Fly Fishing Dropper Fly?

[DanMarino]

Do you fly fishing guys ever use a dropper fly attached to a popper when you fish?
My old timer friend went reservoir fishing yesterday and used an unweighted crayfish fly as a 12 inch dropper to his cork popper.
He caught numerous smallies on the crayfish as well as a big carp. He said nothing took a swipe at the popper when the crayfish was attached.

Discussion and experiences are welcome.

[Mark]

It's not just for fly fishing.

See here:

http://hosted.verticalresponse.com/1...03/f15597461f/

I've tried in on the fly rod and I don't like it. It definitely works but it also can make casting awkward; harder to maintain a tight loop. You have to open up the cast a little more. But if your goal is to catch fish and not worry about a pinpoint presentation, it's a very good approach.

[silasvirus82]

I fish droppers regularly on the river, but open water fishing where distance casting comes into play I do not. Flipping an emerger behind a dry or attractor/nympth is not the same as slinging an already big popper and likely bigger crawfish. As far as fish catching abilities of using a dropper, I definitely feel they out perform when the conditions are tough, but if the fish are actively feeding on a specific quarry just "match the hatch" and forget the dropper.

EDIT: In addition they can be very effective if the hatch is small such as midges or spinners where there could be millions of flies already on the water. Having two of the same fly at least doubles your chances of the trout finding your hooks.