Nymphing with an indicator

Gene Hill said that "nymphing...with a bobber ("strike indicator" indeed!) has little to do with real fly fishing." Well, apparently Gene never cast for pan fish in a 30mph Kansas wind like I was trying to do last night! The water was choppy; there's no way I would ever have seen a hit; would have had to have been a strong hookup I could feel. Not the best conditions but I was determined to get out there; did manage a nice bluegill and a small bass, and had a couple of hits that I missed.

Anyway, I was using my 7wt and one of those thingamabobbers, and my question is, how the heck do you keep those things from sliding down the leader? I was trying to fish my fly at about 24" but after a couple of casts I'd be down to 12" or less.

I looked on line and there's a guy with a youtube video showing how to attach it (same as I did); he said his slips too so he sticks a tootpick in to hold it; that seems like a pain to me. I see they now make them with a little attached plug that goes in the hole. I guess I'll go back to my twist-on indicators, although the rubber seems to break on those after a while.

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Originally Posted by Prairieschooner

Anyway, I was using my 7wt and one of those thingamabobbers, and my question is, how the heck do you keep those things from sliding down the leader? I was trying to fish my fly at about 24" but after a couple of casts I'd be down to 12" or less.

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I guess the "usual" way of putting them on is to put a loop of leader through the hole in the thingamabobber, then put that loop over the body. If using fine tippet, less than 2X, this will tend to slip. What I have done is to wrap that loop around the thingamabobber a couple more times. It can make it hard to move it when you want to, but you can get it to say put. Another way is to place it just above your tippet knot. It should not slide down past the knot.

Hope this helps,
Ted

Schooner, I was doing the same thing last night for awhile!

If you have any mainstream bass tackle stores near you, you can buy little tapered rubber sinker stops. The bass guys use them for keeping their sliding sinkers in place. They are about two inches long, taper from a very thin point to about 1/8 inch, and don't cost too much. After you loop your strike indicator in place in the normal way, slide one of these through the hole, pull it tight, then trim it. Leave it about 1/2 inch long, and when you need to move the indicator, just pull out the stopper, move the indicator, and then replace the stopper. You can do the same thing with a large enough rubber band, but then you have to either taper cut them or rig a loop to pull them through. Either way works quite well (Gene Hill, like many of us, has his own opinions about how to fish. His has no more or less validity than yours or mine.)

Thanks all; lots of good solutions. Kid, did you do any good?

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Originally Posted by Buddy Sanders

(Gene Hill, like many of us, has his own opinions about how to fish. His has no more or less validity than yours or mine.)

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Excuse my ignorance - who is Gene Hill?

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Originally Posted by gmac209

Excuse my ignorance - who is Gene Hill?

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Well, I didn't really didn't post that to set Gene up; it was supposed to be funny. The late Gene Hill was one of America's greatest outdoor writers. If you haven't read Gene, you are missing something IMHO; few writer's have come so close to identifying and expressing the human element of hunting and fishing.

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Originally Posted by Prairieschooner

Thanks all; lots of good solutions. Kid, did you do any good?

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Was out mainly for white bass, chucking a new baitfish pattern.... didn't get so much as a sniff. I kept going smaller and smaller and ended up with a black pheasant tail under an indicator. Nothing!

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Originally Posted by gmac209

Excuse my ignorance - who is Gene Hill?

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http://www.nytimes.com/1997/06/13/sp...-magazine.html

...and these indicators don't slip down 'yer leader:

http://www.skru-it.com/


PT/TB ;)

Well I guess it isn't a case of ignorance as much as a lapse in memory (senior's moment).

I have almost certainly read articles by Mr. Hill.

I had more Field & Stream magazines under the bed than comics or Playboys

I would follow the instructions for rigging that came with your thingamabobbers. Even after doing so they may slip a bit. After rigging you might also want to try and put a small piece of square tooth pick in the hole to help hold it in place. They also now come with a little peg attached to help hold them better.


Dave

I use 2 stop knots and beads, one each above and below just like a slip bobber. works great.