timmyt wrote:
How far between the end of the fly line and the indicator.
This is not the correct approach to placing your indicator. Instead, your indicator should be placed relative to your flies. The distance between your flies and indicator should usually be roughly equal to one and a half times the depth of the water you are fishing. So if you are fishing an area that is 3 feet deep, you distance between indicator and flies should be about 4.5 feet.
And also, one very crucial point: If you are not making constant adjustments to your indicator placement, you are doing it wrong. You should evaluate every spot you fish and be making prepared to make adjustments at any time.
Now with all that said, you will likely see a lot of guys always fishing with their indicators very near the tip of their fly lines. They are doing it wrong. They may still get some fish, but they are doing it in spite of themselves.
Adjust indicator placement constantly!!!!
I suck at nymphing but i am trying hard to learn (and not having a great amout of success). Seems to me the whole thing is easier to handle with the indi pretty close to the end of the fly line.
Yes it might be easier to cast with this positioning, but indicator nymphing is not about pretty casting. It's just putting tension on the line at the end of the drift and flipping the whole deal back upstream. You may however be able to get away with a shorter leader which will result in the indicator being closer to the fly line while still following my recommendations for indicator placement.
Do you always keep your indi the same distance from the end of the fly line and set your depth from the indi down with the length of the leader?
No. It is far easier to move the indicator to adjust depth. It is impractical to continually add ad or remove leader/tippet material for the sake of adjusting for depth. At least it should be impractical if you are doing it enough.