Dry Dropper Nymphing Pocket Water
Unfortunately dry-flies only work some of the time. Sometimes you just have to get your flies near the bottom to catch fish. Conventional wisdom says to add lead shot to the leader and fish your nymphs under an indicator for basically all nymph fishing but I often prefer to fish a dry-dropper set up, especially for fish in swift unsettled water and deep pockets around rocks.
Set up: Use a buoyant dry fly like a PMX, Carnage Attractor, Foamulator, Fat Albert, or other terrestrial or attractor pattern on a shortish leader. I like about 7 or 8 feet to the dry. Rig your dropper a little deeper than you suspect the water is in the areas you're fishing by tying tippet to the bend of the dry fly. I like around 3 feet to 4 feet for most situations but have been known to fish droppers as deep as around 6 or 7 feet in big pockets around boulders. Use a heavy nymph like a Tungsten Bead Hot Wire Prince, Tung Teaser, or other tungsten beaded nymph. Usually the nymph I choose for these situations is so heavy that it occasionally pulls the dry fly under the surface on long drifts. Also a long light rod works best. A 9 to 10 foot 4-weight rod is ideal.
Method: Fish pocket water and deep troughs around rocks by getting fairly close, of course without being seen by the fish, and using short casts and short drifts. This is essentially a modified version of high-stick nymphing. Cast the flies to the head of the trough or pocket and quickly gain control of the line. After the flies land lift and hold the line off the water by keeping the rod high and only allowing a little of the leader and the dry fly to be on the water. Follow or guide the dry fly through the drift. Sometimes I even lift the dry up off the water a little bit to stay in contact with the nymph. The dry fly acts as your indicator but, since your line is fairly taut, also remember to feel for strikes. As the flies near the end of the drift lift them slowly; as they rise it will often entice a strike.
Practice this method any time you're fishing around rocks or in fairly swift water. It takes a little time to get the hang of it but you may be surprised at how many fish you can pull from relatively fast water and deep pockets with a dry dropper rig.