Wondering if this whole piece is just about the topic of “bite indicators” as depicted in the header image? Let me put your mind to rest, NO! What I’m discussing here, is more about bite indication, the various forms we may use and important factors to consider in getting it right.
To put the importance of bite detection into perspective, take a look at this video (all links open in a new tab so you can come back here easy). Okay, the implications of the 1st cast are we miss a fish. The implications of the 2nd cast are “it ain’t taking that fly again anytime soon”. Add in this feature I wrote a while back and it may not be only one fish that ignores your fly! All of a sudden it’s glaringly obvious, how easy it is to blank, if we don’t change things regularly (I hope you can see, not always the fly). When water and light conditions prevent you viewing the fish, which let’s face it occurs on most waters, this whole scenario becomes compounded.
A general; rule of thumb for detecting bites is, the further away from a fly being taken bite detection occurs, the more bites are undetected/missed. So theoretically, whenever an angler can see their fly/fish, we have a potential for 100% bite detection (in reality that does not happen but we can get close with practice). From that perfect situation, bite detection performance falls off very quickly, especially if we don’t do anything to optimise for it (or at least try to). Remember the 2 links above?
So what can we do, when it’s not possible to see a fish eat our fly? I’m going to deal with this in 2 scenarios, 1st using a floating line, 2nd a sinking line.
Using a floating line, it makes sense in some situations to try and detect takes at a point in the leader as close to the fly as is practicable for how we are fishing. This is typically when we are fishing a fly very slowly (a fly moving faster, often hooks fish as they take). In some instances colouring and greasing sections of your leader is our best option. This is not just for euro nymphing rivers, it applies to many lake scenarios too! Another option, when fishing with more than one fly, is rigging a sunk fly under a dry fly. This approach has many names over time. Those that come to mind include wry fly, duo, New Zealand dropper, among others, it’s all the same. When a fish eats the dry, you see it, when it eats a sunk fly, your dry becomes an indicator! Multi fly rigs also have an added bonus which you can see here. Finally where you are restricted to a single fly, need weight in the rig, are fishing rough water conditions, have some form of physical restriction, a combination of the above and/or something I’ve missed, we can attach one of the many and varied buoyant indicators to our leader. Another simple rule of thumb for this is “use the smallest indicator that enables you to achieve the presentation you are aiming for“. The bigger the indicator, the more disturbance it makes, the more obvious it is (fish learn what they are, just like flies) and the greater resistance a taking fish may feel, leads to an increase in ejection speed (it can also act positively, increasing the number of fish hooking themselves at times). When any form of indication within a leader is impractical, e.g. often when using a faster retrieve with a streamer, we can watch the end of our fly line. Where this is not possible, watching the line loop off the end of your rod tip works, before we finally arrive at feeling a pull. By the time we get to this in most situations, you are not seeing/missing the majority of takes occurring.
Fishing a sunk line means for the most part, you won’t see a fish eat your fly or see a take in your line, until you get to watching a loop of line off the end of your rod. There are exceptions to that statement, and my initial rule of thumb for bite detection should be applied accordingly. Sometimes the only option, indeed the best option is to feel for a take. Does this mean we have to miss out on huge numbers of bites? No. Anglers have created many approaches and rigging systems over time to increase the potential for take detection and self hooking of fish through speed/ tension in the line. Rigs like the “washing line” for example. A lot of takes still go unnoticed, so knowing that is also a positive, keep changing what/how you are fishing to give them something different!
Hopefully this helps you think about “indication” to enhance your fly fishing. Can I also make a personal request, to consider ethics. With modern equipment, methods and practice, we can become efficient in the extreme. It’s not for me to tell anyone how they should fish or how many is enough. I would encourage everyone to periodically ask themselves some questions though. It’s healthy for both our sport and our own enjoyment of it!
Have fun!
SJY