Before get into the dropper topic, I just want to share a little birthday story with a good friend from way back, Jake Liudahl. Jake and I traveled in Up With People together in 1996. In 2007, I ran into him while he was in Helena for work. (He actually stayed with me in my 15' Shasta camper.) Last year, I ran into Jake again in Bozeman at an Up With People show. Random for sure but now Jake and his family live in Bozeman so for his birthday last week, his wife Shawnda, hooked him up for a guided trip on the Mo. We had an absolute blast and it was really good to hang out. Nice work out there Jake.
As for the dropper topic, there is a point where the dropper actually hinders your chances. Most of us out here fish with two flies at a time; there's a point fly and a dropper. A lot of times the point is a bigger, heavier fly and the dropper is what they're eating. Sometimes we do the hopper/dropper with a nymph and sometimes it's two dries like a hopper and an ant. Double the fun? You have two flies so you should get twice the chances right? Not always.
For the last month or so, I've done a lot of guiding where we only use one fly and I think Jake and others will attest, they certainly weren't short on opportunities. In fact, I would argue they had more chances and lost fewer fish with only running a single fly rig.
First of all, there are still a lot of weeds so having two flies means catching twice us much grass. The more grass, the less time your flies are in the water where they live. Plus, when you hook a fish and have the dropper dangling while you're fighting them, it will often get caught on weeds and pop the other fly out of its mouth.
Second, the water levels this year have been perfect for running shallow rigs in the seams along the banks and there are a ton of pigs hanging out in skinny water. Having two flies means the dropper gets a little deeper and gets hung up more. That means casting more and less time in the water. With the single rig, you'll get tighter to the bank and in the seams and you'll catch more fish.
Third, you'll eliminate almost all your foul hook-ups. I literally don't see a single foul hooked fish with the single fly rig, which tells me where a lot of the foul-ups come from. It's not so much because of late hook-sets but more from the second fly hooking the fish while you're fighting it and then the first fly pops out and you have them by the tail. That never happens with the single and we land more fish because a lot of times, when the initial fly pops out, you lose the fish all together. And, when you do foul hook a fish, you burn through a lot of water trying to land it so again, less time in the water.
Tangles...using a single fly, especially with heavy tippet and a short leash; (or short leader,) will eliminate many of the tangles you'll get with beginners and when the wind picks up. The more time you spend untangling line, the less time in the water. I've been using big flies and dragging them under an indicator with 2x tippet. It's kind of a hybrid nymph/streamer rig--less tangles and easier to deal with when you do get fouled up.
The last point I'll make is when it comes to the hopper dropper. Sometimes it's better just rolling one hopper because of the weeds and casting and all the things I already talked about but also because of certain things you can do with the presentation. When I'm throwing hoppers, I like to get that thing moving on the water. It looks a lot more realistic with one fly skiddering across the water versus two and it can actually increase your opportunities. Plus, some hoppers have legs that get tied up in the dropper and that means more fussing around and less fishing.
The point is; better presentation, more time in the water and a higher percentage of fish landed. That doesn't mean never using a dropper and in fact, once the weeds disappear, I'm sure I'll go back to the double rig but for now, I'm happy rolling the singles.
Keep 'em where they live...
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