# Nymph Fishing: Indicator or Not



## 18inchBrown (May 1, 2016)

I do a lot of nymph fishing in the LMR for smallies and in the Mad for trout. I do not use indicators. I hold the flyline between my thumb and index finger as it drifts. I feel the strike and easily set the hook. When I am going for smallies I don't think I ever miss a strike without a hookup. The most smallies I have caught in a day was about 12.
Fishing for trout is different. The current in the Mad has been so strong this summer that I fish down and across. I can feel the strike and when it's a chub or sucker I hookup almost all the time. Of course I catch 8 chubs per trout. The trout strike is fast and hard. I miss half the strikes. I know, how do I know I am missing trout. Well when you get a trout strike it is hard and forceful. I can tell.
My question,should I react faster and raise the rod or would a drifting strike indicator do anything. Do you see a strike before you can feel it? I missed 3 or 4 nice strikes today on the Mad that P*ssed me off. I threw my LMR goddess today in a deep hole for the h*ll of it. I hooked up with a fish for about 10 seconds. It was very big! There are big trout in the Mad river.
I am a self taught fly fisherman so you guys that are on here who are very good fly fisherman what do you say?


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

I'll start this by saying I'm not anti-indicator. There seems to be a divide between indicator fishermen and non-indicator people. I tight line nymph with no indicator whenever I can, some of my buddies use indicators, use whatever works for you. There are situations when indicators probably will work better (longer casts), but I tight line whenever possible. Just my preference. My first suggestion for the Mad and nymphing would be to not fish down and across. You're almost certainly going to get drag that way. You're also likely to miss more fish with the fish facing you on the hook set. I would fish down and across swinging a soft hackle that is more meant to be fished that way, but not with a nymph rig meant to be drifted as drag-free as possible. Fish upstream on short casts for tight lining and I think you'll get better results. Here's a really good video on nymph fishing that is a lot of material, but it's golden.






I follow Egan's leader recipe, which is a long leader, and rarely have much if any fly line out. So casts are typically no more than maybe 18-20', tops. I prefer to fish two fly rigs, usually, putting the heavier nymph on the bottom. This serves as sort of an anchor to get the flies down and keep you in good contact with them for feel and strike detection. Strikes, man, they vary. Some will feel like a hard grab, some like a little weight, some you will just see the leader stop moving. A wise person once said "Hook sets are free." When in doubt, set the hook. I don't fish the Mad a ton, but when I do I have really good luck with a large pattern like a Guide's Choice Hare's Ear or Pat's Rubber Legs as my anchor fly, and a smaller attractor nymph above that like a Red Dart or a Duracell. Almost all of my beaded nymphs are now tungsten, and that does help in getting the flies down without adding additional weight. If you're not at least ticking the bottom fairly often, you're probably too light. If you don't want to go the tungsten route, you can add split shot to help get down. When I have added shot, I prefer to add it to a short tag of tippet off the hook eye of the bottom nymph. This keeps that weight below the flies and allows you to have better feel, but I try to avoid using shot when I can by just fishing heavier bugs.


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## 18inchBrown (May 1, 2016)

You know I usually use soft hackles weighted but I put the shot approx 8" above the lead fly which I usually have as the large heavy fly and if I add a second, I will tie the tippet off the bend of the first heavy fly. My second is usually an unweighted smaller fly. You know I used to put split shot above my hook but maybe 15" or so when I was a kid and fished with worms. Or if you rig like that and use corn it's great for carp but that was 55 years ago. 
So I need to modify my leader length, have long tag ends when I tie on tippet to drop the flies and put the heavy fly on the bottom and have a 4" tag end off of the bottom fly to add split shot. I don't know about the 20' leaders but I will modify my technique.
Cream I appreciate your response, thank you very much.


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## Patricio (Feb 2, 2007)

I don't use them, but with ones as cool as this, I wish I did.


