Last summer a couple longtime clients stopped by the shop the day before they were going out on a full day wade trip. After the usual pleasantries we got down to brass tacks about their trip the next day. The guide that they were to fish with had been on a bit of a hot streak; big fish on long heavy triple fly nymph rigs. I told them what to expect the next day, alluding to the possibility of monster rainbows.
Then the wife dropped the bomb.
"I don't want to fish pom-pom's all day." she declared.
Her husband stared intently at the floor, actually shrinking several inches (he later confessed that when she made her statement he thought that he was going to have to eat his sock the next day.)
"I know that is how you catch more and bigger fish, and I can do it. I would just rather not chuck pom-poms all day." she said.
A quick change in guides and they had a blast the next day with fishing dry/dry droppers.
Her feelings are shared by many in the fly fishing community, and with good reason. Most view indicator fishing as thuggery, drudgery and just not that exciting in general; I myself was in that camp for a long time.
However, something has changed for me, I realized that the reason I did not like indicator fishing was because I was not very good at it (Gasp!) Sure I caught more and bigger fish, but I always felt like I could have caught more.
Last fall my indicator weaknesses were all brought to light steelheading for my first time. The experienced steelheaders could roll cast about thirty feet longer than I could and had long drag free drifts with fancy aerial roll mends. As frustrating as it was I learned a lot and that has helped my trout fishing in a big way. Now I am constantly thinking about distance and mending. The former drudgery has been replaced by changes in weight, position of flies and any other factor I can tweak.
It is time to call out all of those dry fly purists; the reason you love dries is because you don't know how to fish nymphs well.
Let the tarring and feathering commence.
