To Indicator Or Not To Indicator

[Al Agnew]

Actually the smaller Thingamabobbers weigh very little and don't make much of a splash on the water. Heck, my split shot makes a lot more of a splash. And I don't worry much about the splash alarming the fish, partly because I'm usually fishing fairly heavy water, mostly because the cast always lands several feet upstream of the closest place where I might catch a fish. Unless the water is very shallow, it usually takes 4 or 5 feet of drift before the nymphs get down to the bottom.

If I'm fishing an indicator in small, very clear water, however, I won't use a Thingamabobber. Instead, I'll use just a wisp, about an inch long, of thin red yarn, fuzzed out and treated with fly floatant. Hits the water like thistle down and is unobtrusive as it drifts.

[Bob A]

Good topic for lots of laughs! Personally, I hate a bobber. Maybe because when I first started fly fishing, I was frustrated by that thing swinging around on my line. Another reason, I catch plenty of fish without it. As an aside, I've seen many flyfishers who would be lost without their bobber to tell them when they had a "take". Take away their bobber and may as wel take away their rod and reel.

Bob A

[Buzz]

I use a variety of strike indicators, because I can't get those big red and white bobbers to cast very well.

They help me control the drift and allow me to get my fly set to the best depth. If the cast is made well upstream of the fish and the indicator is not as big as an apple and the drift is good, it can be your best friend. I use my indicators as tools and they usually get the job done.

[Bman]

Then how are you detecting your strikes?

By watching the fly/s, or the fish’s behavior.

[Al Agnew]

Most of the water I fish out West is not conducive to sight fishing. You will seldom be able to see the fish or your nymphs. And a lot of water on the bigger rivers is too fast or too deep to get close to where you want to drift. Just about everybody, including all the guides, use indicators without a second thought. And since I really learned fly fishing out here in Montana more than in Missouri, I learned early on to use indicators. I had to teach myself to fish without indicators on the smaller waters of Missouri, and only go "bobber-less" when I am fishing deep runs very close to my position.

Even in fairly deep, fairly fast water, you don't have to depend entirely upon your indicator, however. As others have pointed out, the indicator can help control your drift. And you can practice dividing your attention between indicator and where you believe your fly to be at any given point in the drift. A flash or moving shadow in the vicinity of where your fly is drifting is a better signal to set the hook than the twitch or dip of the indicator. But even when you're used to doing that divided attention thing, you won't always see that flash or movement, and so you have to keep paying attention to the indicator.

I have watched trout take nymphs under indicators and not under indicators, and I think it's pretty much of a wash as to which method "misses" more fish when you can't easily see the fish taking the fly. I've seen them take the nymph with no "indication" relayed to the bobber, and I've seen them take the fly and there was no line twitch and you couldn't feel the take. You have to wonder how many fish we miss because we never knew they were taking it, no matter which method you use.

[Zack Hoyt]

Al, I agree with your train of thought. I wonder how many guys here are fishing out of a drift/river boat and how many mainly wade fish. Also I have very rarely saw anyone fish w/o an indicator on higher generation times(minus streamer fishing).

[Kayser]

For big drifts and depth control- indicators. I like poly-yarn indicators because they float high, land soft, and are removable without retying your rig. They're also cheap and easy to make.

For fishing close, shallow water or mostly upstream (less than about 30 degrees off the current direction) I'll take them off. Especially if I want to get my fly under a tree or rootwad.

Rob