Dropper Dynamics

Loren Williams

A recent discussion on a fly-fishing message forum has highlighted that there is indeed a thirst for information! Who knew? I find it healthy to push comfort zones, it's how we grow in any endeavor. I am known for my guiding philosophy of putting my clients into positions where they must test the ends of their limits. Pushing limits will make you a better angler in the long run because sooner or later you will meet the demand and raise the bar. When that happens, a new world opens that was previously inaccessible. It's a wonderful thing!

I am also aware that there are those who feel perfectly happy with the status quo. You know what? That is perfectly fine also. This is a very enjoyable sport, so uncertainty and discomfort should only appear by choice. That said, I will warn you that by reading on you may be subjected to some ideas that go against the norm. Now, I doubt anything will indicate the Apocalypse or imminent Ice Age, but there may be some ideas that make you uncomfortable. At the very least they may hover around "new."

Why Use Multiple Flies?

The mere thought of more than one fly sends some anglers into some type of anxious state. Flashes of tangles result in tiny droplets of perspiration. Memories of fly-grabbing bushes haunt them and twinges of guilt stir within at the thought of foul-hooked fish, accidentally impaled during the fight.

While understood, these bad experiences should be rare, rather than expected. With proper rigging and adjustments to your cast, a fly angler should be able to fish multiple flies without any trepidations whatsoever. Heck, when fishing stillwaters you may likely find me tossing three flies spread across 12-feet on a 20-foot leader! They key is to remember that you have changed your presentation, so you rig and cast must change accordingly. More on this later.

Multiple flies will accomplish a few tasks. It's up to you to decide what you are trying to solve when you elect to add a dropper, or two. Are you unsure of what fly to throw? Trying to find what part of the column the fish are using? Is one of your nymph sacrificial in nature in order to get depth? How about an indicator fly? Attractor fly? You see, the prudent angler does not haphazardly tie on flies. Each fly, and how it is rigged, serves a purpose and eventually leads to a solution: how to catch trout as effectively and efficiently as possible. I think it's a fairly logical deduction that we can obtain a solution faster by using multiple flies. Here's how.

Dropper Specifics

Let's talk about some of the more specific dropper uses. With experience, each individual angler will likely gravitate to the point where he or she develops a favored technique for specific conditions or water types. This is to be expected and I encourage it wholeheartedly. What works best for me under a set of conditions may not be your best ally. However, please be able to answer the "Why?" when you elect to use a rig. If you cannot tell yourself why you are choosing a particular technique over another then perhaps you need to explore a bit more. It's an evolutionary process too, what you do this year will likely change by next year. It's all good!

"Dry/Dropper"

This rig can go by a few monikers like "hopper/dropper," or "New Zealand dropper," but the function is the same: to fish a dry fly and a subsurface fly on the same cast. In river applications it is little more than indicator fishing with an indicator that contains a hook! It is probably the most commonly used dropper rig and for good reason, it works. However, it is not the best option across all water types and it can be a waste of a fly if the fish are not surface oriented. In stillwater applications, the dry fly (or "bob fly") and the disturbance it creates during a retrieve can actually act as an attractor that brings fish up. As the fish approaches the dry it often encounters a target dropper and takes it on the way up. In these cases takes are felt and it is great fun and highly effective, especially on windy days. The rig can also be fished static where there is no retrieve aside from wind action and the dry fly acts as an indicator (or "bung fly") as well as a target fly.

Do not neglect the fact that your "dropper" can always be another dry fly. Dry/dry applications are endless and effective-well worth experimenting with.

There are a number of ways you can rig a dry/dropper cast but for this article I will mention the 3 most commonly used approaches; New Zealand Style, Right Angle, and Tag Dropper Method.

The New Zealand style is rigged by first tying on your dry fly then securing the dropper off the bend of the hook and is what I most commonly see folks use. It is indeed a quick set-up but it discounts fish that may take the dry fly. For obvious reasons I'd prefer not to have an impedance on the hook bend such as a length of tippet and it's knot! The numbers of refusals alone to the dry fly alone make this rig less than perfect; add in missed fish that indeed take the dry only to have it bumped away by the tippet and it's a no-go for me. Unless you are fully intending the dry fly to be nothing more than an indicator (why not just use an indicator!) then I'd suggest looking at alternatives.

Rigging using the New Zealand style does have some benefits, aside from speed. Since the fly is tied to the rear of the hook directly, it is ultra sensitive. Secondly, since dries are tied to offset the heavy rear end of the hook, adding the dropper to that end balances well. Still, I think the cons outweigh the pros in this case.

