THE METHOD
Yorkshire guide Fred Bainbridge reveals his groundbreaking new dropper set-up for trout and grayling nymphing
ASA FISHING GUIDE AND FORMER international competition angler I’m always looking to improve existing techniques or develop new ones to make my clients' experience more enjoyable and rewarding.
One of the most popular methods for river fishing is the Duo or Dry-dropper technique, where a nymph or nymphs are suspended beneath a dry-fly on a fixed length of tippet to achieve a required depth (allowing for the speed of current and depth of water). Having this nymph on a fixed tippet length might not be a problem when fishing stillwaters, but it is a thorn in your side when you are on a river where currents and depth vary constantly and considerably as you fish up or down a pool. The ability to change depth so that you keep in touch with the riverbed is more important than many anglers appreciate, and if you can achieve this depth and contact consistently there is little doubt that you’ll significantly increase your catches, or at least tempt more fish to your nymph.
Fiddle-faff
While the Duo rig is a fabulous way of prospecting a river, I think it is fair to say the persistent and necessary changing of the tippet length is an arduous process, so much so that it is likely to be avoided by most anglers. I mean, who of us wants to consistently chop or add tippet (or change fly weights) every few yards?
Nor am I a fan of tying my tippet directly to the hookbend of a dry-fly (or alternative indicator). Today, most flies I use tend to be barbless, which rules out tying tippet directly to the hookbend because without a barb it will easily slip off. While there are dry-flies with micro tippet rings or loops tied into the bend of the hook, I’m still not persuaded as I’d be back to square one — a fixed tippet length.
Instead, I prefer to fish my chosen indicator on a short dropper.
The lightbulb moment
That is why I devised my adjustable dropper — a simple yet super-effective dropper system that enables me to change depth with ease. But before I tell you how it works, I must add that it can be used on a standard floating fly-line or a Euro-nymphing leader (where the floating line is replaced by a significant length of monofilament).
On some rivers there is inevitably significant distance between angler and fish and in this sce
