Need a little advice from the pros on the board;
I just picked up some yarn, and want to make some indicators for the spring opener.
Do you guys treat your indicators with floatant, and if you do, what kind?
I would also like to know how many strands do you use when building them?
If you have pictures, please post or send them to me- I am visual!
Thanks in advance.
chris from canada.
Chris - imho, Widows Web is the superior material for yarn indicators. Peter Frailey did a nice article on the material. It includes a picture of the indicators that I use.
[url=http://www.fishingwithflies.com/Article-FavStuff/WidowsWeb/WidowsWeb.htm:107a5]http://www.fishingwithflies.com/Article-FavStuff/WidowsWeb/WidowsWeb.htm[/url:107a5]
The following is a description of how I make my strike indicators.
[url=http://flyfisherman.com/skills/jmindicator/:107a5]http://flyfisherman.com/skills/jmindicator/[/url:107a5]
I use Mucilin from the red can , but most any floatant will work. It’s a good idea to make some with 1,some with 2,and some with 3 strands. Sometimes I use 2 indicators when I want to be sure it floats. Now that I think about it, 3 strands is probably too much to make a good loop in. Hope this helps … Russ
Floatant helps a bit. The more solid or paste types seem to stick better than the liquids. I use Cortland, but I wouldn’t buy a different floatant for this. Try whatever you’ve got.
Steve Schweitzer wrote a good article on yarn indicators:
[url=http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/indicators/:48532]http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/indicators/[/url:48532]
I have made strike indicators from craft yarn. Mine are are made by looping a few strands of yarn through a small ‘O’ ring and them binding them off with tying thread. Here are a few tips…
How much yarn depends on the thickness of your yarn and how large and indicator you need. For 2 ply yarns I usually need 3-4 strands, for 3 ply yarns I use 2-3. The construction method I use folds the strands in have, doubling them. Cut pieces yarn about 3" long, stack them side by side. A bushy indicator floats well but is less wind resistant. You can always trim a big one streamside to make it smaller.
Force the tip of a hemostat through the ‘O’ ring and grasp the yarn bundle by the center, pull back to you have a doubled length of yarn in the O ring. Fold the yarn together and whip finish with tying thread.
Trim the tag ends of the yarn about 1/2 of an inch long and pick the strands out. First with a stiff needle then a course comb. I like to comb some paste floatant into the yarm. I use Loons Aquel.
After fishing a while if my indicator is starting to absorb water I will dry it on some chamois and dust it with ‘Frogs Fanny’ dry floatant.
PS. The above link in Bruce’s post details how I make mine, I use a piece of scud back material instead of rubber glove material.
[This message has been edited by kengore (edited 07 March 2005).]
As was mentioned, the nice thing about yarn indicators is that you customize the size, puffiness, etc., for what you’re trying to do with it and what you need for the situation. I actually don’t like the premade indicators like in the links above since when they are made that way with the o-ring they tend to lay on their side instead of the straight up and down in the water and can sometimes put kinks in your leader when you move them around. I use a rubber band section about 1/4" long doubled over with a leader loop inserted through the middle to attach mine. Kind of hard to explain unless you see it.
A couple other nice tips on poly indicators is to mix two or more colors when you make them up for varying light conditions. Black and tan or tan and dark green work well. Take a piece of velcro, the stiff side, and put your floatant and it then scrub up the yarn to treat it and flare out and puff up the yarn. I usually use regular paste floatant but another effective method is to treat your yarn beforehand with Rain-X and let it dry overnight. Keeps it floating nice… 
later, SPB
Thanks!!!