Mop Fly

One of the most effective ways to cover water columns in the river or in still water is to use a dry dropper set up. This means that you have a dry fly rigged first or on top as your “top” fly and add a length of tippet, most commonly from the hook bend of the fly and a “dropper’ fly behind underneath the water surface.

 Common Dry Dropper Combinations

A mutual grouping would be to have a stimulator fly on top and a mop fly submerged. The “mop” is used for trout as well anglers use mop flies for steelhead, but mop flies for trout are much more common. A top fly fishing fly does just what it should and encourages the fish to want to eat. The fish will first see the angler’s top fly and most of the time it will rise to take another look. If the fish refuses, then the mop fly will be close behind to give the angler another option to prompt an eat. When using a mop fly pattern in this rigging such as a chartreuse mop fly, most times they are as small and realistic as you can get away with while your top fly is sized to make sure you can float your fly without drag. The top fly is often fished in a large size to be easily visible to the angler. Using a dry dropper setup gives the angler the best chance of keeping eye contact with the rig in faster waters which is important because it is acting as your indicator for your mop fly pattern as well. If the fish eats the mop fly your top fly will stop or go underwater.

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 Using a Mop Fly Setup in Adverse Waters

If the water is flowing fast, you will need a heavier mop fly to get down while if it is a slower stream, you are able to get away with a lightweight mop fly or a totally unweighted mop fly. Some prefer the unweighted fly version because they believe that it gives the mop fly the most realistic action. The weight range of the mop fly is achieved with the beads used. The beads on a mop fly pattern come via different materials such as brass and tungsten. The tungsten beaded fly will get down to the bottom of the river much faster than a brass bead. It is very common to find a full weight range of flies in a well-versed anglers fly box.

At The Fly Stop we offer discounts on mop flies for sale when you buy in bulk, and we carry the best mop fly patterns like the tan mop fly, pink mop fly, white mop fly and orange mop fly.

Look at our full selection of Mop fly patterns to see the wide range of colors we carry.