A Different Kind of Strike Indicator

[bbillings30]

I just moved from Lock Haven down to Virginia and wrote this article about a different kind of strike indicator I used while fishing in Pennsylvania: https://eastcoastflyguy.wordpress.com/2015/11/08/a-different-kind-of-strike-indicator/. Enjoy!

 

[pabrookie94]

I think I'll try it!

 

[Coudersportguy]

Good article! Never thought of that for nymphing other than the standard dry fly with a small nymph under it, or the hopper dropper method. I hate indicators they just cause problems in the why you have to attach them. I too fish a 3 fly rig, and will give this a shot in my nymphing arsenal.

 

[PennKev]

As with any other anti indicator thread, I will give my standard response:

There's no one way or best way to do it. It varies from stream to stream, time to time, etc.

Theres no right or wrong way.

There are ways that work very though. Maybe this is one of them. I dunno. I honestly don't see this as revolutionary or replacing properly executed tightline or indicator techniques. I see it as being very limited to small, clear flowing streams.

 

[bbillings30]

I would agree with you, and I said that in the last part of the article. There's definitely a place for traditional indicators on bigger water, but a lot of the mountain stream fishing can be done much more effectively using this method.

 

[troutbert]

That's pretty interesting.

It's a little bit like the old wet fly technique of using a white winged wet fly as your top fly in a 3 fly rig, because the white wings stand out, are easy to see.

 

[JG63]

I used to use a cigarette butt tied in the leader butt with a figure 8 knot. Now I just use shorter leaders and watch the line tip.

 

[Reeder]

Nice article, and a good idea. I would like to add reason number 11 to use it: Some despise the green weenie even more than indicators. This barbaric combination must really turn their stomachs, especially when they witness it catching more fish.

 

[JeffK]

An old PA limestone trick was to use a large light colored nymph (a cream or chartreuse Honey Bug was a good option) as an indicator for a little midge (like a 24 Al's Rat). Couldn't see the midge move, but could see the big nymph move. Another advantage is that by following the bigger nymph one could adjust the drift so it was right in the feeding lane of a visible fish and was drifting nicely. Also one could judge the reaction of the fish. Did it ignore the offering? Did it take it freely? Did it look and move away? Did it spook? This was a great way to teach people what the nymph was actually doing on the bottom - something that can't be achieved by a "bobber".

 

[dsmith1427]

Nice article. Thanks for sharing. I find myself tight line nymphing most of the time. I'll have to give it a try the next time I'm on the stream...

 

[BrooksAndHooks]

Quit giving my secrets away. Hahaha. You can do this with any attractor fly or nymph, but the green weenie sure does a good job.

 

[ryansheehan]

People who high stick or tight line are not missing lots of takes, it takes a while but once you work at it you realize how many takes you are missing using other methods. That being said I try to be as flexible as the situation calls for, don't care what anyone else thinks, whatever gives me the best presentation that's what I'm doing.