Tips and Tactics: Fly Fishing Balloon Indicator Setup Made Easy

The Balloon Indicator Experience

Using a water balloon for an indicator is certainly not a common method.  The technique may sound laughable, novel, clown-like, or maybe even redneck.  Having fished mostly Thingamabobbers throughout my nymphing career, I was surprised with the first time I decided to give balloons a try.  They were more sensitive to bites.  I could see what was going on at the end of my line a bit better than with the traditional trapped air/grommet prototypes.  Balloons are lighter, which allows them to move around more easily within the water.  They are also more supple, which allows you to more easily identify whether your flies are running along the river bottom or being nibbled on by an unwary fish.

After my first experience with balloon indicators I noticed a couple drawbacks.  First of all, the traditional way to connect them to the line is to create a slipknot/loop in your leader and cinch it down next to the knot on the balloon.  (Previous Post About It) While this technique works, you cannot move your indicator back and forth without redoing the whole setup, which makes it hard to cover the water column effectively, and the knot kinks your leader quite a bit. Because of these two problems I decided to stick with the good old versatility and ease that Thingamabobbers provide.  At some point I even tried out some alternative balloon methods, like Depth Skru, but I was not very thrilled with the results.  The Depth Skru balloon setups seems like a good alternative, but when I actually fished them I found they were more of a hassle, especially in colder weather.  I decided balloons were just not meant to be in my indicator arsenal.  That was until a few months ago.

Eureka!

Recently a new indicator setup came to my attention.  I say new, but the concept has been around for quite some time now, though I only saw the advertising a few months ago.  It is the New Zealand Indicator setup, which is essentially small plastic tubing with yarn.  There is even a fancy tool for those willing to spend the money.  The following video shows how it works.



New Zealand Strike Indicator Tool from Barry Dombro on Vimeo.


After hearing about this setup something sparked in my mind.  I asked myself, why couldn't this be used with balloons?!  So I tracked down some 2mm plastic tubing, cut up some small pieces, dug out an old stash of water balloons, and hit the water to experiment.  And you know what, IT WORKED!  Since then I have been using the setup, with great results.

The How-To

The how-to is simple.  It is just how the New Zealand deal works, but with a water balloon instead.  Instead of using the fancy tool, I just pinch the line and slide the 4mm chunk of tubing over the line, I blow the balloon up to the desired size, tie it off, slide it through the loop in the line, cinch it down above the knot in the balloon, and nip off the section of balloon below the knot. Also, wetting the bottom of the balloon with your mouth or the river before inserting it can help the balloon slide into the plastic tubing and into place, but if you are too lazy for that the river and inertia will take care of it for you after a couple casts.

One other drawback about balloons is that they are harder to cast in the wind.  This is a result from their lighter weight.  With that in mind, know you can usually get away with a smaller size of indicator (as compared to the Thingamabobbers) because the balloons are lighter themselves.

Supplies

For the tubing, you can get some directly from SrikeIndicator.com, or you can get any 2mm pvc tubing you can find online.  The medical grade stuff only comes in bulk, but it is more flexible and tougher than the bracelet material.  Initially I cut the tubing off of a butterfly needle setup to test out the idea.  Since the medical tubing is more difficult to come by, and I'm too cheap to buy the "Official" stuff off the website, I looked for an alternative online.  I was able to get 5-6' of some lower grade plastic pvc tubing online for $6 from some person on ETSY that sells the stuff for bracelets and necklaces.  I cut up a bunch of 4mm sections and place them in a little plastic container with my balloons.  The medical grade stuff is better if you can find it, but the tubing I purchased from ETSY does the job just fine.

As for the balloons, they are easy to find online, and one bag will last a long time.  I prefer the orange and yellow balloons for most occasions. I recently purchased some more balloons from a seller on EBAY, and will edit this once I know how well they work.  I purchased some "clear" balloons from that same seller that I am hoping will be perfect for wary trout on small spring creeks.  We'll see how it works out.  Once I have the results from those outings I'll edit the info into this post.

POST EDIT: I have come to the conclusion that water balloons are the way to go.  The thinner latex works far better than the regular balloons.




A Couple Other Things To Consider

One other thing I noticed while fishing this setup is that if the balloon cinches down on your line at a weird angle, it will cause your line to spin/coil.  So if you notice your line getting twisted, just change the orientation of your balloon and re-cinch.  Also, when moving the setup back and forth on your leader, do so at a moderate speed, otherwise the friction on your leader will cut into your plastic tubing a bit.

Quick Comparison

Take it for what it's worth.  I'm no scientist, and these are not minutely controlled experiments.  Still the findings were interesting.  I took the same size of balloon/thingamabobber and compared them for buoyancy.  The balloon handled more weight than the thingamabobber.  Not a ton, but it still floated higher.  That showed me that one really can get away with a smaller indicator size with the balloon, when compared to the thingamabobber.  I used the same amount of weight on both and kept adding more in small amounts.  These pictures are what I noticed.

This pic is not a good example of how the balloon connects to the line with the tubing.  If you are doing it right, the balloon will slip down into the tubing.  If you are having trouble with it, you may need to tie your balloon a bit looser.

