Strike Indicators

Love them or loathe them, strike indicators can be a great help in detecting takes when nymphing, especially in rough water. These days they come in all shapes and sizes, from small tufts of yarn to large fuzz balls, from small dry flies to bobbers that look like mini golf balls.

Suspending a nymph underneath a dry fly is one of the most common indicator systems throughout NZ (known as dry-dropper). It is effective in a lot of shallow water situations, and many anglers don't find the need to use anything else. However, it has its limitations in faster water, or with heavier nymphs, which tend to sink the dry quickly. Summer anglers will change out the regular dry for a larger cicada or hopper pattern (hopper-dropper), which can handle slightly heavier nymphs.

- Dry-Dropper

- Hopper-Dropper

Yarn indicators add significant versatility to an angler's 'arsenal' of techniques. On rivers like the Tongariro, the proclivity is to use giant yarn indicators in bright colours (not dissimilar to canaries in flight when viewed from a distance), but I tend to prefer significantly smaller indicators for most of my nymphing. Astute anglers vary the size and colour of an indicator to match the depth and turbulence of the water to be fished, the brightness of the day, the angle of the sun and the wariness of the trout being fished.

It is not uncommon to place the indicator at the join between line and leader, but outside fishing deep pools and runs, this often puts it too far away from the fly to quickly detect strikes, and consequently, many subtle takes are missed.

I prefer to place mine part-way along the leader according to the depth and speed of the water. For this I form a simple slip-knot in the leader (not a single over-hand granny knot, as this will break easily), slip a small amount of yarn into the loop and slide the slip-knot closed, pinching and rolling the base of the indicator so that it sits up nicely on the water. As a rule, the indicator is set to approximately one-and-half times the intended fishing depth above the top nymph and can be extended to two times the water depth when using heavier flies in very fast water.

My guide to indicator size and colour is a blend of opposite concepts. Use the biggest indicator you can get away with, balanced against the smallest indicator you can still see efficiently while using the brightest indicator that doesn’t spook the trout, balanced against the most subtle colour that is still clearly visible. My favourite colours for prospecting are either burnt orange or light green polypropylene yarns. Both colours are easily visible in most waters, and from experience are less likely to spook trout than the bright red, yellow and chartreuse material generally sold commercially as indicator material. Of course if you primarily only fish to ‘dumb trout’ the brightness of the colour won’t make any difference!

In recent years attaching an indicator into your leader system has been greatly aided by the introduction of the New Zealand Strike Indicator Tool, which I can recommend to anglers who are new to using strike indicators, or are not confident in their knots. This tool makes it very easy to attach an indicator anywhere along your leader.

On dull days I combine a slip of both materials to form a bi-coloured indicator, which helps attract the eye to one colour or the other where it might have difficulty picking out just a single colour.

Red or black indicators are useful in difficult light. Whenever the sun is low in my face early morning or late afternoon, I resort to a red indicator. While it potentially risks spooking a few trout, red shows up clearly when back-lit by the late afternoon sun, and takes are more readily identified. Black indicators in good light are almost invisible but, counter-intuitively maybe, they are particularly useful on those dull days when the water surface turns to quicksilver. Because they absorb all light, they appear as a visible black hole in contrast to the grey featureless surface of the water. White indicators are common, and useful under many circumstances, but I tend to find them a bit difficult to identify when fished in turbulent water or in a scum-line.

Size-wise, I seldom find the need to fish an indicator larger than my small fingernail, and often much smaller. I use the scissors on my forceps to regularly trim indicators down in size. The size of the wings on a #14 Royal Wulff dry fly is a good rule of thumb. In slightly broken water with good light, it is amazing how visible even the smallest indicators appear. Logically, when using heavy nymphs in rougher water, a larger indicator might be more appropriate, but I have seldom found the need to fish super large indicators. When the light conditions are a bit tough, too many anglers compromise their results by sticking with indicators that are too large.

Maybe the hardest call when using strike indicators, is being smart enough to recognise when NOT to use them. When it is possible to see a trout clearly, canny anglers often opt not to use an indicator to minimise the risk of spooking it, preferring instead to watch the fish’s behaviour and judge the moment of the take. If trout are observed consistently spooking on presentations using an indicator, clealy it's time to try a different approach and try fishing without them.