has its advantages)?

It can be frustrating to have to rerig when you move to a spot that is shallower or deeper than what you are rigged for, although I could probably use the exercise in patience and quicker knit tying. Or maybe I just just switch to indicators.

My buddy learned an adjustable dry dropper rig on youtube.

 

[joebamboo]

Those who are opposed to the "strike indicator plop" fail to realize that the plop occurs upstream and will have no affect on the fish downstream. Casting directly over fish regardless what kind of rig one uses will alway spook them.

 

[a23fish]

Could this be it?

A Slidable Dry Dropper System

A friend of mine once described a truly slidable, easily movable, dry dropper as the Holy Grail of fly fishing. And here is a way to rig it.

troutbitten.com

 

[C_kreek17]

Those who are opposed to the "strike indicator plop" fail to realize that the plop occurs upstream and will have no affect on the fish downstream. Casting directly over fish regardless what kind of rig one uses will alway spook them.

This is fair, although I should have clarified. I fish a lot of small streams where casting far enough upstream is not always possible. Also I have casted far upstream of a fish with lower water conditions and still had the plop spook fish.

 

[silverfox]

I normally drop the dropper off the hook bend of the dry. To get more depth, I usually add another fly off the dropper or re-tie the dropper w/ a longer section of tippet. So the dry is essentially always at the same position and depth is controlled by changing what gets dropped off of it.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

As far as I'm concerned there's no way to get around retying. Retying a dropper shouldn't take you long, maybe a minute. A good angler should be able to cut off and retie a single fly in a minute or less IMHO. I typically run my dropper fairly high in the water column, maybe 12-14 inches below the dropper or the the average depth of the creek. Most fish are alerted when the dry touches down so they are looking up and see the nymph too. I don't fish dry/droppers a whole lot, but is how I do it. I run a heavy beaded nymph to get down fast in the runs.

You could bring two rods to a creek, one with your dry/dropper and another rod setup for deeper pools and such. I have found that two rods can be beneficial on a creek where it is easy to navigate and there are paths to walk on. I have tried doing this on a tiny creek with a lot of brush and it became hazardous, and a sure didn't like the notion of temporarily abandoning my secondary rod, which was a Winston LT, even though the creek was pretty secluded and the chances of someone taking it were non-existent. I was more scared of stumbling off the creek, crashing through the brush, and breaking it. I only recommend two rods if one has an indicator rig as that would be annoying to take off and then reattach later.

If you are working a small creek with two people I'd recommend setting up both of your rods differently, one with a dry/dropper and a setup to run deep. You can trade off accordingly and traveling with the rods is easy as one person carries one rod. My bushwhacking buddy refuses to try this even though my rods are worth twice as much as his are and he broke his small creek rod last year.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I normally drop the dropper off the hook bend of the dry. To get more depth, I usually add another fly off the dropper or re-tie the dropper w/ a longer section of tippet. So the dry is essentially always at the same position and depth is controlled by changing what gets dropped off of it.

^Solid advice here.

 

[jifigz]

Those who are opposed to the "strike indicator plop" fail to realize that the plop occurs upstream and will have no affect on the fish downstream. Casting directly over fish regardless what kind of rig one uses will alway spook them.

This is pretty terrible advice, in my opinion. The "plop" in many cases should be feared as it can REALLY screw up fishing situations on many streams under low water conditions. On some small streams you can't cast way upstream of a trout's lie or the "likely" water because of vegetation, a bend in the stream, etc and the plop can spook fish from many feet away. Certain casting techniques can minimize this, but a small yarn indy or dry fly is way better at not spooking fish.

And under good flows on medium to large size streams casting directly on top of or just above the fish is the BEST way to catch them on an indicator. Control the line, keep it off the water, add tons of weight so it sinks as quickly as possible without drowning the indy, and keep that fly in the "zone/pocket" for as long as possible.

Thingamabobbers and the likes have their place but I rarely will use them, airlocks, corqs, etc.

 

[albatross]

 

[albatross]

Disclaimer, I have not used the system in the above vid, but I did remember seeing the vid.

 

[pcray1231]

A dry dropper rig is only non-adjustable if you insist on keeping the dry on the surface. 😉

When I use a dry dropper, it's usually smaller water, and I put the nymph about as deep as it's gonna go. In shallower water I think nothing of lifting the dry fly off the water in a high stick approach.

In the rarer deeper pool, I throw a shot on and sink the dry and tight line it. Now it's a wet dropper. Then when you move on, remove the shot, add a touch of floatant on the dry, and you have your dry dropper back.

