Nymph with or without Indicator

My indicator is a piece of used fly line slipped over the leader.
 
Its absurd for people to look down on using an indicator. Different types of fishing call for different types of techniques. It's the equivalent of a golfer going for 150 yard drives with a putter. Why limit yourself?
 
If using an indi makes you feel like a bait fisher, then I hope you're swinging bamboo, silk line and a brace of wets....otherwise, you're still cheating.

Pretty sad outlook actually.
 
"Then I hope your swinging, bamboo, silk line, and a brace of wets" I think you have to be wearing a houndswooth tweed fishing jacket for it to be legit.
 
I rarely fish with any type of indicator, in fact when I do I am usually happy when it flies off. However there have been those times. I have found that an indicator can give a different presentation. An indicator saved the day when the trout were taking damselflies in the slower softer bottomed pools in early June. The indicator allowed me to pop the flies up off the bottom and it was important that it touched down. With a bobber you loose less flies for sure. One trick if you do get tight and hang up you can roll the bobber past the flies by stopping the forward roll cast high and hard, causing the bobber to thump and sometimes pull the flies loose, if not allow the bobber to splash down and then use the resistance of it on the pull to pop the flies out the backside of whatever it's on. So if you do not tie and want to save some dollars then this is another good reason to fish with them. As far as sighters I can't see them any better than my flyline unless it's used in a coil. I have come off my flyline with orange or red amnesia for the past 20 years and I don't think I've ever caught a trout simply because I could detect the strike better on account of it.
Long line nymphing on a mend without indi is by far my favorite way to nymph. But that is out of necessity. Fisherman are made by the rivers we fish, no two are alike. We always want to make things absolute in fishing. Why. I love the fact that I can never fully figure it out. Hell, I would tie an empty beer can to the end of the line as an indicator if I thought it would give me the presentation I wanted. I might not do it where people can see me.
 
Stenonema wrote:
Long line nymphing on a mend without indi is by far my favorite way to nymph.
Click to expand...

That makes two of us.
 
BrookieChaser wrote:
Stenonema wrote:
Long line nymphing on a mend without indi is by far my favorite way to nymph.
Click to expand...

That makes two of us.
Click to expand...

Me too. That's the kind of fishing I was trying to describe before.

But "Long line nymphing on a mend without indi" is a good description.

Lots of people are probably fishing in a very similar way, just with a float/indicator.

If you haven't tried it without a float, just try it, it's challenging and interesting.

I've had people who grew up with indicator fishing ask "How do you detect the strike without an indicator?"

You just watch the line rather than the indicator. It's not so difficult.
 
"I hope you're swinging bamboo, silk line and a brace of wets....otherwise, you're still cheating." Is there any other way to fish?
 
Many... That's why it's so much fun for all.
 
Sometimes I will and sometimes I won't. For me, it depends on multiple different factors. Depth, clarity, weather, stream, and even species. If I don't really need one then I won't use one. They are always in my pack, though.
 
I don't like the casting action involved with indi fishing. I will use a dry and dropper or watch the fly line but I prefer line control techniques that allow you to feel the take. Is it 100 % effective? No, but I know I get my share and it just feels right.
 
I don't use them. Tried a few and it didn't really do much for me. Nothing snobbish about it, but I'm fishing for fun. I have some boundries I like to keep because I just enjoy the challenge. I figure there are a lot of easier ways to catch fish than fly fishing, so most of us are in it for the challenge. We just draw different boundries. I do think it is a shame that some beginners never realize that some of these things are optional.
Mike.
 
High fast water, I usually high stick w/out because I can feel the bottom and the hits. Normally, I use a small to help me see the hits I can't feel. It helps me catch fish so I use it.
 
I've been fly fishing for over fifty years and the only time I use an indicator is when fishing for steelhead up in the Erie creeks to minimize losing so many damn flies on the shale bottoms.
 
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