Indicator Placement
Question for all you nymphers out there.....
When the general rule is that you place the indicator 1.5 to 2 times the depth of the water, what is the reference point for that measurement.
Is it 1.5 to 2 times :
above where you put your weight ?
above where your first fly is on a two nymph set-up ?
above the dropper fly(bottom fly) ?
The more I am out fishing and reading, the more questions that I keep asking myself.
Everyone's thoughts are appreciated......
Yo Bob! Just me.......I locate the indicator according to the first fly, and let the dropper 'dropI've only been using indicators a little while. Sometimes I use a larger dry with a white wing post as an indicator, and go a little longer to the dropper. A combination I like is a #14 elk hair caddis with a #14 Zug, or other nymph............
ModocDan
There is no exact answer. Just guestimate how deep you should be fishing and see how it works. If you are not on the bottom either make the indicator deeper or add some weight. I know that I still start off with not enough weight.
Experiment and adjust. In faster water obviosly you need more weight, not necessarily a deeper indicator. If you are not getting hung up on the bottom add weight, then go deeper.
Originally Posted by California Bob
...........it all depends on the speed of the current
(also the bottom fly is called the "point"
the dropper above the point is also called the "hand"
and the dropper closest to the rod is called the "bob")
The simpler the outfit, the more skill it takes to manage it, and the more pleasure one gets in his achievements.
--- Horace Kephart
I usually try it with the indicator 1.5 from weight (split shot or a weighted fly) If I flow too fast, I slide the indicator up, If I keep stopping (meaning I am dragging the bottom, I slide it down. Short adjustments of about an inch at a time.
Back when I cared about the finer points, I would have said 1.5 times the depth to the top fly. But how often do you actually fish water that is of uniform depth? I know I never do. Every cast is in a slightly idfferent place, different depth, different drift. So my indicator stays at 6 or 8 feet from the top fly and I just deal with it. Doesn't seem to really have much impact on whether I detect strikes or not, most of the time.
I put the indicator 1.5 times the depth of the water above the shot or fly nearest to the indicator for slow moving water and 2 times the distance for fast/broken water.
The man who coined the phrase "Money can't buy happiness", never bought himself a good fly rod!
All interesting comments and thoughts. Good feedback. Thanks.
I try to use judgement when I fish and make adjustments depending on conditions and my actual success rates.
However, the more I was thinking about the 1.5 to 2.0 times rule the more I questioned what specifically was being addressed.
Well, geometry, I would imagine. In a right triangle with the two sides adjacent to the right angle being equal, the hypotenuse (the long side) is 1.414 times the length on one of the shorter sides. So 1.5 times the depth gives you basically the depth of the water for your indicator to be other than directly above the fly, while still keeping the fly on the bottom. In other words, if the water is 5' deep, and your indicator height is 7.5', your indicator can be up to 5' from being directly over the fly, and there is still enough leader for your fly to get to the bottom.
DG
Last edited by DG; 01-21-2008 at 01:07 AM.
Bob,
That's the problem with things like that.
It's not really a 'rule'. 'Rules' suggest a governing theory, an agreement about the factors involved, or maybe, at least, some common sense appied. I don't where it came from, but I guarantee that someone just made it up, and it has just about that level of validity.
There are way too many variables involved here, and I doubt that '1.5 to 2 times the water depth' is 'correct' more than about one time in twenty.
In my book, that's not a 'rule' but a W.A.G. (wild a## guess).
The speed of the current, the differences between that speed at the surface and what it changes to as the depth changes, the actual depth of the water, the bottom composition, not to mention the mood of the fish can all change on any river or stream by moving just a couple hundred feet. Differences in the amount of weight used, the weight of the flies used, and their water resistance will have an impact on this as well. So will the density and thickness of the tippet/leader used. Changes in ANY of that will all require either adjustments in the indicator/weight/flies equation, or the conclusion that it really isn't all that critical to the fish and we'll just fish it as it's rigged.
That anyone would believe that you can apply such a simplistic 'rule' to something as complicated as this is patently absurd.
It probably came from someone who spends their time writing on message boards or for magazine articles and little of it actually fishing.
Buddy
It Just Doesn't Matter....
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