Penns Creek Angler

Bruce Fisher

Article Dec 2008 (Strike Indicators)

Call them strike indicators, bobbers, floats or whatever you want but they help you catch fish. I fished Penns for 29 years without one and now I would not even think of hitting the water without some indicators in my vest pocket. My choice is an indicator called a “fish pimp” and its one of the best on the market. They are high floating, aerodynamic and you hardly notice them on your leader. To top that off they come in several colors, chartreuse, red and white. Chartreuse is best seen in low light conditions, red is for daytime fishing and white is for the spring creeks where the trout are very spooky. An added bonus is you can take a sharpie marker and color on side of the white indicator to whatever color you can see best. An indicator doesn’t just tell you a fish has taken the fly it has many more functions. If the indicator bounces up and down during the drift it tells you that your fly is too close to the bottom of the creek. If you learn to watch the indicator it will tell you when your fly is skirting around a rock. It will also tell you when a fish has come to look at your fly and turns quickly and looses interest in your offering. I usually fish three flies under my indicator so this is very important information. When I see the indicator bouncing I know I am too near the bottom and I simply adjust the indicator down towards the flies until the indicator stops bouncing. In the case of rocks and there are hundreds in any creek when I see the indicator hesitate for a second and then I see it do it again and then a third time I know there is a rock there. There is an old saying on Penns “when you find a big rock you will find big fish”. I will now work the rock on all sides until I catch a fish or move on. Remember every stretch of water has a different depth and rocks are placed everywhere. When the indicator goes in kind of a circle very quickly I know a fish has come to look at my flies, in this case I may change the size of my fly or change to a different fly all together. When your indicator floats just like the air bubbles in the creek your indicator is either working as it should or you are too far off the bottom. But this is rarely the case when the indicator floats just like everything on the water you are usually at the depth you should be at. If your indicator just stops especially in fast water strike, it will either be a fish or a snag. If you get snagged simply loosen your line and walk back upstream and gently giggle you flies loose. Don’t pull hard you will just dig the fly deeper into the snag. I use 3x fluorocarbon for my winter nymph fish because I can get my flies back but dropping to 4x is sometimes needed on fussy fish but you will get fewer flies back. So fishing a bobber isn’t just for kids. You will learn many things if you keep your eye on the indicator, you may even learn some new stuff not mentioned in this article. When fishing in the winter its best to take a buddy and leave and extra set of dry clothes in the car and please use a wading staff.

Good fishing to all, now is the best time to learn nymph fishing with a “bobber”.  

 “Catch you Later”

Bruce Fisher