The right angle system is far more effective and just as user-friendly, if no more so, but I still feel it is less than ideal. To rig using this method, simply tie your dry fly to your leader then either tie your dropper around the leader above the dry fly and slide the knot to the eye, or tie the dropper to the eye of the dry itself. The first method is more functional in that you can switch dries without removing the dropper, and you can break the dry fly off without necessarily losing your dropper.

This system is super sensitive given it's direct, or near direct connection between the dry fly and it's dropper. However, since the droppers come off the front of the fly, you may encounter front-end balance issues. Very often your dry fly will ride nose-down under the weight of the dropper. A creative tyer may design flies that negate this circumstance, or the angler can choose front-buoyant flies like hoppers or Wulffs. I still feel the benefit of having an unimpeded hook point makes this a better option, add in the versatility of having the dropper not fixed to the hook and it's doubly attractive. But, the dropper connection is still very close to the hook and will at times create refusals or misses.

The tag dropper method utilizes distinct dropper tags to affix the dry fly and the droppers separate from each other. This combines the ability to change flies independently with creating a degree of separation between the dry fly and the dropper to make a very functional and effective way of fishing dry flies and subsurface flies on the same cast.

Two issues do now come into play though. First is how to develop the tag end and second is how to deal with the slack between the dry and the rest of the leader.

Tying knots with functional tags can be tricky. The tried and true blood knot is a beast to tie with long tags so I do not recommend it. There are better knots to use and two of the best are the Triple Surgeons and the Orvis Tippet knot. The Triple Surgeons (or "Water Knot") is a constriction knot which means one tag constricts the knot and if it is loaded will lead to knot failure. With this knot the constriction tag is the upper tag. If you tie the fly to the upper tag, which appears to be the attractive tage to use, you will likely cause the rig to fail at that point. The Orvis knot is not such a knot, and therefore either tag may be used safely. I prefer the Orvis knot since it allows me to use the upper tag, which stands erect from the leader as opposed to the lower tag which lies parallel to the leader (see photo).

A final option is to use a tippet knot as a knot stopper, and to tie your dropper around the leader above it then slide it down to the knot, very similar to the right angle dry/dropper system . This system works very well and it is easy to adjust the length of your dropper or to use any dropper diameter you desire. The knot will slide up the leader, however a simply half-hitch around the knot once the dropper is slid into place will alleviate that issue.

Now that we have our knotting options, we need to address the fact that our dry fly is now rather disjointed from our leader since it is tied to a dropper tag. Once you fish the rig you will see that the slack between the leader and the dry is an issue that we must contend with if the dry fly is to react to a take on the subsurface fly. My first suggestion is to make the dropper tag feasibly short. I like them to be around 4." This keeps the fly clear of the leader so takes on the dry fly are secure, but it's close enough to be sensitive to takes on the subsurface fly. Next, you will want to learn to fish the fly more "in contact" that perhaps you are used to. By this I mean you will want to eliminate as much slack in your leader as possible to maintain tautness in the tag to your dry fly. In theory this is nice, but it's not always applicable in practice. Do your best. You will learn the nuances of this rig and how to fish it across different water types. You will also learn it's limitations.

A final note about dry/dropper rigging is to degrease your leader and dropper arms thoroughly and repeatedly throughout the day. A high floating leader is the cause of more refusals than anything else, plus it leads to micro drag and decreased nymph depth. You want your leader to sit in the film as opposed to on it, that way it will not cast any shadows, make any footprints, or get blown around. An added benefit is that your nymph dropper will penetrate quicker with less weight, getting deep faster. I do this even when I am fishing 3-nymphs but it is especially crucial when fishing dries.

"Dry/Dropper/Dropper"

This is just an extension of the above rig. Where legal, I often will drop two nymphs off of a dry fly so I am casting a total of 3 flies. the additional nymph can be attached using any combination of dropper knots discussed above.

"Double Streamer"

Trout are terrible piscivores! How often do you get chases and misses? How many times does a following trout fall off the trail of your streamer never to be seen again? I know, it's usually how it happens. One very effective tactic is to double-up on your streamer by trailing a smaller fly behind the larger. What tends to happen is the fish get aroused by the larger streamer and the chase ensues, then the fish encounters the smaller fly which is often behaving more erratic either during the chase or when it falls off, and takes that fly. The fly can be anything from a smaller size of the same streamer to a completely different pattern-even a small wet fly!

