Indicators - What Do You Use?

[Njardar]

The latest Feather-Craft catalog has a listing for Dave Whitlock's Telstrike Indicators and it caught my attention. According to Feather-Craft "The Telstrike 'flag' visually telegraphs every move the fly makes and alerts you 1/2 to one second faster than other indicators. Commit 100% of your attention on the Telstrike flag, reading its every move, and you will catch more and larger fish." Question 1: Has anyone tried this indicator and what are your opinions? (Actually that's two questions) Question 2: What indicator do you use and why do you like it?

Telstrikes are $3.95/3-pak which is not a big expense, but more sucessful nymphing is worth a whole lot more.

- Charlie

[flytyer57]

The latest Feather-Craft catalog has a listing for Dave Whitlock's Telstrike Indicators and it caught my attention. According to Feather-Craft "The Telstrike 'flag' visually telegraphs every move the fly makes and alerts you 1/2 to one second faster than other indicators. Commit 100% of your attention on the Telstrike flag, reading its every move, and you will catch more and larger fish." Question 1: Has anyone tried this indicator and what are your opinions? (Actually that's two questions) Question 2: What indicator do you use and why do you like it?

Telstrikes are $3.95/3-pak which is not a big expense, but more sucessful nymphing is worth a whole lot more.

- Charlie

1) I don't think I've seen them yet. Sorry.

2) I use Lightning strike indicators. The ones I use are round with a hole through the middle. I put a rubber band in the hole (doubled up like a "u") and put the leader/tippet through the doubled up rubber band. I then pull the line into the hole in the indicator pinching the line so it stays in place. This allows me to slide the indicator up and down the line to adjust for depth. Works pretty good for me and I see no reason to change right now.

[Terry Beeson]

I don't think there is such a thing as a "perfect" indicator. Much depends on the style of fishing you are doing and especially the depth you are fishing. Looking at Dave's design, I can see where it could possibly give you a faster indication of a strike, but until I've used one, I can't comment further. Buy a pack and try them out. Best way to determine if they are for you...

[Brian K. Shaffer]

Since I am color blind.. indicators mean a lot to me. I can only see the brightest of bright neon yellow

Most times I use the round ball style toothpick indicators. I like the round balls better than any other shape. Lots of sizes too. Make sure to score the toothpick in a circle around the top sticking out and break it off clean. That way your leader never wraps around it. Bright yellow work great for me. And they last forever.

I also use the Umpqua roll on indicators. They come as a whole bunch of pre-cut squares on a sheet. You pull one off, line it up on your leader exactly where you want it (because you cannot move it - its adhesive backed foam) then just roll it up onto itself. They float high when midging.. ideal for a midge and tiny shot. Not good to suspend a bunch of stuff. These are also cheap... but are only good for one use.

I also liked the Orvis moldable indicator putty that came in a little neon yellow block. It could be taken off and reused or repositioned easily.

I wish the yarn stuff worked better than it does. I have tried it many ways and only like it for certain situations, no wind.

And as it was mentioned before - just experiment until you find the one thats right for you ! have fun 'experimenting' - Brian

[Kayser]

1- Haven't used them, but I think that, like anything else fly-fishing related, you need to put in the time to find what works for you. If you like this, great! But it also doesn't mean a thing if you can't get a good drift.

2- I was using orange poly yarn tied to my leader with 5x mono for a while, but then I just got rid of the indicator entirely. I feel like I get hung up a lot less on logs/weeds, have much better control over my flies and line, can get drifts that my fishing partner can't (under logs and trees), and can get to the bottom a lot quicker. But I put some time into learning this tactic, and it's starting to pay off. Also, changing rigs to streamers or dries is a lot quicker, and my leader isn't kinked from the indicator. Of course, the dry-dropper still gets plenty of use in my favorite stretches of the Current, with shallow water, spooky fish, and caddis hatches.

Rob

[3wt]

Idicators are one of the few things I hate but have to use. I haven't ever learned to love yarn, but these look easy enough to make.

I dead drift leeches less and less, but can't deny how well it works when you need to. For this I use the stupid big football shaped toohtpick model. Pretty much to big and heavy and makes me hate casting, but anything else sinks with the heavy fly.

For nymphs I have started just using a stimulator or hopper. Not adjustable, but makes it much more fun than watching a foam bobber...which really offends my fly fishing purism.

[Gavin]

The Telstrike's are virtually identical to what the Fly Shop out in Redding markets as there Flote-Rite Indicator.

http://store.theflyshop.com/catalog/product_info.php?cPath=81_244&products_id=1485

Havent used the Whitlock knock off, but I used the flote rites on the Lower Sacremento River years ago......The little post stands straight up if your dead drifting...if it tilts, you have a hit, bumped bottom, or your dragging...The Float Rites are great indi's for float fishing out of a drifter, but kind of a pain to cast. I'd go with something else for wade fishing. Cheers.

[flyfishmaster]

I too have used and made (with out the little post thing) an indicator the look very similar to the Telestrike. I made mine with oral rubber bands to create the loop and to secure the yarn together.

I do like them for heavy flow conditions and using a lot of weight. But when it comes time to throwing small flies and little lead, the casting can be a bit different. Also as the day goes on, the yarn will start to sink and not stay on top as well so I would be using 3 different yarn indicators through out the day allowing drying time. Yes I did add floatant to the yarn, plus i made a special yarn fluffing tool (a dowel rod with Velcro attached) to separate the threads.

To answer your second question....... Thingamabobber (hands down my top choice)

Later,

FFM

[Njardar]

What started this was when I used a large dry fly and a dropper (nymph) on the Big Thompson in CO a few weeks ago. The river was running very fast and I just could not see a big enough difference in the dry fly to tell me of a possible strike on the nymph. I prefer to use this setup because I double my chances, but only if I can detect a difference in the dry fly's drift. I'm going to Montauk in October and hope to improve my odds when nymphing by using an indicator... plus I'm still learning and like to hear what others are using. I spoke with an acquaintance today who uses only "corky's", any one use these? A quick search showed Cabela's selling Corky bodies, but I'm not sure how they're rigged... any suggestions?

Thanks and I appreciate all the advice so far.

- Charlie

[Paola Cat]

X 2 for Thingamabobbers. If you've got to use one .... they're the best I've found. PC