Nymphing without indicators

[psychobeagle12]

Ok, so I really only started getting into nymphing three years ago. I have been using strike indicators pretty much since I started, but I decided this year I was going to learn how to fish faster riffles and pools without the indicator. I started a few days ago and I found that I am doing great without the little orange ball! I was out last night for about 1/2 hr and caught three rainbows and a brown, all without using an indicator! I'm actually very excited by my newfound ability to fish without them. I know there are still some situations that call for indicators, but I feel like I have removed my training wheels :-D

 

[salvelinus]

Good for you! My late fishing buddy was the best nymph fisherman I ever saw. Back then you never even heard of indicators. Old fishing books claimed nymphing was like a sixth sense, and he sure had it. Apparently you do too.

 

[BrookieChaser]

Good job! It will open up a lot of new opportunities for your nymphing.

I've never used an indicator, in fact, I never even heard of such a thing until a couple years ago. Relating to what Salvelinus said, I've been told, by fishing buddies, that I'm using some kind of voodoo.

Stenonema summed up my style best in a recent thread when he called it "long line nymphing on a mend without an indicator".

 

[McSneek]

I use an indicator 90% of the time and I'm not about to apologize for it. This dead horse has been beaten time and time again on PA Fly Fish.

 

[Fishidiot]

psychobeagle12 wrote:
Ok, so I really only started getting into nymphing three years ago. I have been using strike indicators pretty much since I started, but I decided this year I was going to learn how to fish faster riffles and pools without the indicator. I started a few days ago and I found that I am doing great without the little orange ball! I was out last night for about 1/2 hr and caught three rainbows and a brown, all without using an indicator! I'm actually very excited by my newfound ability to fish without them. I know there are still some situations that call for indicators, but I feel like I have removed my training wheels :-D

Well done.
As you've discovered (and previous posters have pointed out) you can fish nymphs effectively with or without an indicator.

 

[lv2nymph]

Congrats on the new arrow in your quiver...

 

[mikesl]

Similar for me... But I think it's more adding a style to your repertoire Rather than graduating from basic to advanced

Some situations still work much better with indicator

 

[pete41]

Charles Brooks was a writer who did much to promote the no indicator style of fishing nymphs on heavy western waters- mostly in Yellowstone park. Very effective with the big stone fly nymphs .If you ever plan to get out there worth reading up on.
Think it centered around two size 2 nymphs and a five foot leader...little rowdy for the thinner eastern waters but as they say---location,location,location.
as long as you're having fun -do your own thing..lol

 

[gulfgreyhound]

Two nymphs and an indicator = tangles for me. Lose the indicator and I'm good. Dry and dropper works for me as well. Seems that the indicator is excess as I can feel the strikes better without it. Guess it's in the touch? GG

 

[foxfire]

Spot on GG!

 

[mike_richardson]

Yeah I wouldn't call it training wheels. Or that one practice is tougher than the other. The thing is that you opened up a bit more opportunity when fishing rifles. It all depends on what you are hoping to get out of fly fishing. If it is mastering all the casting techniques, and fishing methods. Then go for it.

I just like to catch fish. I can fish without an indicator and do just as good. I am just a weirdo and like to watch the bobber go under. LOL

 

[CLSports]

With an indicator on your line your attention is solely on watching the indicator for movement. Without an indicator your focus is on the fly. Even though you cannot see it, you "feel" the fly and sense its movement through the water.

 

[dsmith1427]

I use to fish indicators all the time and after several articles and youtube videos I switched to tight line nymphing. I like to be able to have the feel of the fly bouncing off the bottom as well as my focus is on fell and movement of the line instead of the indicator. I have success both ways but feel more successful with the tight line method but that's just me.

 

[afishinado]

There's really no one way to fish.

Just like the old bait days, sometimes a bobber works best and sometimes w/o a bobber works best...

 

[PocketWater]

I have seen it said a few times in this thread, that there are situations where an indicator is better. Anyone care to expand on that statement? I have fished both ways, and caught fish with and without, but am curious what people think the situations would be that call for using an indicator.

 

[Fishidiot]

PocketWater wrote:
I have seen it said a few times in this thread, that there are situations where an indicator is better. Anyone care to expand on that statement?

Just as you'd guess, there's no hard and fast rule. Sometimes, whether to use an indicator boils down to an almost intuitive sense.

As a general rule however (in my experience) the longer casts you're making when nymph fishing. . . the more advantage there is to using an indicator.

 

[PocketWater]

Thanks. Yeah, I wasn't sure if it would be more productive to use one in really slow moving water or something along those lines.

 

[jeremymcon]

I also feel like an indicator is useful in deeper water with tricky currents. In that situation without an indicator you can't always be quite sure which current seam your nymph is in compared to the end of your fly line, so it could actually end up being down below your line and dragging like crazy and it'd be hard to tell. With an indicator you would better know when to mend. Also if the fly gets below the tip of your line you're not going to be sensing a strike even if you do get one in spite of the drag.

 

[PennypackFlyer]

Some of the things I take into consideration are:
Water depth, Clarity, and current speed. I like to use a dry fly dropper (as an indicator) with a nymph since it gives me an extra opportunity for a hookup. Plus the dry fly does not create a wake in the water when it lands on the surface. I really don't have to mend the line as quickly in fast current. However the dry fly can go under just from the current. With two hooks it doubles the chances of hooking oneself on a windy day. If the water is really deep and clear, I tend to use the tightline method.

There is only one way to fish "Enjoying it" cause if your not, what's the sense in being there.