Fly Fishing Insider Podcast
To reset a dry dropper mid-drift, lift the rod tip so the dry fly drags back upstream and line pulls off it, then lower the rod tip to feed that slack back in. The reset removes micro drag from the dry and lets the dropper sink deeper, extending a drag-free drift without recasting.
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How deep should you set a dry dropper?
A dropper is usually set at about one and a half times the depth you actually want to fish, or a little deeper still. That extra length is not wasted, because the dropper does not hang straight down - it settles at roughly 45 degrees, since surface current runs faster than the water near the bottom. Setting the dropper longer compensates for that angle and puts the nymph closer to the depth intended.
Why does a dry dropper start dragging when you fish downstream?
Fishing downstream, either wading or from a boat, the dry fly ends up traveling ahead of the leader and the line comes off the head of the fly rather than the back. As the drift runs out and the line comes tight, the dry fly gets micro drag and the dropper is pulled along faster than the current. That drag is what ends most downstream dry dropper drifts, long before the rig has covered the water an angler wanted to cover.
How do you reset a dry dropper without recasting?
Lift the rod tip so the dry fly drags back toward you and line peels off the front of the fly, then lower the rod tip so that slack feeds back into the drift. The dry fly can be pulled back quite a long way before it is released, which adds real length and slack to the drift. Once the rod tip drops, the dry fly starts riding naturally again and the nymph settles deeper in the column - the same idea as a mend, but performed on a rig that is already downstream of you.
Why does the reset itself trigger strikes?
Dragging the dry fly back far enough also lifts the dropper through the column, and a nymph rising off the bottom looks like an emerging insect, which draws takes right at that moment. A second trigger comes from twitching the dry itself - if the top fly is a hopper or something with bulk, a short jerk and a one-second pause often draws a strike. The third opportunity arrives after the full reset, as the nymph sinks back to depth and then slowly rises again through the next drift.
When should you use the dry dropper reset?
The dry dropper reset applies whenever the rig is drifting downstream of the angler - fishing down from a boat, or wading and working water below your position. It is a way to keep one cast working through several sections of river instead of picking the rig up and starting over, which matters most when a boat is moving through good water and every recast costs a stretch of it.
Key takeaways
- Set a dropper at about one and a half times the depth you want to fish, because the 45-degree hang angle eats the difference.
- The dropper sits at roughly 45 degrees because surface current moves faster than the water lower in the column.
- Lift the rod tip to pull the dry fly back upstream and strip line off its head, which eliminates micro drag on a downstream drift.
- Lower the rod tip after the pull to feed slack back into the drift and let the nymph sink deeper.
- Expect takes as the dropper lifts during the pull - a rising nymph reads as an emerging insect.
- Twitch a bulky dry like a hopper during the reset and pause a second before continuing the drift.
