Fishing Forum

I read about a lot of people complaining about light biting fish through the ice. I can't take credit for creating this strike indicator, but I will share it with you all. It is no more than a 3" piece of surgical tubing that is cut 3/4 of the way up the tube, pulled inside out, and zip tied to the end of the rod. The third picture ( tubing) shows a line drawn on the tubing, simply cut along this line with scissors and turn the tip inside out. When you first put on the indicator it's very rubbery and doesn't fish like it should, it merely flips over backward. It is best to put one on a few days before going fishing, run your line through it and hook it doubled over (pic. indicator3) and let it sit for a day or two. The tubing will then lose its memory.
This isn't the perfect solution, it is only good for a certain weight of lures. Works great with lures from 1/32 oz thru 1/16 oz. Any lighter and it won't pull the tubing horizontal and any heavier and it just pulls the tubing down vertically. It does work wonders with light biters though. Even the lightest most impersevable bump or lifting of the bait is easily detectable. You can even see when a fish is holding the bait in his mouth and is not moving. I only rig it up on one or two of my rods at a time and carry extra zip ties so I can put them on and take them off depending on lure selection, but it might be a nice tool for some of you to add to your arsenal.
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Looks to be a pretty handy little indicator. Thanks for sharing, I'll have to try it out. I'd be willing to bet if you shortened the indicator, it would work for heavier lures.
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hey them look like they might work ok.. but way to ugly to put on my pole... i got some indicators at wal-mart 2 for a buck.. thin metal strips that work great for lite bites and last forever or as long as you have the pole.. all you need to put them on is some thread and some tying cement...and they work for small stuff like 1/64 up to 1/2 oz..

dude on fish?
Ron
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I have the round wire indicators, and I liked the way the metal strip style worked for you Ron much better. I have looked in several Wal-Marts this ice season trying to find those, but I have not been able to find them. If anyone knows where they can be purchased please let me know.
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hey kent i seen them in the ephraim wal-mart just the other day.. next time i'm there i'll look and see if i can grab you some!!


dude on fish?
Ron
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I would appreciate it Ron. I don't make it to Ephraim very often.
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That looks like a neat idea, you ought to market that. Call it the foreskin, I'm sure you'd sell a couple...
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If you play guitar your old strings make really good lite bite indicators. I use all of the strings depending on how sensative I want the indicator and they work great,
jed
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I've used them before, years ago. Infact I mentioned them in a thread awhile back. They work good. The longer the tubing the more sensitive they become. However, like most light strike indicators they can be a little rough to use in extremely cold temps. due to icing up.
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You can also find them in sportsmans unless they are aold out.
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Fish Tech (located at 6153 South Highland Drive in SLC) have the flat strip spring strike indicators (correct name is spring bobbers). The ones that Sportsman's has are the ones with the round wire, and IMHO the flat ones work better.
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That is a sweet idea you have there I will have to try that. i need help on my lite biting skills and that might help.
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I made my own last year, out of wire ties(zip ties). This year I bought the factory-made wire indicators. I was happier with the homemade ones I think. Plus, they were flourescent, because that's what I had. I just hot glued a wire "eye" made from leftover xmas ornament hooks. Either way, they're better than a plain old fishing pole for detecting strikes.
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