Lazy man's way out... The trick is the dry. It's gotta float well enough to float when you want it to and still be easily sinkable when you want it to, and go back to floating. Watershed is important on my dry dropper dries... I tie my dropper off the eye of the hook, not the bend. It's not uncommon for them to hit the dry and I want that hook free. If it happens a few times a dry dropper rig turns into a dry fly rig real quick.

 

[bigjohn358]

I rarely use a dry dropper ring because of the inability of adjusting the depth of the dropper. Only time I use a dry dropper is when I know fish are near the surface or looking up at emergers.

 

[KeviR]

Interesting technique - but very annoying to watch

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I rarely use a dry dropper ring because of the inability of adjusting the depth of the dropper. Only time I use a dry dropper is when I know fish are near the surface or looking up at emergers.

I'm in the same boat as you. I only fish dry/droppers on tiny creeks where there is a strong likelihood a brookie will take either my dry or dropper (mostly the dropper). I also like the softer way a dry lands as these brookies on these creeks tend to be skittish. In these circumstances the dry is basically an indicator. If I come into a hatch on a larger body of water I will just switch over to a dry by itself.

 

[jifigz]

I never use dry droppers. I have in the past, and I will on VERY RARE occasion, but I would rather dedicate to the nymph with a very small yarn indicator that can constantly change depth or just fish a dry.

Dry dropper is a good system. I am not knocking it. It is just not my preferred approach in nearly any situation.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

It's really only suitable for small creeks, like 8ft. wide creeks IMHO.

 

[jifigz]

It's really only suitable for small creeks, like 8ft. wide creeks IMHO.

How long have you been fly fishing? And I mean do disrespect, I am just asking. I will gladly meet up with you on Penns or the likes this spring to fish. Share ideas, gain knowledge.

I don't think the width of a stream has ANYTHING to do with whether a dry/dropper is an effective tool or not. It has EVERYTHING to do with depth uniformity, stream features in a given stretch being fished, and how much change in fly depths really needs to be made to fish effectively. I can think of lengthy stretches of water on streams such as Kish, Penns, and Honey where dry dropper is a very suitable tool and those streams are all way larger than 8 feet.

Honey Creek has a lot of great dry dropper water. When the conditions get lower and clearer there are large areas that are relatively shallow(1-2 feet) that are uniform in bottom structure and depth without much change. The currents remain the same, the rate of sink for the flies can remain the same due to the unifrmity of the water, and these types of habitat can last for 25-100 yards easily on that stream. It is excellent dry dropper water because the fish are still there despite the skinny conditions and you can't approach them too closely without spooking them due to the clearer water.....and the stream is WAY over 8 feet wide.

So, once again, stream width has ZERO effect on whether dry/dropper makes sense or not. Every stream is different with different characteristics and a good angler adapts to that particular stream. It is not about saying, "this creek is 8 feet wide or less, I will dry dropper fish." Also, many high gradient, narrow streams are lousy dry dropper streams, in my opinion.

 

[C_kreek17]

How long have you been fly fishing? And I mean do disrespect, I am just asking. I will gladly meet up with you on Penns or the likes this spring to fish. Share ideas, gain knowledge.

I don't think the width of a stream has ANYTHING to do with whether a dry/dropper is an effective tool or not. It has EVERYTHING to do with depth uniformity, stream features in a given stretch being fished, and how much change in fly depths really needs to be made to fish effectively. I can think of lengthy stretches of water on streams such as Kish, Penns, and Honey where dry dropper is a very suitable tool and those streams are all way larger than 8 feet.

Honey Creek has a lot of great dry dropper water. When the conditions get lower and clearer there are large areas that are relatively shallow(1-2 feet) that are uniform in bottom structure and depth without much change. The currents remain the same, the rate of sink for the flies can remain the same due to the unifrmity of the water, and these types of habitat can last for 25-100 yards easily on that stream. It is excellent dry dropper water because the fish are still there despite the skinny conditions and you can't approach them too closely without spooking them due to the clearer water.....and the stream is WAY over 8 feet wide.

So, once again, stream width has ZERO effect on whether dry/dropper makes sense or not. Every stream is different with different characteristics and a good angler adapts to that particular stream. It is not about saying, "this creek is 8 feet wide or less, I will dry dropper fish." Also, many high gradient, narrow streams are lousy dry dropper streams, in my opinion.

No offense taken. I’ve been fly fishing for 5-6 years. I have thrown my fair share of indicators but I just don’t enjoy it as much (I know there’s a time and place for it but I try to find ways around it!). I understand the importance of depth and can read a stream pretty well.

My question was more of a curiosity than anything. I’ve been on a real small stream and spring creek kick as of late and just don’t love indicators for those applications.

And thanks for offering to meet up! I’m not sure how much fishing I’ll get to do this spring with a little one on the way but we’ll cross that bridge when we get there