Top 5 Ways To Improve Your Dry Dropper Fishing

Oct 11, 2021

1. Use a Longer dropper – With higher flows paired with fishing out of a boat, often times people don’t use a long enough dropper. Try a 3 foot length of tippet or even 4 feet. You’ll often have more success this way, since your flies are getting into the strike zone faster.
Fish 2 nymphs – Fishing 2 droppers is a great way to give the fish more options, and it will also sink faster. Fishing 2 heavy nymphs can greatly improve your success rate. A large stonefly with a smaller nymph behind it is how we normally run 2 droppers.
Practice accuracy – With longer droppers, it is important to not cast too close to the bank. Your hopper may land in the right place, but your nymphs can get caught on the bank. Always be aware of how long your droppers are to avoid snags.
Use different tippet sizes – We like to run thicker tippet to our hopper, and smaller tippet to our droppers. This way, if you break off, you’ll only lose your nymphs. The thinner tippet also allows your flies to sink faster since there is less resistance. This gets you in the strike zone quicker.
Use multiple patterns – Since our local fish see a lot of the same hoppers, we like to mix up our patterns and our colors. Use a different color chubby or even a lesser known hopper. If the fish see something they’re not used to, it might work in your favor.