CLOSED CELL FOAM STRIKE INDICATORS

I came on this idea somewhere in my recent ramblings and it looks worth trying. All you need is a cylinder of closed cell foam and a needle to thread the cylinder up the tippet and leader. I was surprised how easily it slips over knots. How well it will hold its position on a tapered nylon leader I have yet to find out, but with some pretty strenuous casting outdoors it never moved.

Punching out cylinders becomes child’s play using Peter Briggs bright idea to cut up an old telescopic radio aerial. He sharpens the ends with fine sand paper. He uses this simple instrument to churn out Ed’s Hopper bodies. Brilliant idea!

In the illustrations here I have used green and yellow foam, but the choice is yours. The brown foam in the first picture is from an Orvis Quick-sight ant body.

Carrying the needles might pose a small problem but an old plastic film canister would be useful. Or else you just carry them in the pressed plastic housing the needles come in.