The Troutbitten Streamside series is a chance to step away from the normal, weekly lineup of stories and tactics. Most often, these Streamside articles share something from around the fly fishing community that I’m certain will be valuable to Troutbitten readers. And this time, it’s Dave Rothrock’s Drop Shop Nymphing Video, from the YouTube channel of Suffering Outdoors. You can find it here:
Link: How to Set Up a Drop Shot Nymph Rig
I get a lot of questions about drop shot nymphing, and though I’ve mentioned it countless times in other Troutbitten articles, I’ve never devoted a whole piece to it. Why? Probably because it would take a full series of articles and many diagrams to convey my own take on drop shot nymphing. I’m sure I’ll get to it someday, but for now, here’s a quick rundown . . .
How I Drop Shot
Generally, I rig for drop shot when I want to touch the bottom, but I don’t want to lose my flies. Maybe it’s too deep to wade and recover the nymphs when snagged, or maybe I don’t want flies to pick up a bunch of salad from summertime rocks, so I turn to drop shot.
Truth be told, I prefer to tight line with weighted flies as a first option, but I choose split shot for the weight in many instances, because I believe some nymphs simply produce better when unweighted. I also prefer to add that split shot about five inches up from the point fly. And no matter how I rig, my goal for drifting is rarely the bottom itself — it’s the strike zone above it. I usually try not to touch the riverbed.
READ: Troutbitten | Forget the Bottom — Glide Nymphs Though the Strike Zone
That said, drop shotting is my go-to method for nymphing at night. I use a glow-in-the-dark sighter, but I still lack total visual feedback in the darkness, so I turn to a drop shot rig. Then I can feel the shot tick bottom through the drift and easily control the exact depth of the nymphs above. At night, those nymphs are often purposely higher than I like to ride them during the daylight.
Last point: I do use weighted nymphs in a drop shot rig — sometimes. Remember, there are no rules. And if it works and it suits your needs, fish it. I often run the same tag nymphs in a drop shot rig that I do in a standard rig. However, I like to keep the bottom nymph unweighted or lightly weighted.
So that’s me. But . . .
Here’s How Dave Rothrock Does It . . .
Dave is a fellow Pennsylvania fishing guide who has probably been slinging nymphs since before I was born. He’s a gregarious dude who ties excellent flies and has a deep knowledge of trout and trout-water, gained from decades on the river with an inquisitive mind.
You can find Dave on his Facebook page.
And here’s the video . . .
Fish hard, friends.
Enjoy the day.
Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com
Very timely posting this drop shot topic today; just what I wanted to learn. Dave presented it quite well, and it was easy to follow his discussion. I enjoyed it much. Bring him back for more!
Cool
Thanks for sharing the video and very well written article! Much appreciated.
Cheers
Before I started “proper” Euro-nymphing I used the drop shot method a lot; it is very productive. Only downside is if you are too aggressive with your cast it can tangle. I used two small tippet rings (instead of blood knots) to tie the droppers to as well as the bottom tippet for the weight. That rig could last several trips and it a break off occurred adding new tippet was a breeze.
Hello Dom, I thought I would finally make a comment or two. I am from out west here (Calgary, Alberta, Canada) and I have enjoyed your site immensely. I noticed that there are a number of anglers that prefer weighted flies over added weight that fish some smaller waters predominantly. I find that in our larger rivers I tend to favour the drop shot simply because I may have a close in section that is not too deep or fast but simple 2-4 feet out that completely changes and I want to fish the whole range without changing too much. Although having said that I am forcing myself to fish more just weighted flies to expand my arsenal, so maybe it is more comfort level what you can handle and accommodate. Last thing to add, my big concern with drop shot was getting to that strike zone but when you hear Dave explain about the angle it makes sense as to how you can hit that zone. If you can control your depth maybe you can avoid the complete bottom bouncing as well.
Great post Dom! Enjoyed Dave’s clip as well.
Cheers
Very well done video. Will definitely try it.
Sorry, but had to laugh at the “I’ve been doing this since the 1970’s” statement.
Reference: “Angler Types in Profile: The I’ve been doing that forever guy.”
So, yes, I am paying attention, if that was a test, Dom? 😛
Ha. Unintentional, but funny.
Cheers.
Dom
Do you know what the make up is of Dave’s leader? He mentions it is 18’ with 5-5 1/2’ of tippet, but not the rest of the make up. Is it similar to your mono sent up?
I don’t understand how Mr. Rothrock ties on a new tag when his 3″ tag coming out of one of the blood knot gets too short. He says he ties a clinch knot in his hand and then inserts the, say, 1″ of what remains of his used up tag into the clinch knot. Well, there is no way the clinch knot will ever get onto the leader doing that. Why doesn’t Mr. Rothrock simply tie a clinch knot to the leader above the blood knot?
Not sure about all that. I do things differently. Here’s the full Troutbitten category on Drop Shot Nymphing on a Tight Line:
https://troutbitten.com/category/drop-shot-nymphing/