You'll want to rig with a stout level leader using any dropper system mentioned above. I still prefer to leave my hooks unimpeded and I feel the action of each fly is greater when tied to a tag dropper. Furthermore, using a no-slip mono loop knot will increase the action even more. Since streamers are somewhat more involved to tie, fished around structure, and will take larger fish-I feel better having each fly independent of the other. This will minimize the loss of an entire rig should things go south.

By taking the time to work with streamers under various conditions you will begin to appreciate how trout react to baitfish patterns. You'll begin to realize that as a fish ages it gets better at taking bait, but at most any age a trout will react. It is common to need to thorw a large fly to get a reaction, but often you'll need the smaller fly to actually connect. With consideration and planning, based on experience, you can develop patterns and pair them with each other to great effectiveness! Two is not always better than one, but often it is.

"Nymph droppers"

As above, a team of nymphs can be rigged in either the New Zealand, right angle, or tag dropper systems. The choice is yours but consideration should be given to the pros and cons as mentioned. These days I always opt to use a tag dropper system off of an Orvis Tippet knot. In the fuzzy photo below you can see how even 3 weighted nymphs held vertical stand away from the leader (note that the flies are tied close together for photographic purposed only!).

The interesting dilemma then becomes pattern selection and weighting. I do not use split shot when I nymph fish, instead I fish teams of variously weighted nymphs. I do this for two reasons. First, I fish competitively under rules that prohibit accessory weight beyond the fly, so that is how I practice. Second, I have learned from the first reason that I can detect far more takes when I fish the flies instead of the split shot. When fishing very shallow or slow water where only a miniscule amount of weight is needed to get to depth, split shot probably does not effect stroke detection; but when you need to use substantial weight to get your flies down then you indeed create a disconnect between your flies and weight-and that is bad.

In any event, weight placement of any form matters. Where it goes, be it a weighted fly or split shot, depends on where you will be fishing the flies. I like my weight to be located on my leader at the location where I want me leader to be the deepest. Therefore, if I am trying to fish 3 nymphs across the water column ("searching rig") then my heaviest fly will be on the point, with the other nymphs lighter and riding a bit higher in the water depending on my leader angle. I can fish this on a short cast and keep the leader almost vertical and cover the entire water column, or I can fish longer upstream casts, reducing the leader's angle and really cover the bottom layer. If I want to be sure all my flies are at the bottom them my heavy fly will be on the top dropper. There is no reason you cannot place split shot accordingly, or even weight a tag dropper! Variability!

Only with practice can you begin to understand how weight placement affects the presentation and how you can effectively cover the entire water column if you desire. Likewise, and going back to the double streamer rig, you can utilize attractor and target nymphs or a series of attractor micronymphs to get the fishes' attention and trigger a response. By blending patterns, sizes and weights you can offer a venerable ensemble of presentations that it's very unlikely the trout have ever seen- and that my friends can be a gold mine on pressured water!

Selecting effective flies, getting your flies to depth quickly, keeping them there (where ever you have decided "there" should be) and detecting any takes is the crux of nymph fishing. By understanding that trout are opportunistic and selecting a rig that allows you to capitalize on that fact and achieve the goals just mentioned, you will be far advanced in your ability to take fish with nymphs.

Some Thoughts on Fishing Multiple Flies

If you persist with any of the above mentioned rigs you will begin to see how they all are interchangeable. You will also begin to realize how you can match flies, adjust weights and fine-tune tippet diameter or leader material in order place you flies where you want them, make them behave as you envision, and work as a team to trick the trout. But you will also encounter some issues.

Most prevalent will be how to cast them. I usually use a moderate action rod and I prefer a longer rod over a shorter rod. The softer action loads quicker with less effort and naturally opens my loops, both of which make things easier. Rod length is beneficial in that I can reach farther so less line is needed. If I am forced into a situation where I need to cast far, generate line speed, or cast into tight quarters then I will reduce the number of droppers.

Second will be dealing with tangles. When fishing rivers I use stiffer fluorocarbon tippet most of the time. Not only does it sink better and not absorb water, it's more abrasion resistant and it tangles less. Using knotting systems that encourage the droppers to stand away from the leader is critical, as is keeping droppers on the short side.

A final problem common to droppers is foul-hooking fish. This occurs is primarily two instances: 1) when a fish takes a fly and is missed, but the hook set fouls the fish with a different fly and 2) when a fish comes off during the fight but get's impaled on a trailing fly. While it will never be possible to 100% eliminate the occurrence, keeping your droppers greater than 20" apart seems to drastically reduce the instances of foul-hooking fish. It also makes doubles and triples possible!