"Drop" Indicators - make your own

[Alain Barthelemy]

Since I mentioned drop indicators in the other thread, I thought perhaps you would want to know how to make your own.  Simply take a piece of your favorite sighter mono and make a series of closely spaced Figure 8 knots.  You may also use simple overhand knots, but the Figure 8 knot doesn't cut itself as badly under stress.  The Figure 8 knot also holds the product better.  To get the knots where you want them, simply tighten then down on and around a smooth finish nail with the head cut off.

Go outside on a sunny day, but stand in the shade.  Coat the knots with a tiny ball of this stuff:


When you have shaped the ball in to a small cigar shape, step out in to the sun for about 30 s.  Repeat for the other knots.  About 4 knots, spaced 1 1/2in apart seems about right.  This is a UV cure paint like Loon KnotSense, but it seems to cure better in the sun (than the lamp).  The product is available (in Europe) in FL Orange and Yellow.  It is expensive.  There might be a cheaper paint available from a craft store, but I haven't looked.

Voila!  You have a drop indicator.

I don't use drop indicators now, but experimented with them for a while and they are fun to make.  They are useful for slow water, floating sighter applications.

You may also use the UV paint to add hotspots (on stream) to any fly in your box.  The paint seems to adhere best to porous materials like dubbing or herl.

[Randy Hanner]

take note, those are NOT comp legal

[Alain Barthelemy]

Randy,

Thanks, we just covered that in the other thread:
http://troutlegend.com/forum/fips-mouche-tech-talk-37/leader-knot-question-as-it-pertains-to-fipps/msg19170/#msg19170

All:
By the way, the UV Magic Paint is also the perfect stuff for making a small bright orange indicator at the tip of your fly line.  If you do the no-knot connection I wrote about and add a tiny dab of this stuff, you end up with a versatile system that serves a lot of purposes.