You should hook up with Far Bank and get those "Grade A Hand Carved Cork Indicators" @ $299.99 per dozen.
Cheap indicator.
- Thread starter Wetswinger
- Start date
I got tired of indicators not working properly as they stretched out so this is what I did
Drill out your foam indicator/bobber and epoxy in a plastic sleeve. Coat the whole indicator with a clear coat such as epoxy ( extends the life of the orange paint exterior ). The peg fits in the plastic sleeve you have glued in. I have some indicators that are on their 3rd season now. The indicator peg holds just as well as it did on day one, the paint on the indicator is another story. A mostly white indicator with a bit of orange now.
It takes a bit of time to build these but once they are done they are pretty well bullet proof and they never "pop" while casting which can be rather annoying.
Drill out your foam indicator/bobber and epoxy in a plastic sleeve. Coat the whole indicator with a clear coat such as epoxy ( extends the life of the orange paint exterior ). The peg fits in the plastic sleeve you have glued in. I have some indicators that are on their 3rd season now. The indicator peg holds just as well as it did on day one, the paint on the indicator is another story. A mostly white indicator with a bit of orange now.
It takes a bit of time to build these but once they are done they are pretty well bullet proof and they never "pop" while casting which can be rather annoying.
Do you lose a little buoyancy with the sleeve and epoxy? My Farmer McGee method doesn’t seem to reduce buoyancy but I do have issues sometimes with the peg releasing on a cast (or not with a fish on).
Bambooflyguy
Life of the Party
I told Wetswinger to paint it orange, put a happy face on it and call it a pumpkin bobber!
over your fly and right then a tear falls into your smile.
Bambooflyguy
Life of the Party
I’ve had so many indicator hits....some fish actually pulled line and wouldn’t let it go! So I tied some orange spun deer hair indicator flies...nope, they preferred styrofoam balls. Who can relate to this.....
I suppose I lose a little buoyancy but it is negligible. I know I have given a few of my modified indicators to fishing buddies and they don't switch back to the unmodified ones once they have tried mine. Being able to consistently peg the indicator at the desired resistence where it survives casting but still trips when a fish is being played is worth the hassle.
When you spend more time fishing and less time buggering about you end up catching more fish as well.
What do you use for the plastic sleeve?
I got the hose that I use from a buddy. He got it from a shutdown and reno at the local pulp mill. He said it was air hose. After some goggling this looks like the stuff I use
Amazon product ASIN B07D9MZKH7
Amazon product ASIN B07D9MZKH7
Bambooflyguy
Life of the Party
Gee with that list of expensive gear.....must’ve run out of money to buy bobbers!
It's a celebration of one of the few things in this expensive hobby we can actually manage to fabricate ourselves (besides tying flies).
I feel guilty every time I use one of the outrageously expensive $3.50 Oros indicators, despite the fact they work so well.
Last edited:
I could care less about the cost, it is the inconvenience of using worn out indicators that either won't pop with a fish on because you have jammed the peg in too far or a wasted cast when the damn thing pops during the cast. When the bite is on time wasted frigging around with indicators costs you fish, end of story. I like catching fish so I like to reduce as many time wasting endeavours as possible.
Now, saving money on your rods, reels, lines etc I can appreciate.
you confuse me with someone else. My $200 rods and flyreels catch as many fish as ones 3x the cost. And why throw away more foam when you don't have to?
Those are the same indicators I use. I tend to use the orange ones.
My $50 rods… Just sayin.
Oh, so now it's a competition to see who can catch fish on the cheapest rods? I think I got this with a Cabela's Three Forks model on closeout for $35.
Right?
Well, what about the eagle claw I stole from a homeless person who also gave me 20 bucks? Yeah, that's all I fish.....
Not bad, color me jealous, my combo of the same was $45. The reel is crap, but the rod is fantastic.
