A minor tactic, the perfect indicator

In my last column, I mentioned that I had picked up a few tricks over the 2004 season. Occasionally, I stumble upon an idea that actually works.

The majority of anglers who fish a wet fly or nymph upstream on a “dead drift” now use some sort of an indicator attached to their leader, several feet above the fly. Some purists sneer at this technique, referring to it as “bobber fishing.” When fishing in this manner, I find I need all the help I can get in order to detect the subtle taking of the fly by a trout. If the indicator hesitates slightly as it drifts along or suddenly sinks, the fisherman strikes by simply lifting the rod. Either a trout has mouthed the fly or the fly has ticked a submerged rock. More often than not, when you strike, you find a trout has been hooked.

A variety of materials can be used in making an indicator. The main requirements are that the indicator should be highly visible and very buoyant so that it will float without sinking despite many casts. I have used cork, Styrofoam balls, yarn treated with Red Label Mucilin, and even a large dry fly tied with high-floating hair such as body hair from deer, elk or caribou. All of these will perform in a manner that assists an angler to detect a trout taking the unseen, submerged fly.

However, these indicators, attached to the leader, all have an impact on the casting of the fly. This is either due to their weight and/or bulkiness. Most hit the water with a distinct “plop.” In thin water, that plop can send a spooky trout fleeing for its life.

This summer, while leafing through some of the hundreds of articles on fly fishing that I have photocopied and filed away in several loose-leaf folders, I came upon an article written by Rene Harrop. He describes a novel way to make an indicator. Harrop suggests using cul-de-canard feathers to produce an indicator that is weightless, highly visible and requires no dressing to keep it afloat. For the uninitiated, cul-de-canard translates roughly as “feathers from a duck’s butt.”

Here are the steps necessary to tie a cul-de-canard indicator:

• The hooks I use are either Tiemco #101, size 10 or Daiichi #1110, size 10 or 12, or Orvis #4641, in size 10 or 12. Place the hook in a vice.

• Attach tying thread behind the eye and cover about three sixteenths of an inch of the shank with thread.

• Coat thread wraps lightly with head cement, let dry.

• Select two or three cul-de-canard feathers, even tips and tie in on far side of hook, tips pointing towards hook bend. The length of the feathers depends on how large an indicator you wish to tie. Repeat with a second set of feathers, tying them in on the near side of the hook.

• Trim feather butts, making sure the eye of the hook is not obstructed.

• Wind thread tightly over the remaining butts and either whip finish or half hitch at head.

• Put a drop of head cement on wraps. Be careful not to let head cement flow into the eye of the hook. Remove the hook from vise.

• Pull feather fibers over the eye of the hook exposing shank. Use a sharp wire cutter to cut the shank close to the indicator, removing the point, bend and part of the shank.

• Go fishing.

My favorite colors are orange, yellow and black. Black is the color to use those times when glare on the water surface makes the other colors difficult to see. I tie these indicators in sizes from one-half inch to one inch in length. Last season, I found the cul-de-canard indicators would easily support a size 12 Hares Ear tungsten bead head nymph without sinking. For larger, heavier flies, an eight-feather indicator might be needed.

Unfortunately, I have never found this type of indicator for sale in the catalogs. If you are not a fly tier, you will simply have to throw yourself on the mercy of a fly tying friend. Perhaps a bribe of a chilled six pack or a bottle of Zinfandel wine along with your requirements might make the tier more amenable to your plea. Hell, a six-pack of Heineken left on the front porch certainly would send me scuttling to my vice.

Now, pay attention! To attach the indicator to your leader, pass that section of your leader that is .008 or .009 thousandths in diameter through the eye of the indicator. Push seven or eight inches through the eye. Now, repass that end of the leader back up through the eye, forming a loop two or two and one-half inches long. Grasp the indicator and pull it through the loop. Pull the loop tight so that it seats on the head wraps.

If you wish to fish lighter than eight or nine thousandths, add a tippet now. To reposition the indicator simply push backwards at the connection; the loop will open up and the indicator can be moved closer or farther from the fly. To remove the indicator from the leader it will be necessary to cut off the tippet section.

I have one more trick up my sleeve, but I’ll have to save that for my February column. My Texas fishing buddy, Willy Landem and I, wish you a happy and prosperous new year.