Nymph rigging

[mjc]

I'm new to FF and have been using a dry fly with a beadhead dropper. If I use a nymph that is not a BH, do I need lead? would that sink the dry and how far from the nymph should I put the weight

Thanks for the help.

[The Ole Man]

mjc
Click on "Articles", pull down to "Article Archives" and read "What is a Dropper", Dec '98 written by our own Mr. Aaron Sago-"Master of the Dropper". As far as needing lead: if your nymph has a lot of buoyant material in it, like pheasant tail, it is not going to want to sink. Some nymphs are weighted with lead wire on the hook shank under the materials rather than having a beadhead. Unless it was noted when you bought the fly, you may not be able to discern whether it was weighted when tied. You can make your non-beadhead nymph look like a beadhead and add weight as well by simply sliding a bead onto the leader before you tie on the fly. If you add a split shot, I would add it immediately in front of the fly. The reason- much of the attraction of a dropper nymph to the fish is the manner in which the nymph hangs below the dry (or indicator). Riding in the current suspended like this gives a heads up tilt to the nymph and the appearance that this nymph is struggling to reach the surface. As to sinking the dry fly -it is best to use a fly that has deer hair such as an un-weighted Muddler Minnow, an Irresistable, a Goddard Caddis, a Daves Hopper, or other high float deer hair type fly. Some of the foam bodied flies are good too. The size of this indicator fly may be adjusted up or down depending on the amount of weight you are using at the dropper. Dress your dry with floatant as necessary to keep it afloat.