Over the past decade

Youusedropper
rigsfortrout
allthetime;whynottrymultiflysetups
innlt watefaswell?
You
maybesurprised
bywhat
youcatch,
BY ToM KEER
Overthepastdecade
or so,dropperrigshavebecome
ubiquitous on trout streamsall
overthecountry.Forthat reason,
it has alwayssurprisedme that
saltwaterfly roddersrarely cast
morethanoneflyatatime. The
number of anglers who fish
droppers for stripers,bluefish,
and squeateague
is sosmallthat
the group is often referredto
as a cult. Fellow fly fishermen
beware.The cadreof saltrarater
dropper fishermen is growing,
andtheseanglershavediscovered
what trout bums have known
all along: You can catch more
fish with multiple-fly rigs.
46 | AunnrcexANcren
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I inches
6M
Bininitwist
I
Sfeet
_
40#
Jfeet
3feet
?n#
3M
2o#
20#
l2 inches
2M
,/
-/ \
_\
2 feet
2 feet
2 feet
4M
20#
l2 inches
t2#
12inches
3 feet
/n#
i.=:
12inches
2 feet
2 feet
30#
2M
-
2 feet
t2#
Thereare three basic kinds of saltwater dropperrigs. Altshoutd
mono
staftwith8 inches
ot60-pound
attached
totheftytine
andwith a perfectionloopatthe endrllr. Thestandardfly-to-flyleader{riiiis nothingmorettan severalpatternsconnected
by clinchknob at
thehookbends.A fly-to-knotleaderri :t hasfliesattachedto thetagendsof theleaderknotsanda single"point"fly at theend.A topwater-andpattems
subsurface
rig i r r featuresa popperon point,with a streameron a dropperlinetieddirectlyto theeyeof the popper.0thersubsurface
canbeattachedto thetag endsof the leaderknotsfor a hybridrig.
Comparedwith a trout stream,the oceanis a dynamic cnvironment.Itscomplexities
includemigratoryfishspecies
and their
uniquc behaviors,changingtides,lunar phases,
and fish movemcnt. Add a dozentypesof bait in the water at all timcs,and
it's casyto gct overwhelmcdby thc problcm of fly selection.Using
a dropperrig will helpyou find whichbaitthe fishwantand then
geton with the catching.
When you scanor seinethc water for baitfish clucs,you
discoverwhat is going on in thc watcr for severalfeetaround
you. But it's tough to tell what'shappeningbetweenyou and
whereyour fly lands,some40 to 80 feet away.Sandeels,for
instance,canbe mixed with silversides,
clam worms, shrimps,
squids,menhaden,and herrings,amongothers.You can'trcally
trust your eyes,either.While you may think a pod of stripedbass
you seespraf ng out of the water,
is feedingon the silversides
the bassmaybe gorgingon drifting shrimps,and the silversides
may simply be moving out of harm's way. If you throw a
silversidepattern, an occasionalaggressive
bassor two may
whack the fly, but your total catchnumberswill be much lower
than if you'd beencastinga shrimp pattern.
The only way for you to find out what the fish really want
is to get consistentstrikesor hookups.Droppers improve your
odds of putting the right pattern in front of a fish, and such a
systemallows you to run through a variety ofpatterns before
the schoolsplits.You gain an edge,aswell asa deliberatesryle
offishing that quickly convertshunchesinto facts.
Evenwhen you alreadyknow what kind of bait the fish are
48 | AvrnrcaNArclln
lf youwantto fish two flies
off the same knot, use a
bloodknotliedwttr verystiff
monofilamentandmaketie
justsixincheslong
drcpperc
to avoidtangling.
cating,droppersalsoanswcrthe questionof what patternsor
stylesof fly work best in a given situation.Everyanglerhas
experiencewith a "hot" fly, the specificpatternthat outperforms
any others-evcn those that imitate the samc forage----on
a
givenday. Ifyou kecpchangingthe flieson your dropper rig,
you can run through sizc,silhouette,and color optionsfaster,
which helpsyou pinpoint what the fish want. Testout Flatwings
and Deceiver-style
flies,streamersand bucktails,or fliesconstructedof natural or syntheticmaterials.Vary topwaterwith
patterns,attractorsand imitators,or largeflieswith
subsurface
small.Let the fishdccidc.
