Rigs

A dry-dropper is the in-between rig

Hang a nymph or an emerger about 18 inches under a dry fly you can see. The dry is the indicator and, sometimes, the fly they eat. Drift the seam. When the dry twitches or disappears, set.

When this picker chooses it

• Fish are rising or splashy, but the insect you saw is still a nymph.
• The stage is an emerger and the fish are splashy, or nobody is rising yet.
• You are on a freestone in the wind with a dun or a spinner. The dry-dropper keeps a bigger, more visible point fly in the game.
• Nobody is rising and the fly is a dun or a spinner. The dropper covers the fish that never came up.

When it does not

A steady rise to duns or spinners on calm water is a straight dry. A cold tailwater midge with no rises is a euro nymph or an indicator, not a dry you cannot see. A spring creek with sipping fish stays on a light tippet and a small dry.

The rig is part of the $5 unlock, along with tippet size and the rest of the box. The top fly name is free.

How the fly itself is chosen