Indicator

OlyphantLacky

OlyphantLacky

Member
Joined
Apr 14, 2007
Messages
125
Hello all!!

my question is how far up do i put a Indicator,do you use it like a bober?i been useing the cortland foam ones if that helps any.
 
There are different ways to use "Indicators." Sometimes they are just used to help with detecting movement of the leader without helping the line to float at all. These may just be a different colored section of leader, a small tube/sleeve that slides over the leader, or maybe a small pinch of indicator putty. The foam types, or yarn, cork, plastic, putty, etc. often are used something like bobbers because, in addition to helping to show movement of the line they somewhat float the line where they are connected.

The answer to your question is, that when using an indicator like in the second situation I described, it should go 1.5 to 2 times the depth of the water up from the fly (if the water's about 2 feet deep, it goes 3 to 4 feet up from the fly). When fishing with them you kind of drift the indicator like you would a dry fly. Try to make them drift well in the current without dragging. But you have to try to be aware of and picture how the nymph is drifting underneath. The current is usually flowing faster at the surface than near the stream bed, so the indicator will move faster. You don't want it to drag the fly. Often you should mend the line so that you start the drift with the indicator upstream of where the nymph is under the water. The trick is to get the fly in the best position without drag when it is at the spot where you know or think the fish is. If there is any movement of the indicator, tighten the line. It doesn't have to be a real noticeable "bobbing" - it may just be a slight twitching, hesitation, or sideways movement. There often may not be a fish on the line, but you should tighten the line whenever you think it moves. The fly should touch the bottom every now and then in order to get it down to the fish, and this will look like a take sometimes too. But if the fly settles or keeps getting hung up on the bottom, you need to remove some weight or move the indicator closer to the fly. I may have made it sound more complicated than it is, but you'll get the hang of it with practice.
 
Thank's Wulff-Man.your input is gonna help my fly fishing game a ton.
 
Hey, Wulff-Man,
Very nice description.
Coughlin
 
If'n ya really wanna make that bobber work good, soak yer fly in some salmon egg juice for good measure. :lol: :lol: :lol:
 
I like to use indicators that will float or sink depending on the hydrodynamics of the water I'm fishing. I use those yarn tuft indicators, you can get them in large packs at almost any store. They come in many sizes, but I often use the smaller ones, because it produces the desired visual effect I want.

Basically, they sink or float depending on the varying currents you throw them into. A indicator that floats all the time can give you unwanted drag in a section of water with lots of current changes under the surface.

When it sinks, I look for an abnormal change in direction while its under the surface. At first you can usually only spot the big takes, but once you know what these direction changes look like, you can start picking up all those subtle strikes you were missing before.

If the indicator is in calmer water and is floating, like wulff-man said, you can use them to guage your drift, and mend to get it to where you want it. In this case, if the indicator goes under, you set the hook, not too hard.

I will use bigger indicators for bigger water. If the indicator is sinking too fast, or too deep, I will move it further up my leader, and put a larger one on so I can see it better in the rough water.

If I am nymphing in a completely calm pool, I will put a line of indicator puddyabout the same place I would put a yarn indicator. In this case, im not looking for a abnormal change in direction, but rather a small twitch in the puddy line.

I think the biggest thing to keep in mind is that an indicator shouldn't be acting like a bobber, but more like a visualization tool for what your leader/flies are doing under the surface.

..........Or you can take Festus' advise and soak your flies in salmon egg juice.......
 
It seems like I get hung up on the bottom all the time when there is that much leader between the indicator and nymph. So I put the same distance between the two as the water is deep. If the water is two feet deep that is the distance between the indicator and nymph. Don't hang up as much and still catch fish. In fact caught fish on the nymph hanging two feet below in a hole four to six feet deep. Not saying my way is right or even better, but it works for me.
 
Live2fish, now that you mention it, I think I should have said to put it 1 to 1.5 times the depth of the water. I think that's more like what I do and have seen as a rule of thumb. You're right that when you get closer to twice the depth you may get hung up a lot, depending on the speed of the current. It could also make it more likely to miss takes.
 
