It’s hopper-dropper season here in Colorado. While grasshoppers are buzzing around mountain meadows this summer, throwing a hopper-dropper or dry-dropper rig is one of our favorite ways to fish. It’s equal parts fun and effective.
Whether you’re fishing a mountain lake or river, splashing a hopper pattern along a brushy or grassy bank can elicit voracious strikes. Combine that with an enticing bug below the surface, and you’ve got a deadly combo. Fishing two water columns at once. Hopper fishing can be particularly effective on windy days or whenever there’s a little chop on the water. But really, it’s hard to find a bad time to fish a hopper-dropper rig, as long as hoppers are present.
We took a poll around the shop and asked our crew to name their favorite hopper-dropper rig, including their top fly patterns, fly rods, fly lines, leader, tippet and floatant. If you’d like a deeper dive into dry fly floatant and even more specific recommendations, see this previous blog post on that subject.
Here are the team’s top picks for throwing a hopper-dropper rig:
Jeff:
Fly Rod: Sage R8 Core 6-weight
Fly Line: Scientific Anglers Smooth Infinity Taper
Leader: Scientific Anglers Absolute Trout 7.5-foot, 3X or 4X
Tippet: Scientific Anglers Absolute Trout Fluorocarbon, 5X or 6X
Floatant: Tiemco Dry Magic
Hopper: Amy’s Ant
Dropper: Milkman
Rachel:
Fly Rod: Sage R8 Core 5-weight
Fly Line: Rio Elite Gold
Leader: Rio Powerflex Plus 9 foot 5x
Tippet: Umpqua Phantom X Fluorocarbon 5x
Floatant: Tiemco Dry Magic
Hopper: Puterbaughs Caddis
Dropper: Guide’s Choice Hares Ear
Blake:
Fly Rod: Winston Air 2 9ft 6in 6-weight
Fly Line: Airflo Ridge 2.0 Power Taper
Leader: Umpqua Perform X Hopper 7.5 foot, 3x
Tippet: Umpqua Phantom X Fluorocarbon, 4x
Floatant: Tiemco Dry Magic
Hopper: Dave’s Hopper
Dropper: Sweetmeat Caddis
Larkin:
Fly Rod: Winston Boron III X Super 10 4-weight
Fly Line: Rio Elite Perception
Leader: Umpqua Perform X Trout 7.5 foot, 4x
Tippet: Umpqua Phantom X Fluorocarbon, 5x
Floatant: Tiemco Dry Shake
Hopper: Thunder Thighs
Dropper: Psycho Prince
Delaney:
Fly Rod: Scott Centric 6-weight
Fly Line: Scientific Anglers MPX Taper
Leader: Umpqua Perform X 9 foot, 3x
Tippet: Umpqua Phantom X Fluorocarbon, 4
Floatant: High N Dry Gel
Hopper: Fat Angie
Dropper: Duracell
Ben:
Fly Rod: Sage Igniter 5-weight
Fly Line: Scientific Anglers MPX Taper
Leader: Umpqua Hopper Leader 7.5-foot, 3X
Tippet: Umpqua Phantom X Fluorocarbon, 4X
Floatant: Tiemco Dry Spray
Hopper: Morrish Hopper
Dropper: Bearded Baetis
Ryan:
Fly Rod: Orvis Helios 3F 5-weight
Fly Line: Scientific Anglers Textured Infinity Taper
Leader: Scientific Anglers Absolute Trout 7.5-foot, 4X
Tippet: Scientific Anglers Absolute Trout Fluorocarbon, 5x
Floatant: High N Dry Liquid
Hopper: Yeager’s 409
Dropper: Guide’s Choice Hare’s Ear
Contact Us With Questions
Have questions or need help getting rigged up for hopper-dropper fishing this summer? Please don’t hesitate to ask! We are here to help at the fly shop in Littleton. Or you can give us a call at 303-794-1104. Whether it’s knots, rigging or tackle, we’d love to help you feel confident and ready for your next day on the water.