Sighter Leader vs. Suspension Indicator

[Hooty]

Been researching Euro Style nymphing utilizing a “sighter” leader vs. a suspension indicator. For smaller water, seems like the sighter would be a great option. However, does anyone have experience with this technique at Lees Ferry?

[JS92]

My experience has been that using a sighter for smaller water is the way to go. My catch rate is higher then with an indicator. However, it seems to be the opposite with bigger water and my catch rate is better with an indicator.

I am sure there will be different opinions on this and experience to back it up. I am curious myself to see the responses.

[RBFisher]

My experience has been the same - I do better on small water with a sighter and the indicator seems to work best on bigger water. That being said, I'm not the best at Euro Nymphing and have seen a couple of guys who really know what they're doing just kill it on big water using a sighter

[risenfly]

I think it also depends on the type of water you're fishing. Sighters and euronymphing in general work best in faster pocket water. A floating indicator can be taken so many ways in water like that and cause drag. If you have a steady medium to slow flowing section of stream then the floating indicator seems to work really well in those situations.

[kad1979]

I am of no help...as I frequently fish using an indicator only to watch it become fully submerged and then float again. At that point I ponder why I didn't set the hook... Drives me NUTS!

[almostlost]

Originally Posted by kad1979

I am of no help...as I frequently fish using an indicator only to watch it become fully submerged and then float again. At that point I ponder why I didn't set the hook... Drives me NUTS!

Truth.

[Baiter]

I dabbled in this a bit this summer when I was traveling out of state. I also went to an on river seminar with Lance Egan who is on the US fly fishing team. I think it is a great tool and will probably buy a 10 or 11 foot rod just for Euro nymphing. I believe using a sighter is superior for me out to about 30 feet with my 9 foot rod Beyond that I need a bobber. Hope to extend that to 35+ with a euro rod / line. The other scenario that Euro nymphing does not shine is windy conditions.

I would suggest you buy yourself a Christmas present and watch Modern Nymphing. You can buy it for $20 on Vimeo and watch it over and over. You will learn a lot in a relatively short amount of time. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/modernnymphing The first time I tried it I was fishing a very heavily fished area I had caught a few little guys and was starting to get the hang of it. A group just showed up and started fishing below me and I hooked a 20" brown that thought he was a rainbow and put on a good aerial show. I admit I enjoyed showing off a bit more than I should of.

Good Luck
Dan

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/modernnymphing

[aztightlines]

I cast a 10' 3 wt Echo european-style rod of a friend's and was impressed.

Did not fish it, but it cast well and seemed like a good tool for upstream nymphing.

[Baiter]

Here is an article by Lance http://www.flyfisherman.com/how-to/f...ms-and-rivers/. On the subject at hand

[Silver Creek]

Originally Posted by Baiter

I dabbled in this a bit this summer when I was traveling out of state. I also went to an on river seminar with Lance Egan who is on the US fly fishing team. I think it is a great tool and will probably buy a 10 or 11 foot rod just for Euro nymphing. I believe using a sighter is superior for me out to about 30 feet with my 9 foot rod Beyond that I need a bobber. Hope to extend that to 35+ with a euro rod / line. The other scenario that Euro nymphing does not shine is windy conditions.

I would suggest you buy yourself a Christmas present and watch Modern Nymphing. You can buy it for $20 on Vimeo and watch it over and over. You will learn a lot in a relatively short amount of time. https://vimeo.com/ondemand/modernnymphing The first time I tried it I was fishing a very heavily fished area I had caught a few little guys and was starting to get the hang of it. A group just showed up and started fishing below me and I hooked a 20" brown that thought he was a rainbow and put on a good aerial show. I admit I enjoyed showing off a bit more than I should of.

Good Luck
Dan

https://vimeo.com/ondemand/modernnymphing

They are producing a second video and the first video can be had for 20% off by watching this:

https://www.dropbox.com/s/0pv8z8auko...01%20Final.mp4

There is a 20% off code at the end. It is really a great video.