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In the third part of this critical nymphing concepts series, we consider the advantages and disadvantages of fishing with a suspender.
We cover the following
- Indicator styles and why the type matters
- Not all indicators are created equal
- Choosing tight line or indy, or combing both
- What you lose by adding and indy
- What you gain by adding an indy
- Complications of an indy style
- What is commonly missed when using an indy
- Reading an indicator
- A few more tips . . .
Resources
READ: Troutbitten | It’s a Suspender, Not Just an Indicator
PODCAST: Troutbitten | Nymphing Tight Line to the Indicator Style — Tight Line Advantage to the Indicator
READ: Troutbitten | The Backing Barrel Might Be the Best Sighter Ever
READ: Troutbitten | Tight Line to the Indicator — a Mono Rig Variant
READ: Troutbitten | Your Indicator is Too Big
READ: Troutbitten | The Dorsey Yarn Indicator — Everything You Need to Know and a Little More
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Season Ten of the Troutbitten Podcast continues next week with episode four. So look for that in your Troutbitten podcast feed.
Fish hard, friends.
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Enjoy the day.
Domenick Swentosky
T R O U T B I T T E N
domenick@troutbitten.com
Thank you for this podcast. I started fly fishing after retirement at 70 yrs old and am lucky enough to fish in English chalk streams thanks to an angling society. It took me nearly two years to catch my first wild brown trout, but it was worth the wait and learning process. Your podcast is both informative and useful. Thank you both.
Thanks, Robin. I’m glad you connected.
Cheers.
Dom
Say good bye to tungsten say hello to drop shot the old bass technique works very well with trout
Hi MIke.
I really enjoy drop shot nymphing, and I do it a lot. I published a six-part series on drop shot tactics, found here:
https://troutbitten.com/category/drop-shot-nymphing/
Personally, I’d never give up tungsten beads, weighted flies or traditional split shot tactics either. Drop shot just doesn’t work all the time as well as the other tactics. Likewise, the other way around.
Cheers.
Dom
A good principle I’ve picked up from stillwater (thanks Phil Rowley) is the deeper the indicator is set, the closer you should fish it.
The reason for applying this in stillwater is for reaction time – the indication of a take is delayed in proportion to the distance between the fly and the indicator. If you fish too far away, you don’t have enough time to set the hook before the fish has spit the fly out. This effect is stronger when you introduce currents that obscure the connection between indicator and fly, particularly if you fish deeper.
Good stuff. I understand your points. However . . .
I tend to fish further away when I’m fishing deeper, simply because I probably can’t wade the water. I always have the mindset to get as close as I can. And if I’m having to set an indy deep, I likely can’t wade very close to the target either.
Make sense?
Dom
For sure. It’s better to fish and risk a miss than to not fish at all. In a river you also have the benefit of it being harder for the fish to spit the fly because of the tension between the indi, tippet and fly generated by the current.
Agreed
I love your podcast and articles. You have literally changed my life.
Everything in the same lane is so Vimportant. I have no idea how to do that???
Gratefully.
Doug
Hi Doug. I love hearing that. Glad you found Troutbitten. Hey, I never leave you hanging with stuff. I almost always have supporting resources to help you out. So, to get everything in one lane, it starts with your angle and approach to the water.
Article for that is here:
https://troutbitten.com/2021/06/20/1-angle-and-approach-nine-essential-skills-for-tight-line-and-euro-nymphing/
Podcast for that is here:
https://troutbitten.com/2022/01/16/podcast-angle-and-approach-tight-line-skills-series-1/
Make sense?
Dom
Hey, Dom. I’m a little behind on the podcasts, so just finished this one up this morning. Loved it as I love them all.
Question: You talk about how one of the benefits of fishing with an indy is that it does a great job laterally (in terms of lane-to-lane) of keeping you in the right lane, provided you’ve cast it properly. Makes sense. But I’m wondering: Does fishing an indy put you at risk of creating drag VERTICALLY, in terms of column-to-column? We know the water column is moving differently 4 inches off the bed as it’s moving four inches under the surface, yes? Can’t one make the argument that the faster-moving surface water will unnaturally pull the fly faster than it should be traveling in that slower water just above the bed, thereby creating drag between columns? Apologies if you’ve already addressed this. And for the record, I love fishing with an indy. I just happened to have this thought this morning. Thank you, my friend.
Hi Mark. Good question. My short answer is NO! If things are set up well, then the Indy is bossed around much more by the nymphs below than the surface currents. Your question reveals one of the biggest misconceptions about indicators. It’s a bad assumption that I’ve seen people make full videos about — that the Indy has to go surface speed because that’s where it’s sitting. But that is simply not true.
With the right rig, intentional casting and awareness, we can read the Indy just like we read the sighter.
Here’s the article you need:
https://troutbitten.com/2018/10/17/nymphing-how-to-read-a-fly-fishing-indicator-what-you-might-be-missing/
Cheers.
Dom
Ah. I didn’t consider “the slow down.” Fantastic. Makes perfect sense. Thank you.
Cheers