Modified NZ sliding rig up for testing and opinion

[Korrie]

Hi Korrie. Dont you find your dropper snagging on the tippet with such a long (20cm) setup?

maybe 2 or 3 times in the day, and then it is more of a wrap around the leader than a real snag.

[Korrie]

Hi Korrie. Dont you find your dropper snagging on the tippet with such a long (20cm) setup?

Plus, if you have the "positive tension" on the leader setup, it does not snag, easily.
Most of the snags, would happen if the fly fisher is not "in control" of the flies/leader setup.
Matt Rich described it very well, when he attended the Nymphing Master Class.
It was like a golfer, going to the swing coach. I showed him minor adjustments on his techniques, sometimes very minor things, which changed or made a big differences. for instance, applying a little bit more tension on the leader etc. sometimes, it might be only having the "bow" in the leader setup 5cm tighter etc. This will prevent snagging and add 50% more visible takes on the strike indicator. etc

[Korrie]

Hi Korrie. Dont you find your dropper snagging on the tippet with such a long (20cm) setup?

My dropper is never shorter than 8cm
The length of the dropper also varies on the water how (fast flowing/slow flowing) and how heavily the waters are fished/pressured.

[Jean Bence]

Thanks for the info. Makes perfect sense. I was referring more to casting a rig with long droppers

[gkieser]

The long dropper is not actually that bad if you can cast ok. Just ensure you cast with open loops and you should be fine.

I also like long droppers - i just get a feeling that they will be better for catching fish as the movement of flies will be more natural. Cant back it up scientifically but i just feel that way. I remember at a WP trials seeing Tim Rolston walking down from the Hut at lakies to the water and i noticed how long his were and how easily they moved around, where mine were probably 5cm and moved way less. His just looked right so i changed and fished that way from then on as it just made sense to me after i saw it.

[Andre]

Yeah...good post Grant. I also prefer the droppers to be quite long for the same reasons. There isn't a lot of snagging on the cast provided that, as you say, you adjust the loop to compensate. Even when there is a snag, which does happen from time to time, droppers aren't difficult to replace. Even an entire leader and three flies, can be re rigged in no time anyway, so no real problem there.

The long dropper is not actually that bad if you can cast ok. Just ensure you cast with open loops and you should be fine.

I also like long droppers - i just get a feeling that they will be better for catching fish as the movement of flies will be more natural. Cant back it up scientifically but i just feel that way. I remember at a WP trials seeing Tim Rolston walking down from the Hut at lakies to the water and i noticed how long his were and how easily they moved around, where mine were probably 5cm and moved way less. His just looked right so i changed and fished that way from then on as it just made sense to me after i saw it.