[Theron]

I met up at Lone Lake with some fellow members of the Whidbey Island Fly Fishing club yesterday to learn how to fish for trout with Chironomids. I got set up with the proper leader, indicator and fly and proceeded to try and catch a trout. I had 6 strikes that I know of and I missed the hook set on all six of them. 0 for 6. I thought, bobber goes down, set the hook, reel in trout. But No!! I may have missed some strikes because I was texting with my son-in-law trying to set up a Mother's Day trip to the island.

This is the only second time I have been skunked at Lone Lake. I usually fish with full sinking line and leeches, woolly buggers and nymphs. My hook up rate with them is about 95%. I can see how chironomid fishing can be a certain zen like experience but based on my day I will probably not try it again. I like to catch the fish.

Is there a trick to the hook set or should I just stick to what works for me?

 

[Buzzy]

A purely sarcastic and selfish response would be: don't try it again. But then that's not a proper response. I'd say put your phone down (I don't even like to have mine in the boat...). Sometimes, for me, "bite:hook:land" ratios suck, sometimes that ratio rocks. And it doesn't matter what method I'm using.

Indicator fishing at times requires no skill, the fish hook themselves. Other times the "bite" can be super, super subtle and a quick lift is needed with any "indication". I've been indi fishing now for a long time and still have a lot to learn. I'm hoping to become more adept at deep water indicator fishing after having seen it done last summer.

What kind of indicator were you using? Color? One color or "striped"? Was there any wind/breeze? Were you stationary or kicking around a lot? Was your fly vertical beneath the indi? Was the fly weighted? How deep were you fishing?

I'd say give it another try.

 

[IveofIone]

Theron, fishing is all about making you happy. Some guys are happy just watching a bobber while others just can't stand it. So just do what makes you happy and you are comfortable with, don't cave in to peer pressure just to make someone else happy.

I started out watching a bobber in 1946 catching spiny rays on a lake near my birthplace in SW Michigan. Over the years I graduated from a cane pole to a spinning rod to fly rods and from lakes to streams and rivers, from trout and bass to steelhead and salmon. Now nearing 80 I am sometimes just content to sit and watch a bobber again and reel in an occasional nice trout. I have pretty much come full circle. I'm probably getting close to wearing diapers and being spoon fed again!

One other thought-nobody ever got to be a good chironomid fisher in one day. You don't have to convert over to it full time like some guys do. The really irritating ones think they have discovered the holy grail of fishing but it is just another method of being successful and not a template for all fishing success. Just fool around with it from time to time and eventually you will become good at it. If that happens then you can go all holier-than-thou and turn your nose up at guys that are still dragging wooly buggers around and pretending to be enjoying their fishing!

 

[Flyguy65]

Amen Iveoflone! !!

 

[troutpocket]

I met up at Lone Lake with some fellow members of the Whidbey Island Fly Fishing club yesterday to learn how to fish for trout with Chironomids. I got set up with the proper leader, indicator and fly and proceeded to try and catch a trout. I had 6 strikes that I know of and I missed the hook set on all six of them. 0 for 6. I thought, bobber goes down, set the hook, reel in trout. But No!! I may have missed some strikes because I was texting with my son-in-law trying to set up a Mother's Day trip to the island.

This is the only second time I have been skunked at Lone Lake. I usually fish with full sinking line and leeches, woolly buggers and nymphs. My hook up rate with them is about 95%. I can see how chironomid fishing can be a certain zen like experience but based on my day I will probably not try it again. I like to catch the fish.

Is there a trick to the hook set or should I just stick to what works for me?

Just depends on what you want to get out of the day. I think 6 takes is better than I did my first attempt with an indicator. Just another tool in the toolbox.

 

[Robert Engleheart]

A purely sarcastic and selfish response would be: don't try it again. But then that's not a proper response. I'd say put your phone down (I don't even like to have mine in the boat...).

I'll go further and say I don't allow them in my boat. Had a guide once spend literally hours on his.

