Strike Indicators

I try very hard to avoid using strike indicators, but when I do need one, I don't use anything fancy, just the little styrofoam slip on ones you can pick up pretty much in any tackle shop.  I have even used the ones you can put the glo sticks in.  They seem to work fine.

i make my own...
i had a post about them a few weeks back...
http://globalflyfisher.com/fishbetter/indicators/

if you are fishing for smart fish... hard indicators scare them... you need something with a softer sillouette...
 

hard indicators don't seem to scare the 1,000+ trout and steelies I catch every year.  I have my source for good cheap ones - but they are all out now...

pxa, the ones that kjh makes are out of poly yarn. they do sell these in stores and they're great in slower water and drifted unweited or light weithed flies. i do use them sometimes. draw backs. you need to dab some fly floatent on them, in the winter fly floatent is hard. i found the neon or red and white bobbers scare the spookie fish and harder to detect soft hits and the steelies will feel the resistance from the bobbers. i use simple corks you can get at trader horn in a pkg. of different sizes. either cut a slit towards the middle. you can use a short tooth pick to hold your line tight OR get some of the spinner wire with eyes people make spinners with. cut these to lengh, push it all the way thru the cork and bend the snipped wire. loop your tippet thru the eye on the other end and use a split shot or lead matchstick to hold in place. the cork doesn't scare the fish, it looks like a stick floating. you can paint the top for better vis. if you want. just a suggestion. ~dt

I'll try some of these out. I never liked styrofoam or plastic indicators, and how they land/look in the water sometimes. I'm always looking to learn new tricks and try something new.
 
They seem really cheap and easy to make also.

Yeah I read that awhile back also.... thought provoking

ALSO...
balloons work well for stained water... and are the BEST for showing light strikes...

I have never personally used one... but have fished with others who swear by them...
i watched the slightest twitches showing with the balloon... never sink... good visability... can suspend a lot of shot...

Yeah but with ballons and a little wind, I would imagine that is would be hard casting and it would be somewhat like a sail on the water.

I read your article too and it is BS.  Just my opinion dude.  You can have whatever opinion you want.  I just know what I've always used in a variety of conditions for different species of fish. 
It is all how you work it and what you work it with brother...
 
Wild Montana browns - 6 of us busted 100 per day this past summer using the indicators (hard) we've used for years.  Guides had their clients throwing balloons and yarn and I can't say I ever saw any of them hook a fish...  :)
 
 

I'm sure he meant 100 fish per day between six guys...... I was there and thats a conservative estimate.
 
It's all preference some of the hard indi's are small enough to fish absolutly gin clear conditions... and if you are saavy enough you can detect the slightest take...
 
 Just my opinion.

it would be great if you didn't have to use an idicator EVER...
but that not realistic...
IMO... someone worth their salt knows when and how to use them...
if you want to sit on your high-horse claiming never having to use a "bobber"... fine


this thread isn't questioning indicator vs. no idicator...

it is looking to see what is best...

I only use indicators in deep holes or if I am using a single nymph.  Over the years I have found that a short piece of amnesia (red) - about 6 to 8 inches- tied to the end of the fly line can serve well as an indicator.  I attach my leader to the amnesia and then the tippet to the leader.  I just started using furled leaders and so far like them a lot.
 
Anyway, I watch the red amnesia and when it stops or moves "funny", I pick up and feel for a fish.  Surprisingly, it works pretty well.
 
One trick I learned in low and clear conditions is to tie on a bright glo bug or sucker spawn and then tie a nymph on as a dropper.  What I do is then watch the glo bug or sucker spawn as it moved through the water and when it stops, I lift the rod.  I guess the glo bug or sucker spawn are under water indicators, plus sometimes the fish will hit them.
 
One last thing is the amount of weight you use.  I know I sound like a broken record, but more often than not, I have found that small adjustment in weight means the difference between catching fish or not catching fish.  If you have the right amount of weight, and a short drift, I have found indicators are not necessary and may even mess up the drift. 
 
Now if we want to talk about float fishing with a drift rod, well.....  It is all about the float....

BUGHAWK, NEVER THOUGHT OF USING A GLO-BUG underwater as an indicator with a nymph! good one. i like it for steelies.... ~dt

LOL   I still swear by the Snoopy Floats 

http://www.trollingbobber.com/