Followsand shortstrikesarecluesthat you'vejust aboutgot
the right pattern.You've capturedthe fish'sattentionenough
to makeit follow or nip, but somethingminor keepsthe fishfrom
committing to your fly. Your fly is a bit too something:too bright,
too dark, too much flash,not enoughflash,a bit too big or a tad
too small. Staywithin that fly group, but changeslightly until
you get the fish to eat.
If the fish ignoreall the patterns,fust changeyour approach.
If they still refuse,changeone or two flies,and resumefishing.
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Thelargestfly onyourrig shouldbeattacheddirectlyto the leader,as
the "point"fly, in caseyou hooka good-sizestriper,Thedilect connectionwill giveyouall the poweryouneedto fight thefish.
Keepchangingpatternsuntil you find one the fish like. Sometimes,one fly consistentlygetsall the attention. In this instance,
add more of that pattern to your rig.
lftot-to-fly Rigging
Therearetwo easywaysto rig droppers:knot-to-fly and fly-tofly. In the knot-to-fly rig, eachfly swingsindependent of the
others,for eachone is connecteddirectly to the leadervia the
tagend of a blood knot. In the fly-to-fly rig, you're attachingthe
flies directly to each other in a series.The method you use
should be determinedby the effectyou want to achieve.
The knot-to-fly method allowsyou to simultaneouslydrift
severalflies,eachof which imitatesa different kind ofbait. The
largestand longest fly should be tied on as the last fly-also
known as t}'e point fly-on your leader rig. The smaller, less
wind-resistantflies are spreadthroughout your leaderand are
known as droppers.
A largepoint fly addsbalanceand movementto your leader.
It'll imitate largerbait, suchasherrings,alewives,or menhaden.
The direct connection betweenyour leader and the point fly
is important; if the large fly attracts a big fish, you'll have
plenty of strength to put him on the beach.The droppers are
attachedto the tag endsofeach knot in your leaderand should
mimic smallerbait, such as silversides,sand eels,clamworms,
and shrimps.
Therearetwo way to tie a knot-to-fly rig: usingblood knots
or five-turn surgeon'sknots. The blood knot forms a 90-degree
angle befiveen the leader and the fly, which keepsthe fly from
twisting around your leaderduring the cast.As you tie eachleader
knot, be sure to leavea l2-inch section of monofilament as a
tag, and tie your fly to the tag with an improved clinch knot or
a surgeon'sloop. Someanglerslike to attachtwo flies to the same
blood knot (oneto eachtagend),but this arrangementcancause
tangles,so usea heavierand stiffer mono and a six-inch tag.
The five-turn surgeon'sknot hastag endsthat are on a 45degreeangleto the leader.The surgeon'sis far easierto tie than
the blood knot, particularlywith heaviermono. While the standard surgeon'sknot callsfor two turns, go to five for additional
breaking strength.Attach your fly to the tag end that points
toward the end of the leader,and you'll get fewer break-of[s.I
like to usevery stiffleader material-such as Maxima, Trilene
XT, StrenOriginal, or BassPro's ExcelTrophy-because the stiffnessmaintains distancebetweenthe fly and the leader.
$ystems
Fly-to-Fly
A fly-to-fly rig can servetwo purposes:You can easilycreatea
schoolofbaidsh, andyou canemploy a topwater-and-subsurface
approach, in which you simultaneouslyfish a popper with a
streamer(or several).Here,the topwaterflyis the point fly, with
the dropper tied directly to the eyeof the point fly. This approach
coverstvvo different parts of the water column and createsa
disturbanceat the surfaceto attract fish, which often then eat
the secondfood option. A fish that is attractedto the popper's
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