 

[Mark Mercer]

Theron, fishing is all about making you happy. Some guys are happy just watching a bobber while others just can't stand it. So just do what makes you happy and you are comfortable with, don't cave in to peer pressure just to make someone else happy.

I started out watching a bobber in 1946 catching spiny rays on a lake near my birthplace in SW Michigan. Over the years I graduated from a cane pole to a spinning rod to fly rods and from lakes to streams and rivers, from trout and bass to steelhead and salmon. Now nearing 80 I am sometimes just content to sit and watch a bobber again and reel in an occasional nice trout. I have pretty much come full circle. I'm probably getting close to wearing diapers and being spoon fed again!

One other thought-nobody ever got to be a good chironomid fisher in one day. You don't have to convert over to it full time like some guys do. The really irritating ones think they have discovered the holy grail of fishing but it is just another method of being successful and not a template for all fishing success. Just fool around with it from time to time and eventually you will become good at it. If that happens then you can go all holier-than-thou and turn your nose up at guys that are still dragging wooly buggers around and pretending to be enjoying their fishing!

Well said Ive !!!

Theron, I've found many of those take downs are nothing more than a fish brushing up against the line, catching a fin pulling the indie down and then slides off, you set up and theres nothing there or the indie just pops back up. So that might be one of the things that happened ? Indie fishing is awesome when it's working but it just doesn't work all the time, thats when you go to plan B or C and drag a leech around for awhile, then try again later. Patients grasshopper...you'll get it dialed in and you'll be glad you did.

 

[Theron]

I think I was doing everything the way it was explained to me in the brief meeting we had on shore. I was anchored and fishing about a foot off the bottom. I moved several times but I was at a depth of 12 - 15 feet most of the time. The indicator took a sharp dive when hit but I could not seem to hook up. I was getting some action so I assume I was at the right depth. I started fishing bobbers on a farm pond when I was 5 or 6 years old using a 12 to 15 foot cane pole and a can of worms. I'm not new to fishing with an indicator. I brought home many stringers of blue gill and crappie when fishing farm ponds in my native Nebraska using a slip bobber.

I will probably give it another try just because it appears to be a relaxing form of trout fishing. I enjoyed setting peacefully in my float tube and watching the indicator bob around in the slight waves from the breeze. It was a beautiful day. It is really frustrating to miss fish all afternoon when I seldom miss one when fishing with a sinking line.

 

[zen leecher aka bill w]

Sharp hooks on chronies are a good thing. I found Tiemco has a pointy enough point that it engages just enough for slow attention striking.

 

[Vete a la mierda]

Chironomid fishing is all a lie being propagated by the marketing wing of Big Bobber. Do some digging and you'll find a large number of high ranking politicians in our government just "happen" to be former board members of the Thingamabobber Corp. I have tracked Ira's IP address through a network of proxy servers to a warehouse in Pleasant Grove, UT. Also world headquarters to one Thingamabobber Corp. Coincidence? I don't think so, wake up sheeple!

 

[zen leecher aka bill w]

..."Big Bobber"..... Another conspiracy theory emerges...

 

[Theron]

I will try this again. The most successful pan fishing I've done was with bobbers. I think I may have a thingamabobber somewhere but it would not work well in this situation. What I was using was a little fluorescent green quick release type of indicator with a small peg that held it in place until a fish strikes.

 

[Tim Lockhart]

..."Big Bobber"..... Another conspiracy theory emerges...

Exactly. This could begin the takedown of an entire industry...

 

[GAT]

I'm not married to any specific presentation... I tend to use whatever works. I'm in this game to catch fish with fly gear and NOT to catch fish using a specific technique with fly gear.

I do use the indicator system if the conditions call for it and I have been successful with the technique but I don't limit myself to only using indicators...or sinking lines...or specific flies... rods....reels...leaders... hats (well, other than fedoras)... so I'm adaptable. ... except for buffs... I can't bring myself to wear a buff...

 

[generic]

Chironomid fishing is all a lie being propagated by the marketing wing of Big Bobber. Do some digging and you'll find a large number of high ranking politicians in our government just "happen" to be former board members of the Thingamabobber Corp. I have tracked Ira's IP address through a network of proxy servers to a warehouse in Pleasant Grove, UT. Also world headquarters to one Thingamabobber Corp. Coincidence? I don't think so, wake up sheeple!

