The Pros and Cons of Using Indicators
By Beau Beasley


Winter usually means cold blustery days and little hatch activity for fly anglers. With that being the case many fly anglers nymph, or fish sub-surface patterns using an indicator. The problem with indicators is where to start and how to use them effectively. I recently came across a new type of indicator on the market and I spent some time picking the brain of an indicator designer and I was shocked at how much I

learned from him. Let’s take a look at some of the pros and cons of indicators, which are used frequently in winter fish.

Indicators come in a seemingly endless variety of colors, shapes and sizes. They may be made of rubber, yarn, hard or soft foam, putty, cork, plastic—and in some cases guides even hand-tie small balloons to their clients’ leaders. Steve Vorkapich of Float Master Indicators, a confirmed steelhead addict, created his brand of indicator because he saw a need for something new: “There are some good commercial indicators out there, but I felt that many were too complicated to use and simply would not stay on their leader. Each season I saw more new guys struggling with their rigs streamside and fighting with their gear instead of fighting fish. I wanted to create an indicator that was easy for anglers to use, wouldn’t slip no matter how many times you cast it in a day, and didn’t cause damage to the leader.” To use a Float Master indicator, you simply fold your leader over and push it through the center of the indicator and secure it with a small piece of rubber. This simple process allows you to move the indicator easily but makes it nearly impossible for the indicator to move itself. The small piece of rubber also doubles as a shock absorber for that last-minute bolt by fish not willing to go quietly into a net. Other methods of securing indicators to leaders include using wooden pegs or twisted rubber, placing the leader in grooves within the indicator itself, adding or subtracting putty, and placing pre-cut adhesive foam strips on the leader.

Those of us who could use an indicator but can’t bear the thought of “cheating” may use a large dry fly as an indicator—and tell ourselves all the while that it is not a de facto indicator. I’ll come clean and admit that I’ve successfully used a dry fly in this way myself a number of times out west, particularly on the Deschutes and the South Fork of the Snake. Using a dry fly with a dropper pattern, such as a small nymph, allows anglers twice the opportunity to land a fish. More often than not, however, fish hit the dropper pattern and not the dry fly. And let’s face reality, folks: A dry fly with a dropper is in fact an indicator. A rose by any other name, and all that.

How Low You Should Go
So how do you set the depth of your indicator? The rule of thumb is twice the depth of the area you are fishing; a couple of other factors, however, come into play. First, one factor in particular regulates the depth of your indicator: the speed of the current. As you might imagine, the faster the current, the greater the need for depth. You’ll also need to add split shot or find another way of sinking your pattern. Give it a few casts and then adjust as needed to get your pattern situated properly.

Current speed is most important to take into account when setting your indicator, but you must also consider the depth of your fishing lane. As luck would have it, fish often stay in the lowest part of the river or creek seeking the safety of water for cover. Incidentally, you may also find large rocks or other debris like fallen trees—or, unfortunately, old tires and other large refuse items—in this deeper part of the water. Fish love the river bottom’s irregular indentions and also its unseen hazards that provide great structure.

The Right Indicator
Choosing the right indicator has a lot to do with weather conditions as well as personal preference. On bright, sunny days, light-colored indicators seem to work best. Some indicators come in two-tone colors, and those with white bottoms are the natural choice here. On overcast days, a more muted color like dark red or olive can be the way to go. Again, if the indicator comes in two tones, use one with a darker bottom on cloudy days. Matching the bottoms of the indicators against the sky will make your indicator harder to pick out as a foreign object to fish looking up for food.

Indicator size is a matter of personal choice as well as water conditions. In larger bodies of water, some anglers prefer to use teardrop-shaped indicators or to place two indicators on a single leader. They’ll generally use the second indicator to identify fish strikes or track their patterns because changing currents or opposing waves will often drag the first underwater with some regularity.

Anglers primarily use round indicators for flatter water where turbulence is less of an issue. Egg-shaped indicators may be the best of both worlds, but they generally come in smaller sizes than teardrop-shaped indicators. If you use dry flies with white posts, coloring your post with a chartreuse or pink highlighter will make tracking your pattern in low light a breeze.

If you’d like to have an expert answer your questions about indicators, do what I did. Call Steve Vorkapich and ask what you can do to take your use of indicators to the next level. I think you’ll be surprised at how well they work, and how much they can really help your winter fishing. For further information on Float Master indicators call (440) 669-9928 or go to www.floatmasterco.net.

Beau Beasley (www.beaubeasley.com) is the director of the Virginia Fly Fishing Festival and the author of Fly Fishing Virginia: A No Nonsense Guide to Top Waters.
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