It was about 1978 when I started my career as a fishing guide on the Madison. Back then, no one ever seriously fished wet flies, streamers or nymphs. Back then, fly fishing meant dries. Royal Wulf and a Royal Trude right down the middle. Floated like a cork, could see it for a mile, and killed 'em. 

Now things have changed a bunch. By far the most effective way to catch fish using a fly rod is with nymphs. There are lots of different ways to rig them, all for different situations, but my favorite for getting it down and into their face is the drop shot rig. It's a pain in the ass to cast but deadly and relatively easy to fish once it hits the water. 


The first drop shot rig I ever saw was on the Upper Beaverhead. These guys were setting it all up on 5 and 6X tippet. I noticed the set up on someone else’s rod at the put in. Since the Beaverhead is not my home court, and it's so much different from the Madison, I was looking more to see if I was in the ball park on fly selection. What I found was the drop shot rig.

The drop shot rig consists of two flies with the split shot on the bottom. What it is really made for is getting to the bottom fast, then floating along with a good natural drift. Tapered leader not necessary - I like to start with a piece of fairly heavy tippet, straight off the butt section, about 3 or 4 feet of 0X or 1X connected with a surgeon’s knot or a loop-to-loop connection. 

I like surgeon’s knots beacuse they're less likely to catch the fly on a trailing loop. I use the thicker tippet because it holds the indicator better and doesn’t get all kinked up. From there another surgeons knot with about 4 feet of whatever tippet is appropriate given fly size, water conditions, and fish size.

Next comes the first bug, let’s call it a size 16 pheasant tail on 4X, tie that on with your basic clinch knot, then another clinch knot with more 4X through the eye of the same pheasant tail. Now we have two clinch knots coming out of the eye of the same fly. I like to spread the flies out about a foot-and-a-half to 2 feet.

Now comes the second fly. Let’s go with a size 18 zebra midge. Same thing, clinch knot in one side of the eye, another piece of 4X coming out the other side. Now we have our tail on to hold the weight. I usually go with about a foot to 18 inches on the tail.  A simple overhand knot at the bottom keeps the shot from sliding off. I then tie another overhand knot above the split shot. That way when the shot hangs up in the rocks it breaks off at the knot just above the shot and you keep the rest of the rig. All that is needed is another shot on the end and you're back in business.

The advantage to the drop shot rig is that it gets down fast and it is adjustable for depth. The trick is to get the depth right. If you have a run that is around 5 feet deep, then you need to set your indicator about 5 feet above the split shot. Now you can cast upstream, mend once, and the flies immediately drop to the proper depth and you’re in their face with the perfect drift. 

Then it's just a matter of giving the indicator enough slack by mending and feeding it line to keep it floating down naturally, the same speed as the current. You can get the perfect drift to go on literally to the end of your fly line. Once I get set up in a hole it usually takes a few casts to get indicator length set correctly. I like the new screw on top indicators because you can easily move them up and down the line without damaging the tippet.


On the first few casts I like to err on the side of too shallow. I make my first cast, run the whole line, and if I don’t get at least one bottom tick I increase the length between indicator and split shot. Next cast still no bottom bounce - make it deeper until you find the bottom. If too much bottom, shorten it all up. I like my drift with just an occasional tick off the bottom. Too deep and you get too many “false positives” and too many lost rigs in the rocks. 

The drop shot rig is not the only way to fish nymphs, its kind of a bitch to cast, but when the goal is a dead drift right on the bottom it is a deadly set up.