Migs,
I am a graduate of the University of KISS, so let me give you my 2 cents on this subject. Fishing a dry with a dropper is by far may favorite way to fish. "Double your pleasure, double your fun" as I like to say.

I like to match my dry fly with something common on the river. In the summer on the Bighorn, I like to use a hopper, on the Green a Cicada, around Yellowstone a stonefly, caddis or Stimulator. All types of other attractors work well when the fish are looking up.

My nymph is chosen the same way, but about 80% of the time it is a midge pupa pattern (WD40, brassie, black quill, etc), but I do like to drop a pheasant tail, scud, baetis emerger, caddis nymph. At time, I will even add a littel micro shot just above the dropper.


Make sure your dry will support your dropper. You can tie your dropper into the eye of the dry, but I prefer just to tie it in at the bend. I always pinch my barbs and can't remember ever losing a fish due to the line slipping off the hook.

The length of the dropper varies, but since I like to mostly fish the bank and riffles with this set up, I would say they would run between 18 and 24 inches.

I fish my dry as I would without a dropper using mends to make it float as natural as possible. I cast with a slightly open loop, but not too much.

I know you will enjoy this method a lot, as it has brought my clients and I a lot of good times over the years.

If you ever make it to Montana, I will give you a first hand lesson.

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