My gateway into fly fishing was through tunnels of mountain laurel. Native brook trout swam in cold, clear waters that trickled out of the gaps and ravines of a Pennsylvania state forest and merged into the upper tributaries of remote valleys. Under the deep,...
Today's article is a favorite from the archives. You can find it here: VIDEO: The Perfect Parachute Ant — Troutbitten Fly Box Enjoy the day. Domenick Swentosky T R O U T B I T T E N domenick@troutbitten.com
Slack sells the dead drift for a dry fly. It needs freedom to move with the current and not drag against it, and good dry fly anglers build slack into the leader before their fly ever touches the water. Providing the necessary slack is one part casting and two parts...
** NOTE** Video for the Perfect Parachute Ant appears below. Terrestrial season has been my favorite time to throw dry flies for as long as I can remember. Because once the major mayfly hatches are over, trout are looking for the next easy meal. They want something...
This is our full crew review of dry dropper styles. And it wraps up this Troutbitten Skills Series on dry dropper fishing. Because, as we’ve seen, what seems like a pretty simple thing — just adding a nymph under a dry fly — actually creates some complex situations. Knowing your intentions, understanding the system and adjusting your rigging makes a big difference . . .
With tight line dry dropper, we get the contact and control of a tight line nymphing rig and the excitement of a dry fly rig. It’s very different than the other styles of dry dropper because it’s built on a Mono Rig. And the catch rate, for where this rig applies, is often doubled or even tripled.
Standard Dry Dropper is the industry standard for a reason. Because it’s what you get when you simply add a nymph on behind the dry fly. Sometimes, that pairing is perfect, and with a good cast and even better mending skills, this standard setup catches trout all day long.
It’s a useful style that solves a lot of problems. Especially if you surrender to the idea that the nymph is the primary fly being fished . . .
Light Dry Dropper is perfect for offering the dry fly as a primary choice. And sometimes, the frequency of takes on the added nymph is stunning.
Fishing a nymph under a dry fly is rarely as simple as adding a nymph and casting it out there. Some forethought into what your objectives truly are, measured against your options for rigging and fly selection, goes a long way toward filling the net with trout . . .
“Fishing dry dropper” can really mean a lot of things. And each of these styles has many moments when it’s the clear winner.
So the next time someone talks about dry dropper fishing, ask them what style — because there’s a lot of room for variety.
. . .The flow of the fly line through the air is finesse and freedom. Contrasted with nymphing, streamer fishing, or any other method that adds weight to the system, casting the weightless dry fly with a fly line is poetry.
The cast is unaffected because the small soft hackle on a twelve-inch tether simply isn’t heavy enough to steal any provided slack from the dry. It’s an elegant addition that keeps the art of dry fly fishing intact . . .