dropper length?
How long or maybe I should say deep do you fish a dropper? I tangle up bad enough with one hook I can only imagine the mess I'll make with 2 but I'm thinking about trying this. I usually fish small streams where the water isn't much over knee to waist deep. I'm thinking of using a hopper or some sort of dry fly on top. Anyway I'm just being curious.
thanks in advance,
hNt
"If we lie to the government, it's called a felony, when they lie to us, it's called politics." Bill Murray
If im fishing 2 nymphs, 12-18" is generaly where I am at. With a hopper/dropper rig on knee deep sm?ll water, i would go with 24-30" .
hNt,
If the dropper is a fairly heavy bead head or weight wrapped fly, and you want to be down near or right at the bottom, then the flow rate of the water will determine how long you want the dropper. Fast water means the dropper will be raised up a bit. Even if it is drag free, which it should be, the resistance of the fly against the water will determine how deep the fly drops. A very light dropper will have a hard time getting down to the bottom in fast water, but an easier time in slow water while a heavy dropper will drop 'like a rock' in slow water and may not look right to the fish.
But, if the dropper is going to represent an emerger, then you don't want it down at the bottom and you can go as little as 6 inches to 18 inches under the dry fly. A very light dropper is handy in this case and it will drift just under the surface.
You can also use a second dry fly as a dropper, sometimes very effective. Either the same fly as the top fly or a different fly to match another hatch. These can be anywhere from 9 inches to 12 inches apart.
But you are right, no matter how hard you try, you will end up with tangles, count on it.
Larry ---sagefisher---
Cannot remember where I read or heard it, but an old rule I remember is to make the dropper 1.5 times the expected length of the largest fish you were likely to cast. Idea was to minimize likelihood of tangling up the fish when landing, but nothing is going to absolutely prevent that, anymore than tangles can be completely eliminated. As the previous posters said, 18-24" is a reasonable guide for most situations. Keep in mind what you are really trying to do is cover a wider range of depths, so the distance is a function of what you are trying to achieve, not a hard and fast rule. Remember to slow your cast and open your loops, and that should minimize the tangles.
Don't forget to open up the loop a bit to avoid tangles!
Yes whatfly, I recall the same rule of thumb
Originally Posted by whatfly
The rule I remember is for deep nymphing. Make the distance from the strike indicator to the top fly 1.5 times the depth of the water. But again, that is for deep nymphing in larger rivers.
Larry ---sagefisher---
Adjust to fit the water you're fishing. I generally fish a big bushy dry as an indicator and hang a midge off the bend anywhere from 12-24 inches at the longest. I have found I get plenty of fish on the midge even in deeper water at around 12". I do go longer on occasion but seem to get more tangles when I do. No science to back this, but I think they come up to investigate the dry and if they pass on it, they often see and take the midge.
I have found using a little heavier line and the shortest dropper you can get away with helps minimize tangles but most of the time I am fishing for bluegills or bass which aren't that line shy. I also fish still water.
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