I am loving the setup.  It makes fishing a balloon extremely easy, just make sure to clean up the bottom part that gets nipped off, or any other balloon fragments if the balloon pops on you.  I still carry Thingamabobbers for backup, and will use them when I'm in a real hurry, but most of the time I'm clowning around with the balloons.  If you still prefer Thingamabobbers, you might consider this newer trick for avoiding kinked line.  It also makes it easier to move your Thingamabobber.

These are a few of the fish that were picked up while using the balloon setup, with many more to come.

Tips: Missing fish? Get sensitive...

A Few Thoughts On Nymphing

Nymphing should be easy.  At least that is what the fly fishing world seems to hint.  I think it is true... that is once you "get it."  However, it can be a definite struggle to "get it."  It was for me at any rate.

When I first began nymphing my abilities were quite dismal.  I'm no pro, and Shane can outnymph me any day, (though I would dare to say he could outnymph anyone) but I am much better now than I was at the beginning.  Here are a couple lessons learned the hard way, and some simple tips.

Depth Is Key.  This I think is the biggest factor to understand when nymphing.  If you aren't right on or near the bottom, you won't be in the zone.  I had a tendency to fish either too shallow or too deep.  Nymphs naturally roll along the bottom of the water column, bouncing in and out of the cracks between rocks.  Sometimes fish pick the stationary bugs up off the bottom, but more often they take them as they drift downstream.

To get into the zone, the proper weight and leader/tippet length is essential.  Water current lifts line, and keeps it suspended more than most people think.  Too little weight and you will occasionally get an aggressive fish, but will miss far more chances than are possible.  Too much weight and you will constantly catch the bottom, keeping you from getting an effective and consistent drift.  Also, if your leader/tippet to indicator distance is too much, fish will be taking your fly and you won't have a clue.

One of the best ways to tell if you are in the zone is to watch your indicator.  If you can see it occasionally bump the bottom or drop down, you are in a good place.  The key word here is "occasionally."  If after multiple casts it doesn't do anything, you need to be deeper.  Either add a little more weight, or move your indicator up the leader.  Knowing which thing to do in which circumstances takes practice and experience, but they both have their places.  When in doubt reevaluate the water depth and add weight or length to your leader in very small increments.  The second way to tell if you are getting in the zone is if you are catching fish.  More often than not, you will catch fish, if you are getting in the zone, even if you aren't using the most effective fly.  If your indicator tanks on every cast you are too deep or have too much weight.  The more vertically your flies present, the more sensitive your indicator will be when a take occurs (think of a 90 degree angle with your indicator as the vertex).

Learn To Read An Indicator.  The second biggest struggle when improving your nymphing is knowing how to read what your indicator is doing.  This is much easier, once you get the idea of proper depth down because you will be setting less and hooking more.  The two main actions I see when using an indicator are a slow lazy sinking motion and an abrupt diving motion.  You can guess which is more likely to be a fish, however either can be a take.  Setting on everything is a good practice, but if you make multiple casts in a run and know right where that rock is that keeps taking the indicator down, you can give a light tug to keep it going while in the zone.  That may get you into the fish behind the rock that you would have missed with a full set taking you out of the zone.

Sometimes fish are suspended and feeding higher in the water column but this is more the exception than the rule.  These times are fun because you know when your indicator tanks it is always a fish.  Sometimes fishing shallow is the only way to avoid losing multiple flies, but you will almost always catch more fish when you go deeper.

Watch out for line drag.  It will always fool with your indicator and pull your flies away from the zone.  The longer you maintain a drag-free drift, the more likely your are to get a hookup.  If you have to mend (which is almost always essential) make it quick and do it right the first time.


Balloon Indicators Are Sensitive.  Using a small water balloon for an indicator is nothing new to the fly fishing world, but I thought re-mentioning its benefit wouldn't hurt.  If you keep missing fish, or are fairly certain you are in the zone but aren't recognizing bites, you might give this method a try.  You can see even the slightest bumps when using them, just try it and you will see.  One disadvantage to using them is that the method kinks up your leader pretty bad.  They can also pop if you have weak balloons.  Despite these potential cons, they can be a great go to when the fishing is tough due to a light bite.


Weight Types And Placement.  When fishing faster water, getting down deep requires weight.  Some guys prefer to put it into the fly, others prefer to use shot.  I do both.  When using a rubber-legs (or any other largeish imitation) I usually tie the weight into the fly.  When fishing smaller bugs, I often use shot.  Tungsten is an excellent way to get weight into smaller flies as well, just a bit more pricey.

When using shot, there are different ways to fish it.  Some put it above the lead fly.  Others place it between their lead and trailer flies.  When using an indicator I usually opt for the in-between flies approach.  However, when high-sticking or swinging I prefer to attach a very light section of tippet to the trailer fly, tie a simple overhand knot in the end and put a shot just above the knot.  I find I get fewer snags with this approach, and when I do get snagged it is usually on the shot.  It breaks free, I tie a new knot and add another shot.  If you are fishing a pretty "snaggy" run with an indicator, but still need to get down, this method can also be effective.  Another thing to note is that multiple smaller pieces of shot will give you less snags than one larger shot will.

Ultimately the "feel" that is so essential in fly fishing comes through experience, so get out there and try something new.