Nymphing Without Indicators

[Xplorer]

Hey Guys,

 

I have been reading the book Water Marks by Jim McLennan and just read the section "Nymphing Without Indicators".

 

I was wondering how many actually fish this way vs using indicators, and how satisfiying it was or was not?

 

Nymphing for me has always been very hit and miss with mostly miss. I would say that 90% of my fish are caught on dries or streamers. I try nymphing everytime I go out, with different types of indicators and with no indicators. I usually give up and go back to Dries/Streamers fairly quickly. Most nymphing success(which is little) has been on smaller creeks with very little on the Bow.

 

I realize from reading many books and the posts here, that alot of fly fishing success is with nymphs. So I think I am missing out with limiting most of my fly fishing to Dries and Streamers.

 

I guess I am asking is this a method that is worth trying and sticking with or should I keep with the indicators?

 

Thanks

 

 

 

[LynnF]

Where ya fishing? On the Bow - we catch our greatest numbers on nymphs but have caught our biggest on dries or hoppers. I always go to a nymph rig until I see some sort of consistent hatch and rise going on.

 

As for fishing with no indicator - I've done it a few times and it's ALOT of fun. Forces you to pay attention more to feel the strike or soft take vs watching an indicator move. I think once you've gotten a good handle on fishing with an indicator then you should give it a try without. For me, it was just a question of figuring out what the takes felt like - especially the soft ones.

[LynnF]

I should add that I do 99% of my fishing from a boat on the Bow when I do this.

[seanbritt]

I do the majority of my fishing on the Bow with nymphs. When I see dry fly action, I switch over. Only time I really go to streamers is during runoff, when the big boys come close to shore and the water is chocolate milk. As for nymphing, I do use an indicator (thingamabobber or foam sticky), but use a combination style. I try to focus on the indicator but also feel free the strikes as well. I've also begun to try and anticipate when fish are going to strike (read that in a book or article recently-think it was "Flyfishing Western Trout Streams by McLennan). In the end, I've switched to setting the hook ANYTIME something happens with the indicator or I feel it, and noticed that this has improved the # of fish hooked into. Part of using the indicator for me is getting the depth right, so indicators sort of serve a dual purpose.

[Gil]

Hey Guys,

 

I have been reading the book Water Marks by Jim McLennan and just read the section "Nymphing Without Indicators".

 

I was wondering how many actually fish this way vs using indicators, and how satisfiying it was or was not?

 

Nymphing for me has always been very hit and miss with mostly miss. I would say that 90% of my fish are caught on dries or streamers. I try nymphing everytime I go out, with different types of indicators and with no indicators. I usually give up and go back to Dries/Streamers fairly quickly. Most nymphing success(which is little) has been on smaller creeks with very little on the Bow.

 

I realize from reading many books and the posts here, that alot of fly fishing success is with nymphs. So I think I am missing out with limiting most of my fly fishing to Dries and Streamers.

 

I guess I am asking is this a method that is worth trying and sticking with or should I keep with the indicators?

 

Thanks

My introduction to fly fishing was first with nymphing and for a couple of years I did nothing but. Even though I now love dry, the majority of my fish are still caught while nymphing. I've played with indicator free but felt I missed too many stricks. However, I do know a couple of good fisherman that it seems to work for.

 

A couple of suggestions for your consideration:

- If you want to nymph the banks during a float, forget the standard indicator and use a hopper or other terestial as your indicator (e.g. hopper-dropper) Can by highly productive even if it isn't hopper season.

- Focus on getting your weight right. Make sure you are on the bottom without dredging it.

- I like putting my bottom nymph close to your weights ( 4 inches). Others may suggest a much longer section such as 12 - 16 inches, but I just don't believe it's an effecive way to put you on the bottom.

- Pay attention to line control.

- Strike at everything that so much as twitches.

- Your leader length should be ~ twice the depth you are fishing.

- Use two flies. This suggestion may get a few negative comments thrown at me, however it's effective...

 

Good luck.

[jksnijders]

 

I do once in a while, but I often dredge bottom pretty hard with alot of weight so usually indicators work better. With a pretty visible tipped high-floating line and a long tippet, it works pretty well. I've found it to be a pretty short range game though simply because it's harder to see the line farther out. Watch your line tip, if it does anything out of the ordinary, as an indicator, slam it, obviously. I've found it works really well for dead-drifting woolly buggers, you'll see your line duck on the take, and pow... I, for the longest time, was the same way as far as sticking to dries and streamers but forced myself to fish nymphs, some days extensively. I'm alot more comfortable, and catch alot more fish (in my terms, that is..) that way now. Some of the biggest fish I've caught, in the most difficult places, were on big nymphs. Pretty satisfying to set the hook and have a knuckle-busting run on your hands before you even know what the hell happened.

