Retrieving balanced leeches in still water

chrome/22 said:
Just watched a Brian Chan video, I'm going to try his slip bobber approach on my outing next week. The trick will be guessing the depth correctly as I don't have a depth finder on my watermaster, I'll have to do it visually

Already have a dozen of his favorite balanced ruby eyed leech and new fluorocarbon in 3x & 5x

For the leader was just thinking of about 10' of ultragreen to a tiny barrel swivel as a stopper for the bobber then the fluorocarbon to the bug
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Put a piece of foam on a sinker and then you can send it to the bottom and pull it up to the depth desired. I usually start at a foot and work my way up if not getting hits right away.
 
chrome/22 said:
Just watched a Brian Chan video, I'm going to try his slip bobber approach on my outing next week. The trick will be guessing the depth correctly as I don't have a depth finder on my watermaster, I'll have to do it visually
Click to expand...
Just get yourself some hemostats if you don't have them already. Clip them onto your fly and drop them to the bottom to measure the depth. Grab the line where it meets the surface and peg your slip bobber down 12"-18" (this gets the fly in the zone). Bring the hemostats in and then start fishing.

I have a fishfinder and I still use this method...way more accurate and 6" can be the difference between a slow day and a 30+ fish day. This time of year the fish will be more distributed throughout the water column, but when the water cools off (Oct-Apr) 90% of the action will be within 18" of the bottom. I recommend just getting the 2 pack on amazon...cheaper than any sporting goods store, they get the job done, and you will inevitably lose a set to the bottom of the lake. They are also the best tool for removing deep hooks.

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chrome/22 said:
For the leader was just thinking of about 10' of ultragreen to a tiny barrel swivel as a stopper for the bobber then the fluorocarbon to the bug
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Just one more tip. For indicator fishing you should be using straight fluorocarbon. Monofilament is stiffer and won't keep you at the right depth. Mono also stretches, so you won't have as direct a connection as you do with fluoro. Here's a thread that gets into leader formulas for indicator fishing.

jaredoconnor

Thread 'Slip Bobber Leader'

I’ve been using a short 1-2ft taper and then 14-18ft of 1x down to the balanced leech. I’ve been wondering if the 1x is too thick. What formula are y’all using?
 
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DryFly82 said:
Just get yourself some hemostats if you don't have them already. Clip them onto your fly and drop them to the bottom to measure the depth. Grab the line where it meets the surface and peg your slip bobber down 12"-18" (this gets the fly in the zone). Bring the hemostats in and then start fishing.

I have a fishfinder and I still use this method...way more accurate and 6" can be the difference between a slow day and a 30+ fish day. This time of year the fish will be more distributed throughout the water column, but when the water cools off (Oct-Apr) 90% of the action will be within 18" of the bottom. I recommend just getting the 2 pack on amazon...cheaper than any sporting goods store, they get the job done, and you will inevitably lose a set to the bottom of the lake. They are also the best tool for removing deep hooks.

View attachment 163419
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Amazon to the rescue, will have these tomorrow
 
chrome/22 said:
Amazon to the rescue, will have these tomorrow
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Awesome. As mentioned above, the fish may not be as concentrated on the bottom this time of year, so don't be discouraged if you aren't hugely successful with balanced leech or chironomids. That method will be more lights out once the water cools down again.
 
I'm currently fishing a Stillwater at 6400' elevation it's plenty hot mid day but drops to a low of 50 overnight.

Working over weedbeds about 8-12' during the morning & evenings. I'm running a full floater on my 5 weight have a small corkie for my strike indicator pegged at the junction on a 9' leader in 5x to a BC ruby eyed leech. Let it do it's slow sink then nove it in all leech like. Thing looks amazing in the water, just have to find some cooperative fish.

c/22
 
A bobber stopper on your leader is a terrific way to be able to reset your indicator after a fish. No need to hook on the hemostats again.
 
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