How to Fly Fish With a Dropper Fly
A dropper fly is part of a tandem hook rig designed to present a trout or other game fish with two flies in the water at the same time. Various combinations of flies are used with dropper rigs so that both the surface and subsurface are fished at the same time. Properly rigging dropper flies is essential to the overall success of catching fish with the setup.
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Things You'll Need
- Fly rod and matched reel
- Fly line
- Leader
- Tippet
- Scissors
- Dry fly
- Nymph fly
Instructions
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Choose a proper leader and tippet length for use when fishing a dropper fly. Base the length of the leader and tippet on the water depth to be fished. For example, measure 4 feet from the larger diameter end of a 9 foot leader and cut with scissors. Tie the leader to the fly line with a nail knot.
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2
Tie a dry fly to the end of the leader with an Improved Clinch knot. Cut a 2- to 6-foot length, based on water depth, of 5X tippet from a filler spool with scissors. Tie one end of the tippet to the hook bend with an Improved Clinch knot.
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Attach a bead head nymph to the end of the tippet with another Improved Clinch knot. A nymph with a bead head is preferable because it will have added weight to help it sink under the buoyancy of the the dry fly.
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4
Cast the dropper rig into runs and along riffles in a stream or river. Allow the dropper rig to settle into the water and move with the current. Keep the leader and fly line upstream from the dry fly and nymph to avoid spooking fish.
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Keep as much slack as possible out of the fly line while still allowing the dropper rig to drift down stream. Raise the rod tip when a strike is felt to set the hook. Take up slack in the line and maintain a tight line while playing and landing the fish.
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References
- Photo Credit Thomas Northcut/Lifesize/Getty Images