[Xplorer]

Hi again everyone,

 

Lynn I am mostly talking about fishing the bow, but some smaller rivers, Elbow, Oldman, Livingstone and Quirk Creek.

 

When I started flyfishing in 1980(on the bow) all I did (and most everybody else) was dryfly. That got me through to the 90's, then my flyfishing time went way down due to Career, Mortgage, Marriage etc. Started again in 2000 and been doing more each year. The rivers, fish and bugs have changed alot so I figured it was time to get good at nymphing.

 

So, with that being said, I need all the help I can get.

 

Thanks for the tips/advice guys, keep'em coming

[maxwell]

look up czech or polish nymphing dude! it is a great short range style of nymphing that i do when fishing the water close too teh banks... boudlers along cliff like areas , seams closer too shore.. befor ei move further out with indicators and things like that ... im not much on teh long line nymphing without indicators but i know a few who do!

[reevesr1]

If you are doing some sort of tight line nymphing, then fishing by feel or watching the end of your fly line is easier. But if you are dead/drag free drifting, fishing by feel is effectively impossible due to the fact there will certainly be slack. You can still use your fly line, or sometimes even your leader as the "indicator", but you really need to pay attention.and if you are fishing much weight this is even harder.

 

But to your question as to whether you should stick with indicators-

I find it overall more effective, but as someone else said, Ive seen people be very effective without them as well. But frankly, the best fishermen I fish with use them much more than they dont.

 

[SilverDoctor]

I grew up fishing nymphs without an indicator since the early 60's. Most often fish with a tight line technique if nymphing. I tend to add an indicator only on large rivers like the Bow and only when fishing seams that are too far out there where a good drift is not possible.

[Guest JayVee]

I'm still very much a newbie to fly fishing. My limited experience notwithstanding I'll add this to the discussion. I nymph fish almost exclusively without an indicator (thanks Max) and I've had many double digit days since February. Like others have said though, it does take some practice and getting used to. I've rigged up a couple of newbies without an indicator and they have been very uncomfortable with it, as I was when I first started. But I stuck with it and it has paid off big time. Strike detection is more difficult but I have gotten a lot better at that this year. Lately I've been long-line nymphing without an indicator (I believe that's different from Czech nymphing?) and I've been having a lot of fun with that. Mending line is a little more difficult at long distances as is obtaining a drag free drift but I've been catching lots of fish out further. You do, unfortunately, lose more flies this way, but again, I've been doing better with that lately. As you fish your spots more and more you get to learn where mot to cast. There's a dozen or so triple nymph rigs of mine on this one rock in Fish Creek!

 

Indicator fishing is very effective also. All the guys I've fished with have used an indicator and they caught lots of fish. It's just personal preference I guess.

 

All this talk about my favorite fly fishing technique has got me pumped! Is it Friday yet?

 

-N-

[johnbransfield]

I will be doing a few Czech/Polish(call it what you want) nymphing clinics again in July to fundraise for our youth teams trip over to the czech this summer. I will post something on here when I have dates figured out. So if your interested watch the board in the next couple of weeks I should have some dates posted at the very latest by mid-may.

 

John

[toolman]

I've done lots of nymphing without indicators, often in the dark. High sticking at night will really force you into paying attention to your other senses.

[zed]

in bc if a stream is designated "fly fish only" it means no indicators or split shot, no choice but to learn.

[126barnes]

Most trout water i fish is small to tiny, and on the big water I usually fish the pockets cus everyone else (elbow to elbow), camps in the well defined water. Tryed a indy once, didn't like it, don't use them.

[theiceman2]

With long line nymphing you can access seeams not so close to shore, and get the fly right down to the fish to entice a take. Next time you are Bass Pro take notice of when its feeding time in the tank. Lots of times the fish will take the food and spit it out multiple times before taking it. The indicator lets you see these "tastes" and hook in! If you long line nymph with out an indicator you will be missing these takes and be less productive. It takes a but of practice and patience to learn to cast with the indicator but it will pay dividens in the long run in the number of fish you land.

 

Three keys to nymphing: Get your fly down, fish areas where the fast currents and slow water intersect (seams), let you line drift as naturally as you can with no drag so you indicator floats at the same speed as the a leaf on the water.

 

[Xplorer]

 

Thanks everyone.

 

Great advice and pointers. I will give nymphing more time/effort from now on. I think I am going to try without the indicator more than with, but time will tell.