What's your best strike indicator fly?

[Obi 0]

Hi eberybody!

 

Someone here fishing a dry fly/dropper combination for trout? Yes, I suppose.........

 

What is your best strik indicator fly pattern? Pictures, material lists or links on a step-by-step or so would be just great! I also wonder if you ever picked up a fish with your indocator fly?

 

 

Thanks in advance!

 

 

Best,

 

Obi

[flytire 0]

elk hair caddis

[Rolf Jacobsen 0]

elk hair caddis

Yep..............

[joman 0]

Hoppers

[shoebop 0]

I fish a tandem rig quite often. My favorite is a Stimulator with a weighted nymph. Three times I have had double hookups with a tandem setup.

 

Size? That depends on conditions. Rather than make the dry big enough to float with the nymph I make the nymph small (light) enough not to sink the dry. In my mind, the dry is the primary fly in the tandem rig. If I get a take on the dropper, that's a bonus. MY "indicator" is not just an indicator. That's why I don't use hoppers as an indicator...unless hoppers are on the menu that day.

[Crackaig 0]

Known here as "Klink and Dink". Fished it a lot. Originally a Klinkhamer was used, hence the name. I've three flies I use for the indicator fly. It depends on how heavy the dink is, and how rough the water. Klinkhamer, of course, Balloon Caddis, and Humpy. All are well known patterns.

 

Yes I have had many, many fish to the dry when fishing this way.

Cheers,

C.

[Obi 0]

Dear all,

 

thank you so much for your replies so far!

 

Since the topic of dry & dropper -fishing is new to me: Could you please indicate what hook-size you use for your indicator-flies? They must be fairly big, I suppose. Otherwise they won't support - say - a BH hare's ear in size 12....... No?

 

 

Thanks & Best,

 

Obi

[JoeBillingsley 0]

I also mostly use a Stimulator. Almost all of my trout fishing is done in small, pretty fast moving streams and I'll use one down to a #16 with no problem. It's as effective a dry fly as there is in those streams most of the time and a #16 will support all but the heaviest of large nymphs. For example, a #14 Copper John is absolutely no problem.

 

Joe

[cheech 0]

This is my all time favorite for summer fishing. It will hang a lot of tungsten.

 

It's called the Unsinkabeetle

 

 

[mikechell 0]

Obi ... re-read Shoebop's answer. As he states, and this is good advise ... determine what you are using as the nymph (Sinking fly). That will determine the size of the indicator fly. There's no need to use a "Catfish bobber" on a "bluegill bait". A #20 Zebra Midge might be suspended below a #20 foam beetle.

 

That's where the fun of experimentation comes in.

[whatfly 0]

Thingamabobber.

 

Guess I have a minority view of the whole hopper/dropper or klink/dink process. If you are going to nymph, nymph. If you are going to dry fly, dry fly. Mixing the two always struck me as indecisive. If there are working fish, I'd always rather fish a dry, and if there are not, a bobber is a much more versatile tool than a high maintenance dry fly, but that's just my opinion, of course. The one exception might be if I were floating an emerger, soft hackle, or very small dry. In those situations, a large dry can be somewhat useful, but even then I'm more likely to result to a Palsa indicator than dry fly. YMMV.

[cheech 0]

Thingamabobber.

 

Guess I have a minority view of the whole hopper/dropper or klink/dink process. If you are going to nymph, nymph. If you are going to dry fly, dry fly. Mixing the two always struck me as indecisive. If there are working fish, I'd always rather fish a dry, and if there are not, a bobber is a much more versatile tool than a high maintenance dry fly, but that's just my opinion, of course. YMMV.

I have had many days when I'll be nymphing with an indicator, and a huge fish comes up and engulfs my indicator. That fish is always what seems like the biggest of the day, so dry dropper isn't indecisive. It's more like double dipping and fishing for both the sub surface feeders, and the fish that only want a bug on top.

[starsky 0]

Klink n dink for me! But in really rough water Elk hair caddis takes some beating. G&H sedge is great as well.

[Piker20 0]

Dont only fish a nymph either. A dry off a dry can be great. Or a stuck in the film drowned dry anyway. My favourite is one of these off a humpy.

 

One thing I'm not keen on is tying the dropper line to the bend of the first fly. I fish them on a dropper or I tie a humpy or a klink with a small loop of 10lb braid along the shank, loop projecting over the bend of the hook and then I can attach a dropper to this loop. I find this leaves the first hook more open to hooking a fish than if the line is tied to it.

[JSzymczyk 0]

I use a foam bodied bug similar to cheech. Floats all day and holds up more weight than any other type of dry I know of.