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## flyman01 (Jan 23, 2013)

As the Cream mentioned, I too prefer to use a double dropper rig with a heavier bug on the bottom and I also use tungsten beads when tying nymphs. I do believe in strike indicators as they help you see the “lightest” strikes providing you are using a good strike indicator. My strike indicator of choice is the New Zealand strike indicator; it does not compete weight wise with your bugs, which is important as it helps prevent tangled messes that can happen during your cast. Additionally, being a piece of surgical tubing and lamb’s wool, it acts like a small parachute and gently comes down on the water and does not splash. That is important when targeting areas with spooky fish, other indicators I have tried smack/splash the water and the fish takes off. Another feature about this strike indicator is the ability to adjust the depth without it curling your line. You can easily adjust it, which is important as you want the ability to start off deep in the morning and as the bio mass raises in the water, you can adjust your depth to keep your bugs in the bio mass thus increasing your chances of a take.


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## TheCream (Mar 19, 2009)

I'd second the NZ indicators, they are pretty slick. I actually made my own NZ tool by modifying a sewing needle and use small tube fly junction tubing to secure the wool or indicator yarn to the leader. It's a great system for the reasons mentioned above.


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## flyman01 (Jan 23, 2013)

A neat story about this strike indicator. About nine years ago, I was fishing the Clinch River and met a guy named Barry, we had a great time conversing with one another that afternoon. A couple of years later, ran into him once again on the Clinch and he wanted to show me a strike indicator that he had developed and was marketing…..the NZ strike indicator and his website was Strikeindicator.com. I was very impressed with it, I asked if Barry would send me some and I would introduce them to the fly shops I patronize down toward my place in SE Tennessee. He sent me a box of these indicators, in return I took a packet to each of the fly shop’s and demonstrated it and they all placed orders for the set up that very day. Barry has a summer home out in NZ but is a Tennessee boy and resides here in the state; He is a great guy and certainly came up with a unique system that has taken off and revolutionized the strike indicator industry in my opinion.


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## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

18inchBrown said:


> I do a lot of nymph fishing in the LMR for smallies and in the Mad for trout. I do not use indicators. I hold the flyline between my thumb and index finger as it drifts. I feel the strike and easily set the hook. When I am going for smallies I don't think I ever miss a strike without a hookup. The most smallies I have caught in a day was about 12.
> Fishing for trout is different. The current in the Mad has been so strong this summer that I fish down and across. I can feel the strike and when it's a chub or sucker I hookup almost all the time. Of course I catch 8 chubs per trout. The trout strike is fast and hard. I miss half the strikes. I know, how do I know I am missing trout. Well when you get a trout strike it is hard and forceful. I can tell.
> My question,should I react faster and raise the rod or would a drifting strike indicator do anything. Do you see a strike before you can feel it? I missed 3 or 4 nice strikes today on the Mad that P*ssed me off. I threw my LMR goddess today in a deep hole for the h*ll of it. I hooked up with a fish for about 10 seconds. It was very big! There are big trout in the Mad river.
> I am a self taught fly fisherman so you guys that are on here who are very good fly fisherman what do you say?


Strike indicator or not may not help you hook up more trout during a swing. It's taken me 8 or 9 years of experimenting, and here is what I learned. 

1. tension on the line goes both ways. If you "feel" the trout they also feel you. You will not hook up unless they inhale the fly.
2. cast, land flies, straighten leader in one motion. then leave a little slack below your rodtip just above the water. Focus on the transition from flyline to leader during the swing. you will see it move as the fish strikes. The slack allows the fish to commit without feeling you. 
3. As you see the strike, turn rod to stream bank away from current and tighten line with other hand. Fish on most of the time now. Some of the trout (steelhead) will grab line and run with it, easy hook up because they didn't feel you.

I finally learned this during last steelhead season. My hook up ratio on bumps went from 1 : 8 to now its been 6 or more in 8. Feeling much better about the swing. I was always able to get a number of bumps, but frustrating not getting them on the line.

Rickerd


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## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

that strikeindicator.com site has a great idea. when I do use an indi, it is usually ultra slow water and I only use yarn indi's now or a dry fly.
Rickerd


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## rickerd (Jul 16, 2008)

Has anyone tried the "slinky" indi by RIO or made one with their line? Looks like a great tool for swinging and dead drifting.
Rickerd


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