One of my favorite nymphing rigs is the dry fly attractor rig, or as others call it, the “hopper – dropper.” It can be a very effective rig on many occasions, and I will walk you through four scenarios when I personally use it and I think it is best over regular nymphing tactics.
The first scenario that I would use a dry fly attractor rig is during an abundant aquatic insect hatch. I would tie on the exact sized adult insect that is hatching on the river’s surface as the attractor fly. I would tie on the emerging pattern of the adult insect that is hatching probably between one and two feet below the attractor fly as the second fly. In many cases, trout will feed more heavily on the emerging insect stage than the adult surface stage. A lot of the surfaces rises that you see are actually trout just under the river’s surface taking emergers. I may be getting too technical, and if you put on any generic emerging or nymph pattern as the second fly pattern it should work sufficiently for all but the most pressured and educated trout – just make sure it is about the same size as the surface insect. Generic emerging patterns are guide’s choice hare’s ear and prince nymphs, and generic nymph patterns are pheasant tail and hare’s ear nymphs.
The second scenario that I would use a dry fly attractor rig is during the mid-day in the heat of summer. Water temperatures are normally greatest around noon time in the middle of the summer when the sun is at its highest point in the horizon which tends to kill insect activity and make trout sluggish. I’ll use a terrestrial grasshopper or stimulator pattern for the attractor fly, and a generic bead head nymph for the second fly. I’ll tie the second fly three to four feet below the attractor fly. Since very little surface insect activity generally occurs during the mid-day and trout are not rising much, a big grasshopper or stimulator pattern is often enough calories to get a fish to move to rise in the heat. Frequently, fish will look at your attractor fly and reject it but then take the nymph that is lower and right in front of their face.
The third scenario that I would use a dry fly attractor rig is in small streams. Many small streams are fairly slow, shallow, have a lot of bottom hang ups, so it’s hard to effectively nymph the majority of the river. Since the streams are fairly small and slow, your strike indicator is likely to spook fish as it land on the water, while the attractor fly is less likely to spook fish when it lands. Tightline nymphing is effective in small streams, but it generally doesn’t work well for all sections of the stream while the dry fly attractor rig does.
The last scenario that I would use a dry fly attractor rig is in slow, moderately shallow runs and in pocket water. In these locations, strike indicators often spook fish and regular nymphing rigs tend to get snagged on the bottom a lot. Since the water is generally shallow or slow in these locations, trout will often rise to the attractor fly even if they are holding on the bottom.
More information on trout nymphing can be found in my guide book SIMPLE NYMPHING FOR TROUT IN RIVERS & STREAMS.
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