Had a fish rise to a red/chartruse corky I was using as an indicator the other day...d'ya think I should start tying a hook on it, too?

I've become a little frustrated trying to get the hang of indicator fishing--tonight I found fish feeding along a wind line and had 10-12 takedowns, hooking two and landing one. I don't seem to be able to get the line moving off the water fast enough...tips? suggestions?

Keep trying. I've had fish either hit the chronie on the move, that's obvious, or be more subtle and just gently slurp it in. Keep the slack out of you line and lift the rod tip when the indicator goes down.

I have the same experience a couple of weeks ago where the fish hit the "visual depth adjuster". This was over at Nunnally, and watching those big fish roll on the VDA was really something.

fishkisser99,

Getting the kinks out of both your line and leader are important to cut down on the time it takes to see the strike and get the line moving. I don't have great reaction times but I've had good results fishing with an indicator. One other thought, I had an experience recently while making a very slow retrieve. I kept getting what I thought were strikes because the indicator was going down, but each time I picked up, nothing. Turns out the fly was dragging over some weeds just enough to pull down the indicator. Thought I was losing my touch for a while.

I'd put a hook in that indicator too, it can't hurt!

ACE

Ace - Good point on the slow retreive. That's what happened to me at Cady last weekend. I had started to move slowly back to the put in spot when a rather big fish slammed the black chronie, the fish still has it..... You can also do the slow retrieve with out the indicator, this can allow you to get much deeper and not have the indicator present a problem when bringing in fish.

I have an aunt who lives indicator .

Man I feel great another smart _SS here.

That was funny

Ahh. I see T M has matched his met.

If having trouble getting takes on the bobber,errr visual depth regulator, you may need to work on your visualization technique.
You can't just sit there and stare at the bobber. It's considered poor manners, just like staring at a womans breasts.The fish (and the women) won't go for it.
You hafta kinda use peripheral vision and seem to be staring at the ducks or something on shore before the bobber will go down.
Don't ever loose complete visual contact though as that's when it's sure to plop down and back up as you look back. Happens every time.

Yes, I seem to have figured out that to make the little bobber--er, VDR go down, all I need to do is lean way over in the canoe to take a leak...

Keep tension on the line? Fat chance--might be easy in a float tube, but on windy days my canoe has three speeds: fast forward, fast reverse, and spin cycle.

Went 0 for 5 on the indicators Saturday, and 5 out of 6 trolling (to 14"). Perhaps I'll stick to nymph/indicator fishing on calmer days...

Ron,

I bet you never had an indicator slap you for staring...

I tried using my peripheral vision this last weekend and all I ended up with (on Saturday) was 16-20 missed strikes.

B

Matter of fact B,yesterday my bobber did slap me between the eyes when I gave a steelhead
response to a quick take that changed it's mind before the bobber got back up. Finesse has never been my game. Sock it to em!
Sounds like you ran into a school of those lite biters at "secret lake". Aside from the peripheral vision thing, you hafta have the lightning fast reflexes of a Steelheader.
Meditating won't help. OMMMMM OMMMMM OMMMM!

Ron,

You sound like a nice fella... maybe I should take you to that "secret lake" and you could offer an independent review of it.. well.. without revealing the name of it, of course.

ommmm... meditating doesn't help when the mosquito bites are itching

I'm still trying to figure out how to use a nice set of womens breast AS my indicator....

Then I don't care if I stare all day and never have a take down

Sounds like an idea Saltine~!!!

SALTINE:

I find they work better as Bobbers!!!!!!!!

Wait a minute here....we do have women that read this site....not all of us are gawkers ( at least we try to hide it) Anyway, just a thought, ran into a guy at Lone lake using chionomids fished just below his rod tip and used marked line to determine his depth. Apparently he has better success this way because there is less line to take up slack in when trying to land a fish. Haven't tried it yet though.

Fishing chronomids off your rod tip works OK in deeper water. I find if your fishing water 4 to 14' or even more if clearer,you're better off using a bobber and casting out away from your position. If in water over 15 or 20 feet (or in murky water), the bobber becomes a big problem in landing fish so the marked line off the rod tip comes into play.