Favorite indicator dry fly?

[Adam Grace]

I love fishing small creeks with a dry dropper rig and I'm always out on the look-out for a good top fly.

I do not want one that spins the leader or get damaged easily. I prefer foam flies, especially since I prefer to limit to re-application of floatant.

Does anyone have suggestions and hopefully a picture of your favorite
indicator-style dry fly?

[DFrink]

I always like using a stimulator. They'll float anything! My second choice would be an elk hair caddis. No foam here, haven't used to many foam flies? I may have to give one a shot this year.

Dan

[Troutstalker55B]

http://i1093.photobucket.com/albums/i424/moto55b/mf225_1_1.jpg

If I have to insult my dry fly with a dropper than I would use my simple sandwich hopper. Never needs floatant, and keeps floating all day long while towing around a bead head fly. This is the fly I came up with years ago for some very large and selective trout on the banks of the Madison river. No bells, No whistles, just a low profile and the perfect shape. Don't be afraid to tie them small, like on a size 12 Tiemco 101. Brown and tan is my favorite color.

Jon.

[Frank Alessio]

Nice Fly Jon...

[JD]

Andy Burk's Indicaddis meets your criteria. Highly visible and floats well, although I typically default to a Stimulator. I don't find foam flies particularly appealing, but that is just personal bias.

[Adam Grace]

JD, that's what I'm talking about! How well does it cast? Does it twist the leader?

[JD]

Anything with a wing and legs is potentially going to twist the leader, but with stout tippet it has never been much of a problem for me. The pattern casts just fine. Less wind resistance than say a Bols Indicator. Indicator portion is Sparkle Emerger Yarn, which is a bit finer than standard macrame yarn. I mostly use it in pocket water situations, but would imagine it would work just fine on small streams too.

[Bob Scheidt]

It's hard for anything to float a tungsten bead, so the bead's gotta be small. A Stimulator will float the most weight in what I use. If it is a brass bead or no bead I can go to a parachute. I am a fan of the hi viz parachutes, say a bright orange wing. I use these when the water is moving or the little fish don't know any better. Just my 2 cents worth.
Bob

[Dan LeCount]

Big poly wing irresistible wulff if theres any big mays in the system. If its more stonefly or hopper time then a foam stimi or a hopper with a poly wing on top. (kinda like Andys indacaddis but more hopper-ish I guess). If thats overkill for what youre doing, just tone back, smaller, less material and sparser. If youre just fishing small creeks, small chernobyl ant style stuff like what Jon posted is probably all you need. Dont need to overthink small creek trout. Just something low maintenance that floats your pheasant tail.

altho on a personal bias, sight nymphing drowned ants is probably my favoriite way to fish on backcountry/boulderhopping streams, that or just dries solo.

[lando]

The Mini-Hopper tied by Ben Smith at AZ Wanderings is extremely popular year-round for small streams here in AZ. The fly can also easily pass for a caddis if you don't tie in the legs. Ben sells them on his website $25 for a dozen and has a tutorial for tiers here:

http://azwanderings.com/2010/mini-hopper-tutorial/

[DFrink]

Lando, that's a pretty cool looking hopper pattern and looks really simple to tie. Thanks for sharing, I'm going to have to give that one a try.

Dan