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3. Air-Lock Indicators... Thoughts?

I was curious as to whether anyone was using the new air-lock strike indicators? I'm especially curious about the option to use them in a 90 degree setup.

What is an air-lock strike indicator? A Thing-a-ma-bobber? I use them 100% of the time nymphing for Erie creek steelhead. Love them! They keep the fly off the bottom which is littered with shale (hook magnets) and in the strike zone. I use white most of the time as it looks like the foam in the streams. I haven't tried the new ones that have an integral peg to keep it positioned on your leader. I use tiny rubber "boober stops" to keep mine positioned. I thread on one stop, apply the indicator, then thread on another stop. It is easy to slide the indicator up, and down, the thicker diameter butt section of my leader. The bobber stops don't hold well on slender tippet material.

The guys at my local fly shop love them over thingamabobbers due to the easier adjustment, the non slipping on tiny tippet and the really cool adjustable 90 degree hinge setup you can do.
http://www.hatchmag.com/articles/better-bobber-air-lock-strike-indicators/7712402

I hadn't heard of these. Thanks!

Here is the improved Thingamabobber;

http://www.sportsmanswarehouse.com/sportsmans/Westwater-Products-Thingamabobber-With-Jam-Stop/productDetail/Fly-Fishing-Tools-Accessories/prod999901363469/cat101059

The whole reason I really asked about people's opinions on them is I was curious as to whether or not anyone had made use of the option to thread the tippet through the hole in the cap and use it in an adjustable 90° indicator setup...

Hello Outdoors,



Well then I have never used them. I saw them advertised in a fly magazine but figured they were just a knock-off of the Thingamabobber. I guess this is not the case. Would you enlighten me to the advantages of a 90 degree indicator set up compared to the way I set it up? I just add the indicator about two feet deeper than the water I am fishing. Sometimes I use the bobber (that is what they really are) more as a strike detector rather than to suspend the fly off the bottom. For example if I'm nymphing for steelhead I may put the Thingamabobber way up near the butt of the leader almost 9' away from the fly. This works well in really swift current where the likelihood of getting snagged is significantly reduced. I'm pretty sure I'd feel the strike from a 6# steelhead but it's exciting to see that 1" white bobber get yanked underwater. It reminds me of when I was a kid and my Dad and I used to fish a lake in New Jersey with herring and those red & white bobbers.

With the exception of fishing small midge patterns in stillwaters I have never used an indicator to suspend a fly off the bottom either. I have been told that a 90° set up can be better for longline nymphing but I have never done it myself. That is why I was so curious as to whether anyone had tried it before and how they liked it with the airlock. With traditional strike indicators using the 90° set up meant it was not adjustable without cutting and re-tying. I have not used a bobber to suspend anything for many many moons.

I once fished a large trout river with a very accomplished guide (other guides in the area have told me he's one of the best on the river). For several stretches of deep water we used a 90 degree "bobber" set up (of his own design) and drop shot rig and we caught some nice bows casting upstream, then mending, mending, mending for long drifts. We switched to dry flies once the hatch got going. Certainly gave me something to think about. I've modified his rig a little a time or two for some long-line nymphing in deeper water, using a thingamabobber, and I remember one especially productive day.

Louis,

Would you please explain how to set-up a Thingamabobber for 90 degree nymphing.

Matt, as I said, I "modified" his rig. Technically what I used was not a 90 degree set up, but if you think about the way the line comes out of the O ring in the Thingamabobber, if you have deep water and suspend a nymph below it your tippet will drop below the Thingamabobber at pretty much 90 degrees. The guide used a larger foam bobber, and rigged it with a peg, so that's my main modification. But I also was not using drop shot, but rather an anchor nymph with a dropper up above it. Another modification.

This describes how to use the right angle method with an air lock strike indicator:

http://www.hatchmag.com/articles/better-bobber-air-lock-strike-indicators/7712402

Personally, I prefer the old method with the drop tippet in front of a tuft of yarn:

http://www.brantoswaldflyfishing.com/new/images/endleader.jpg


PT/TB