New Zealand Strike Indicator Tool

This system changed how I fish nymphs forever. It's really simple to use but does have a learning curve. There are some disadvantages, like needing to use floatant. But the benefits far outweigh any disadvantages, in my opinion. I've been using mine for years now, and I'll never go back.

I saw the New Zealand Strike Indicator advertised somewhere - and with me being fairly new to the whole fly fishing experience, especially nymphing (and with no luck with any other indicator setups), I decided to give it a try. I ordered this indicator tool and setup on Thursday morning, had it delivered on Friday afternoon, so that I could give it a try on Saturday morning. As you can see from the picture (and my own personal opinion), I am a firm believer that this may be the best strike indicator available on the market. It did exactly what the description said it would - super easy to put on, it floated well AND for the entire time that I was out wandering around the river, easily adjustable, etc., etc. And, you can even see the most subtle of takes. I'm very impressed with the New Zealand Strike Indicator Tool and Setup!

I found this relatively straightforward to install given the provided instructions. Works best on calm water. Faster water will cause the indicator to become saturated and sink which defeats the purpose. You can dress them with fly floatant and that helps. But pretreating the wool/yarn with kiwi camo dry water repellent has worked better for me.

Low clear water? Spooky trout? No problem. Makes presenting your flies to spooky trout more manageable. Lands like a butterfly on the water and is so sensitive even with the most delicate of takes. White is perfect for super spooky trout as it blends in as bubbles in a foam line.

Really like this strike indicator the more I use it. Took a little getting used to for wool amount to put on line but as time goes by, I have gotten more experienced with proper amount to pull and roll for use. Actually have had to use very little new wool as it is reusable as the description states. I think the plastic tubing will wear out from reuse before the wool will need replacement. The amount of wool that came with the original kit would surely last me an entire season unless I lost whole leader which is fairly uncommon. Adding a little Gink or other flotant keeps the wool high and dry for most of a days fishing. Very easy to set up and use and it is my only strike indicator now. No more plastic balls or foam tabs to tear off the line at the end of the day. Easy to install, easy to remove, really easy to see and follow visually on a float. I actually mix multiple colors when putting on the line and find that I can see it no matter the light conditions. Certain colors stand out more in sunlight and others stand out more in shade. Multiple colors show up no matter where the indicator is.

very nice

Nymph fishing is not my favorite --prefer to be fishing on top of the water-but sometimes nymph fishing is what you got to do if you want to catch any fish. This product is great-- the only hold up is to make sure you attach the "needle like devise" to your fly vest -it is very easy to lose -- but like the way you attach to line--it takes a little practice to get it right but once you get the technique it works great --recommended if you plan to any nymph fishing. And before you go fishing after getting the product practice putting the product to your line--make sure you have the technique down so when you attach to your line it will not move --it comes with good directions but i found with a little practice before I went out on water I was better prepared. Good luck and have fun!!

I'm still on the fence about this product. The instructions and concept seem straight-forward until you're actually out on the water. Then the work starts. There's no clear direction on exactly (or even approximately) how much of the wool material to use. The only information from the website AND the manufacturer (yes, I sent them an e-mail) is "for large nymphs, use a large indicator, for medium-sized, use a medium-sized amount, and for small nymphs, use a small amount." Yes, that is literally the response I received. I thought that I was fairly specific with my question. I wrote, "Is there any guideline for how much wool to use? For example, if I'm using, say, a size 16 beadhead pheasant tail, should I use wool about the size of a dime? Or, perhaps the head of a 10 penny nail?" I'm also not sure about the durability of the tubing. And again, there is the possibility that I erred on the side of "more" and used too much wool. But, if you're not an expert fly caster like me and end up tangled in a bush or something, there's a pretty good chance that you'll lose the indicator. I lost 2 on my first trip but the fly was still intact at the end of my leader. As for the "float all day" advertisement...that's fairly subjective. Assuming you get an ample amount of wool, you apply floatant to said wool, and don't fish in water that is very swift, then, yes, one "ball" of wool, or one indicator should, in theory, "float all day." When fishing swifter water, the indicator became saturated after about 2 or 3 drifts and sank. On a positive note, if I rang the water out of the wool and blew on the indicator to dry it back out, I could probably get a couple more drifts. So, I suppose it's not that different from a dry fly. But, at that rate, it would have been a lot less expensive to just buy a dozen or so size 10 dry flies to use as strike indicators. Other than the issues listed, I can't really tell any difference in the quality of this product versus any other strike indicator on the market. I cut my teeth on using Thingamabobbers, so, I could be a little spoiled. I don't know. Perhaps if you're a more experienced fly fisherman than me, these very well could be the best thing since sliced bread. I'll probably keep them since it was well past the return window before I was able to try them. But 1) it's going to take some pretty impressive performance from this product to make me a true believer and 2) I'm going to pick up another pack of Thingamabobbers to keep in my pack