I don't care who you are....that there is just funny!

 

[Greggor]

This is the only second time I have been skunked at Lone Lake. I usually fish with full sinking line and leeches, woolly buggers and nymphs. My hook up rate with them is about 95%. I can see how chironomid fishing can be a certain zen like experience but based on my day I will probably not try it again. I like to catch the fish.

Is there a trick to the hook set or should I just stick to what works for me?

I started getting acquainted with chironomid fishing about four years ago. I can't remember who on this forum gave me this sage advice, but when applied, my hook-up rate skyrocketed.

"Reach up and ring the doorbell." The hook set is a bit more upward, rather than just swinging back using the radius the rod tip(even though this was successful for bobber fishing on spiny ray). It has worked for me anyway. Seems to be a more trout like approach to it. Just my 2 cents from a relative rookie.

 

[Jeff Dodd]

Theron
Glad you got out to give it a try on such a nice day! I was half watching you guys when I could lift an eyelid. I had the worst case of the flu!

The thing about fishing an indicator is you have slack in the line the moment the fish takes. Not so with a stripped fly on a sinking line. And there is no way to totally eliminate all the slack when fishing an indicator.
Some things to keep in mind for Saturday:

-Back to the wind and bobber straight down wind from you
-Short casts so you quickly can lift out the slack with your rod
-Longer rod gets the slack out quicker
-Hand twist retrieve helps with early bite detection and minimize slack between tiptoe and indictor

Enjoy the practice!

 

[.82494]

I met up at Lone Lake with some fellow members of the Whidbey Island Fly Fishing club yesterday to learn how to fish for trout with Chironomids. I got set up with the proper leader, indicator and fly and proceeded to try and catch a trout. I had 6 strikes that I know of and I missed the hook set on all six of them. 0 for 6. I thought, bobber goes down, set the hook, reel in trout. But No!! I may have missed some strikes because I was texting with my son-in-law trying to set up a Mother's Day trip to the island.

This is the only second time I have been skunked at Lone Lake. I usually fish with full sinking line and leeches, woolly buggers and nymphs. My hook up rate with them is about 95%. I can see how chironomid fishing can be a certain zen like experience but based on my day I will probably not try it again. I like to catch the fish.

Is there a trick to the hook set or should I just stick to what works for me?

d

 

[Irafly]

Chironomid fishing is all a lie being propagated by the marketing wing of Big Bobber. Do some digging and you'll find a large number of high ranking politicians in our government just "happen" to be former board members of the Thingamabobber Corp. I have tracked Ira's IP address through a network of proxy servers to a warehouse in Pleasant Grove, UT. Also world headquarters to one Thingamabobber Corp. Coincidence? I don't think so, wake up sheeple!

You messed up though, my IP traces somewhere nearer the headquarters of Comal Tackle. Good try though, I wouldn't be caught dead on a lake with one of those Thingamabobbers.

 

[Irafly]

Well said Ive !!!

Theron, I've found many of those take downs are nothing more than a fish brushing up against the line, catching a fin pulling the indie down and then slides off, you set up and theres nothing there or the indie just pops back up. So that might be one of the things that happened ? I

This is interesting, how did you confirm this, have you seen it happen or is this more of a theory?

My theory is more how the fish takes the fly. If the fish are moving up in the column, you could see the take after the fish has already spit the hook. I've seen this happen on a couple of spring creeks where I've watched the fish take the fly moving up, spit the fly out at about the same time the indicator reacts. That's why I prefer pear shaped indicators in two tones. Fishing taking up will allow the peg of the indicator to dip slightly down as the bottom of the indicator moves slightly up because it has been relieved of the weight of the flies. I set the hook on pauses.

With that, take solace in knowing I've gone 0 for 14 without so much as a tick of a fish and 0 for 23 without hooking and playing one all within recent memory. You fish enough and these things happen.