I have always heard 1.5 times the depth. Unless the fly is heavily weighted, it is unlikely ever to hang straight down below the indicator. You can catch fish up in the water column, but typically a nymph should be driftinging within a few inches of the bottom. Take it from me, I rarely nymph and more rarer still use a bobber.
 
A great system is the hinged leader system. Check it out. I dont feel like typing the description in full detail. It allows the fly to float directly under the "bobber" in theory and it works.
 
Fish feed at different depths of water at different times. Granted it is true that they are mostly taking nymphs 0-12" from the bottom, but sometimes, like live2fish pointed out, they will take them in the middle or upper section of the water column.

I also use the 1.5x up the leader rule for indicators, but i say 1.5x from the lowest point of the leader (i.e. the point of the leader which reaches the bottom, or gets closest to the bottom). If your using weight, and no beadheads, your lowest point will be the point where the weight is. If your using beadheads, it will be at the fly.

Like the scenario live2fish described, if you are intentionally fishing a section 2' deep in a water column that is 6' deep, there is no need to have an indicator 9' from the fly, it should instead be 3'.

As for the people that are getting hung up a lot, try moving your weight further away from the fly. Usually weight 8" from the fly will result in the fly drifting 0-6" above the bottom. With every inch you add from there, your drift zone will increase by an additional inch (at least thats my theory). For example, weight 12" from the fly will drift 4-10" from the bottom, weight 16" from the fly will drift 8-14" from the bottom, etc. Keep in mind these numbers are assuming that your weight is indeed bouncing along the bottom, and not suspended a few inches above it.

I typically use a tandem nymph rig with 2-3' tippet between the nymphs. I apply my weight in here, and place them different distances away from each fly. I can place one weight 8" from the dropper, and another weight 14" away from the top fly, so that I get one fly probing the 0-6" water depth, and one the 6-12" depth. If I see that the 0-6" depth is getting all the strikes, I'll adjust the weight on the top nymph so that it drifts in the same 0-6" area.
 
Wullf-man, your right it's 1.5-2 times the depth.

I weight my nymphs with a few wraps of lead. So using a 3906B size 12 doesn't really have that much weight to it. Might be the same as a size 4 split shot. Which ain't much.
 
Last night I was reading A.J. McClane's Game Fish of North America, and I was surprised to see that trout take only about 15% of their food from the bottom. He's referencing the 1970s study of Spruce Creek.
 
I would re-read that more carefully. Or do you mean directly off the stream bottom?
 
It said just that, which is vague. Only 15% of food came from the bottom. Which I would guess means that he was distinguishing the bottom from the drift. I.e. trout rarely root around for insects or eggs or what have you on the stream bed. Which makes sense if you watch a trout eat. They will be suspended a few inches off the bottom and move up or down and side to side in varying degrees to feed.

Here's my favorite nugget from the study: This researcher, who watched a protected section of stream from a blind with polarized binoculars, said that trout were observed to feed up to 300 times per minute in shallow water in bright sunlight on the hottest day in August.
 
cwwbell, that's 5 times per second! That's one frantic, maniacal, coked-up trout! I only see that kind of action in cartoons!

Did you mean to say 300 times per hour?
 
Yes, WullMan, that was a typo. 300 times per hour, which is 5 times per minute. I swear that all of the other details were right, though!!!

Here's another nugget: The trout in the study would move into the pool that was being observed at about three inches and pick a rock. The fish would use that rock as their feeding spot for the rest of their lives, returning to it after each annual spawning run upstream. Can you believe that fish live in the same pool all their lives? I have suspected that I caught the same fish from the same pool several times (a particular large rainbow in Spring Creek) but I never would have suspected that trout stay in one spot forever.

BTW, he identified all of the fish by their patterns of spots. There was one he called Beethoven because its dots went "dot dot dot dot."
 
Very interesting. I kind of thought that myself. It gives you an idea of how dumping stocked fish into wild trout streams can do a job on the wild guys.
 
"That which doesn't kill me makes me stronger."

-- Nietzsche

:-D
 
Nietzsche is a whacked-out nut job. :p
 
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