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