Last week my wife and I were on vacation in the Aitkin area, and we had a ball catching panfish with lightweight flyrods. I wanted to share a rigging system we were using that really worked well. It’s called a “Popper-Dropper”, a Popper and a Nymph or small Streamer on the same leader. The Popper is tied onto the leader first with a clinch knot. Leave the tag end of the line 18-24 inches long. Then tie a Nymph or small Streamer to the end of that line. This is fun to use. The Popper is up the line and the Nymph is below and behind it. Besides offering the fish their choice of two different flies, you also see quite a few fish swim up to the Popper, decide against it, and then eat the Nymph! That Popper really attracts their attention.
To rig this up I used 4 pound test Maxima leader material. The Maxima stuff is “hard nylon”, considerably stiffer than typical limp monofilament. This stops the leader fromm tangling when you make a cast. I used a larger than normal popper for panfish, tied on a #8 hook. This is small enough for bigger Sunfish and big enough to attract the attention of a Bass or two. It also let me use a bead head nymph (which is like a little jig) without sinking the Popper. To throw this rig, put a little wrist into your cast to open up the loop and “lob” it in there.
Have fun!
Rootski
