Drop-Shot Nymph Rigging

When I was a kid with an open-bail spin rod, I chased walleye and white bass in Wisconsin with a Wolf River Rig.  A simple setup: triple swivel, weight on the bottom, and a minnow swimming with steel through its lip above.  It made sense to suspend the bait.

Since  becoming a fly fisherman, I've been putting everything in my nymph rigs on a single line and expecting my (sometimes) weighted flies below weight to bounce along the bottom, but not to get caught that often on all of the lovely structure our freestones afford our quarry.  Why this order?

I bumped into an interesting show by Kelly Galloup on askaboutflyfishing.com.  In describing his favorite nymphing techniques, he suggested a few ear-catching points:

1. Trout don't usually feed below their own eyes.  Suspending flies makes sense (oh yeah!, I thought. Back to the Fox River back home.)
2. You'll lose a lot fewer flies if they aren't constantly dragging their hook points on the bottom.
3. Depth is the key factor, so it needs to be the easiest adjustment
4. You need a bit more open loop (not a problem) for this rig, but the darn thing works.  See the image from his blog:

 I love it that he doesn't waste time with expensive, tapered leaders. Apparently, he fishes river left.  I always dug the far bank, since I'm a southpaw and I like to cast across my body.  I checked the Colorado regulations, and (like Galloup's Montana rules) they don't say anything about this kind of filthy tactic.  I'll let you know how it works for me.

Moving On: An Introduction

It's a time of transition.  After 13 years of teaching, 6 summers of guiding and working in the fly shop, it's time to make my hobby my profession.  I will always be a teacher, though my curriculum will shift from civics and literature to biology, and most of my students will be grownups trying to rediscover what kids already know, by chasing creatures with brains as big as their tiny eggs.

Transition means that this week the Eagle River tripled in flow as Spring really set in.  The beauty and delicacy of March midging is gone, but the raw power of high water fishing awaits.  Yeah, I held my last middle school class today, but there's a flood of excitement for the new career mixed in with some wistfulness about leaving school.  After 35 years of an academic calendar, it is time to work year-round on one pursuit, time to refresh.  It's time for a muddy season that flushes out the river and leaves the creatures in it stronger.

This blog is about the beautiful, paradoxical world of fly fishing.  I'm a guide, shop dog, nit-picky tyer (I had to look up the spelling on that one), husband, and father of two great little boys.  I will use this space to share my passion for learning and for trying to figure out this silly sport of fooling fish with bug puppets.  I hope you enjoy it as much as me.  If you want to join me sometime, call up Minturn Anglers at (970) 827-9500 or show up at 102 Main Street in Minturn, Colorado.