Nymphing Indicators

It's been forever since I have actually had the time and to be more honest, the motivation to blog. I plan on trying to update this site more. I figured I'd ease back into this with one of my favorite fishing techniques that accounts for about 90% of my tight lines. But, with so many options for nymphing what can really be constituted as the best method? It's hard to say. As usual with most fly fishing scenarios, in different situations some techniques work better than others.

Ill start talking about Indicator selection then get more in depth as time goes on:

Indicators come in all shapes and sizes, colors and styles. As a general rule they are usually teardrop, round or pill shaped, and come with a variety of attachment options. I have used probably about 50 different kinds of indicators in my quest to find the ones that suit my needs for steelheading the best. I will say firsthand, Fish Pimp indicators are the crappiest accessory to fly fishing ever invented. Actually managing to keep the indicator on the line while hooked up is more of a challenge than landing the fish.

I keep at minimum these two styles of indicators on me.

http://www.floatmasterco.net/ to me has the best indicators on the market today. They use a dense foam that will float a ton of shot with tungsten nymphs. These are developed by our friends one state to the West at Steelhead Alley Outfitters. These floats come 5 to a pack and come with some durable surgical tubing for a pegging setup. These indicators are unique because they utilize the "right angle" setup that has come into so much use for me the past 2 years. It's helpful because it keeps the fly tracking straight under the float rather than having to mend and "check" your float every 3 seconds.

I stumbled upon my second choice after a fly shop that I frequent displayed them on the front counter. What I thought looked like transparent gum balls actually turned out to be a viable choice for an indicator. Westwater's thingamabobber comes in second for a spot in my box. The best thing about these is the lightness being that it uses trapped air instead of foam. It makes a nice entry into the water with minimal disturbance. Secondly the fact that it's transparent allows light to pass through it and not cast as much of a shadow, probably looking more like a bubble rather than a solid floating down the stream. In clear water, this indicator would be an excellent choice. They can be purchased at http://www.westwaterproducts.com/.