You know it’s a great 2 hours of fishing when you lose count of the trout you land. Drop-shot nymphing was the method, straight line and indicator, and the action was hot from start to finish. Since the lower river was below 1,000cfs for the first time in a month, and I had limited time, that’s where I headed. I made it to three pools from 12:30pm-2:30pm. and in each of them the trout were eager to jump on: two produced fish on the third cast, the other the first. Despite a strong caddis hatch, I didn’t see any risers, and unfortunately I didn’t make time to swing wets. But if you’re ready to do some nymphing, and you’re looking to book a date, now’s a good time to do it. Thanks to everyone who said hello!
Indicator Nymphing Tips #1 & 2: An upstream wind is great time to indicator nymph, because it slows the pace of the indicator on the surface. Look for a reason to set the hook on every drift. If that indicator twitches, stalls, slows, deviates — it doesn’t need to go under — set the hook! This lovely rainbow was such a case. My yellow yarn was bouncing merrily downstream, then slowed for just a moment. Bam. Set. Fish on.
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When there’s a substantial caddis hatch, and you’re nymphing with two flies, it’s almost never a bad idea to make your top dropper a Squirrel and Ginger. About half my fish came on this pattern (point fly was a Frenchie variant).
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I also had plenty of dramatic takes on the indicator, as in: now you see it, now you don’t. Likewise when I was tight line nymphing. I felt every single hit. This guy, looking very wild, clobbered the fly and fought well above his weight class.
currentseams.com 
Steve, you got me on this one. drop shot nymphing with an indicator? How now brown cow, as the kids say? I hear drop shot nymphing, and I think of an approach I use where I tie a on my fly, with 6 to 18″ of tag end, where I tie a loop knot at the end of my tippet and attach a split shot or tungsten putty to the loop. Then I fish it “tight line”. It’s good in that the nymph is above the bottom and less likely to snag, and if the weight does snag, you often either pull it off the line or break the loop knot and are back in business in a minute with a new knot tied.
I never thought to fish this approach on an indicator, which feels, well, to smart. Is this something like what you are talking about?
You are correct, sir. Here is one of a couple drop shot diagrams on this currentseams: https://currentseams.com/2014/09/09/a-drop-shot-tandem-nymph-rig/
Drop shot has been my default nymphing system for years. I will switch back and forth between tight line and indicator as conditions dictate.
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