Winter Trout Tips: The Hinge Indicator System
If you follow us on YouTube or Instagram, you may have seen a video we posted recently about a game-changing technique for winter trout fishing — the hinge indicator system.
How to rig the Hinge Indicator
The hinge indicator system is simple. Build the same butt section you would for any indicator rig — 2-3 feet of 20 pound Maxima attached to 5-6 feet of 10 pound Maxima using a double surgeon’s knot. At the tag end of your 10 lb section, add either a barrel swivel or steelhead-sized tippet ring. Your indicator will sit just above the swivel or tippet ring.
From there, attach a length of 4x tippet using a non-slip mono loop. This loop/tippet ring combination creates your hinge. This allows your flies to sink directly below your indicator, so you don’t have to follow the 1.5x depth rule with your tippet length. Instead, use the exact amount of tippet required for the estimated depth of the water you’ll be fishing. For example, if you want your top fly 18 inches under your indicator, use 18 inches of tippet.
You can add a second fly just as you would under any indicator rig, using a small section of 5x tippet dropped from the eye or hook bend of your top fly.
If you really want to up-level the effectiveness of this rig, use a New Zealand-style yarn indicator rather than a traditional foam or plastic. It is lighter and less intrusive on the water, drifts more naturally with the current, and will help you detect significantly more strikes. Yarn indicators don’t allow you to use heavy, fast-sinking flies, but the hinge indicator system allows you to get even light flies down in the water column quickly.
Benefits of the hinge indicator system:
- Your flies sink to the intended depth faster and more accurately.
- The direct connection between your indicator and flies means you detect even the lightest cold weather takes, the moment they happen.
- Your flies suspend directly below your indicator, not off to the side, meaning your indicator more accurately reflects what’s happening to your flies subsurface.
- Achieve a more natural drift that will fool more fish.
About Joseph Beare
Joseph Beare is a guide for Northwest Fly Fishing Outfitters and a regular contributor to the NWFFO blog and newsletter. A former sports reporter, Joseph has been telling stories about outdoor and athletic endeavors for more than 20 years. As a guide, he specializes in unique trout trips, including local year-round water in winter, alpine expeditions on Mount Hood in summer and spring, and searun cutthroat floats in the fall. You can find him on Instagram @pdxflycollective.