The drop shot method — “drop shotting” — is not new. Others have used it with good results. The concept is simple: place your split shot at the very end of your tippet, below the flies, rather than above the flies, as most fly fishers do.
This method may be used in either moving or still water, with or without an indicator.
One advantage is that you know where your flies are. With the split shot at the end of the leader, the weight will always be at or near the bottom, and the flies will be positioned in the water column where the insects they represent would typically be in their natural setting. For instance, my bottom fly is usually a small dark nymph that resembles an insect that is normally in the lower part of the water. My regular top fly is a flashback nymph. The flashback style imitates gas in a nymph’s exoskeleton, and such an insect would naturally be found higher in the water column.
Another advantage is that by placing one or more split shot on the bottom of your leader, you will have fewer tangles while casting a multifly rig, because the weight is at the trailing end of the cast.
On top of that, a further advantage is that you don’t have to use beadhead flies for weight. You can thus eliminate unnatural flash in the water, which bugs don’t have.
With this method, for the very end of the rig, where the split shot is, I use a six-inch section of tippet material that is a size lighter than the rest of the tippet. That way, when the rig gets hung up, I lose only the split shot, and not the flies. This is particularly important when employing the highstick nymphing technique, where hang-ups on the bottom are frequent.
The weight at the very bottom also produces a more linear and tighter setup, which gives you a better chance of immediately seeing when a fish takes. When the shot are above the flies, the fish may take a fly and spit it out before you see any movement of the line or indicator.
Here’s how I build a drop-shotting rig. (See the accompanying diagram.) At the end of my leader, where I want my top fly to be, I tie on the fly using a Non-Slip Loop Knot. This knot allows the fly move more naturally than when the tippet is tied tightly to the eye of the fly. Then, right above the Non-Slip Loop Knot, using an Improved Clinch Knot, I tie on another length of tippet for the bottom fly. The NonSlip Loop thus acts as a stopper for the Clinch Knot, which can slide on the tippet above it. At the end of this length of tippet, I tie on the bottom fly, again using a Non-Slip Loop Knot. Then, just above this and again using an Improved Clinch Knot, I tie the final length of tippet, one size lighter, and affix my split shot on the bottom end of that. To hold the split shot in place, any bulky knot on the bottom of the last segment of tippet will do.
A rig constructed in this way allows me to replace either of the flies easily. I just slide up the Improved Clinch Knot and tippet that’s above the fly, cut off the fly and its Non-Ship Loop Knot, and tie on a new fly with another Non-Slip Loop stopper. A Duncan Loop could work, as well, but it cinches tight with pressure, and a Non-Slip Loop does not. All this can be done without changing or disturbing any other part of the rig.
I now use this drop-shot rig in all of my nymph fishing, with greatly improved fishing results, along with fewer lost flies and easier casting.
