Rigs
The bung: fishing at a known depth
Draft reference — pending review.
What it's for
A buoyant indicator on a floating line holds a team of buzzers dead still at an exact, repeatable depth — fly depth is simply the bung-to-fly distance, read straight off the leader. Deadly for cold water and stocked rainbows; watch it like a hawk, because the takes are a dip, a slide, or a lift.
The beats
The rig
Floating line, 10–12 ft of fluorocarbon, the bung a few feet down from the line's tip. Below it, up to three flies at 3–4 ft spacings, heaviest on the point to keep everything hanging straight.
Set the depth
Slide the bung to set where the flies hang. Start mid-water and move it a foot at a time until the takes tell you where the fish sit.
Let it settle
Cast, then leave it 10–15 seconds while the team sinks to hang vertically. Plenty of takes come on this drop — watch from the moment it lands.
Work it, barely
Static is the method. At most a crawl of figure-of-eight to stay in touch, and every half minute or so one long slow pull to lift-and-drop the team like rising pupae.
Strike soft
Anything unusual — dip, slide, lift, hesitation — lift firmly into it. A smooth lift-and-draw hooks these gentle takes; a snatch bounces them off.
Common faults
More leader than the bung can fish
Past about 12–14 ft of depth the rig stops working: casting turns into hurling, takes barely register, and lifting into fish feels late every time.
Fix: The bung's registering range is finite. For deeper fish swap to a sinking line and the countdown — the bung's job is precision in the top three or four metres, not reaching the bottom of the lough.
When you'll use it
- Cold water and lethargic fish holding at one depth
- Stocked rainbows keyed on buzzers — the classic small-water winter method
- Finding the taking depth fast, to inform whatever method you fish next
- Check the rules where you fish: loch-style competitions require an indicator to be a hook-carrying fly, and slide-on indicators are commonly banned
Related
Sources & how we know this (3)
- Bung rig build: floating line, 10–18 ft fluoro leader, ~12 ft workable, flies at 3–4 ft spacings, heaviest on point; depth = bung-to-fly distance
Guide Flyfishing — Stillwater indicator fishing: a guide · 2026-07-11 - Method: settle 10–15 s, static or crawl retrieve, periodic lift-and-drop, takes as dip/slide/lift, gentle lift-strike
Fario Fly — Denis Goulding explains how best to fish buzzers · 2026-07-11 - Loch-style competition rules: indicator must be capable of hooking a fish, gape unobstructed, threaded/slide-on indicators not allowed
Angling Trust — Loch-Style Team Championship Rules · 2026-07-11
Draft reference — pending review.