The lazy way

[Anderoo]

That darstadly cad Steve W tricked me into using sight indicators. Before that I was a proud and noble fly angler, able to hold my head high and my heart pure. Now I am a shell of a man, twisted and cruel. But I catch LOTS more trout now

 

The ability to hold your flies at a specific depth together with instant indication of a take makes the method really effective. It also makes you realise how many times your flies are taken and spat out when you don't use one! I first tried using one while fishing at Farmoor with Steve, and have since also used one at a little Thames tributary to fool a wild brown that was taking mayfly nymphs a few inches under the surface. Without the indicator, and with a turbulent surface, I couldn't tell when the fly had been taken.

 

The result was this fine fellow:

 

For flies, buzzers are the clear favourite, but I have also picked up fish on little hare's ears and pheasant tails, and also various sedge patterns.

 

Some takes are rod-wrenchers, but most are like float fishing - you have to strike at the right moment, which can result in coffee poured down your lap and sandwiches dropped in the lake

[Tony U]

Anderoo

I would not feel too guilty about the Thames tributary fish; sight indicators were developed for just that scenario. It is when you see anglers fishing with indicators the size of pike bungs, that can be seen from the fishery car park, in small put and take waters that gets me mad. Why can't they just watch the end of their floating flyline and adjust the leader length and weight of fly to account for the depth.

Tony

Edited January 11, 2011 by Tony U

[Anderoo]

Anderoo

I would not feel too guilty about the Thames tributary fish; sight indicators were developed for just that scenario. It is when you see anglers fishing with indicators the size of pike bungs, that can be seen from the fishery car park, in small put and take waters that gets me mad. Why can't they just watch the end of their floating flyline and adjust the leader length and weight of fly to account for the depth.

Tony

 

The same reason people fish tiny ponds full of small carp with 3 strong rods, bite alarms and big pit reels...

 

When I subscribed to online fishing TV, I watched all the New Zealand fly fishing videos on there - fishing for big, wild trout in really remote, rocky, shallow rivers and streams. A sight indicator is a key part of their nymphing.

[Steve Walker]

That darstadly cad Steve W tricked me into using sight indicators. Before that I was a proud and noble fly angler, able to hold my head high and my heart pure. Now I am a shell of a man, twisted and cruel. But I catch LOTS more trout now

 

This is my new fly fishing outfit:

 

 

Mwah ha ha ha!

[Newt]

Balsa wood body - generally called "popping bugs" because the concave face will make a nice little popping sound when you twitch it.

 

 

[Steve Walker]

Aren't those sometimes spun deer hair, Newt?

[Newt]

Popping Bugs - the ones I've used all have a similar body of balsa with the concave front surface so you can twitch them and it will make a slight noise and disturb the water a little. The dressing is usually some sort of inexpensive feathers. They can be fished single but for bluegills are normally used with a sinking dropper fly under them. Takes tend to be about 5-1 or 10-1 on the dropper but a hit on the bug is certainly more exciting.

 

For bluegills, the normal dropper is a foam black ant body with white rubber legs and the generic term for them is breamer - probably because members of the sunfish family the bluegill belongs to are usually called Bream over here although there are easily a half-dozen or more different fish in this area and over most of the southern US.

[Anderoo]

Not to be confused with Pooping Bugs, which are more related to excess amounts of red wine and lamb madras

[Steve Walker]

I was thinking of this kind of thing:

 

 

Youtube Video ->

 

Youtube Video ->

[Leon Roskilly]

Thanks for your replies guys.

 

There's some interesting things to think about and to try there.

 

I've ordered some of the Grauval line (9lbs, I was going to go higher as well, but I will wait and see what I think of it first).

 

And I've got a whole box of boobies (part of an ebay purchase) to decorate the trees around the lakes I fish, and the grass behind me

 

So, I'm thinking of starting with a booby on the point and a couple of buzzers on droppers.

 

Which leads me to another question, is it better to fish identical buzzers, or two different ones to see which the trout prefer?