Rigs
The washing line rig
Draft reference — pending review.
What it's for
The bung's active cousin. Instead of a passive indicator, a buoyant fly — a booby or FAB — fishes on the point, and the buzzers hang from the leader sagging between the floating line and that buoyant anchor: washing on a line. You stay in direct touch and feel the takes rather than watching for them.
The beats
The anchor
A buoyant point fly holds the far end of the leader up. Bigger foam eyes ride higher; small ones let the team swing deeper.
The washing
Two or three buzzers or nymphs on droppers hang in the sag between the fly line's tip and the point fly — suspended, not sinking.
Stay in touch
The slowest figure-of-eight you can manage — enough to keep a straight line to the point fly so every take registers in your fingers.
Tune the sag
Floating line hangs the team shallow; a midge tip sinks the near end and bows the whole team deeper. Line choice is the depth control.
Common faults
Fishing it too fast
The booby wakes across the top, the buzzers plane up behind it, and the rig fishes like a bad lure instead of a hatch.
Fix: The washing line is a suspension rig, not a retrieve. The point fly is there to hold depth — move everything at a crawl and let the buzzers just hang and drift.
When you'll use it
- Fish nymphing in the top metre but ignoring anything pulled
- A drifting boat in light wind — the drift itself works the team
- May to October buzzer fishing when static-under-the-bung feels too dead
Related
Sources & how we know this (2)
- Washing line structure: buoyant point fly, nymphs on droppers in the leader sag, slow figure-of-eight for tactile contact; booby-eye size and line density as depth controls
Fulling Mill — Washing line method: are you being strung out? · 2026-07-11 - Bung vs washing line: passive visual indicator vs active buoyant fly and tactile contact; seasonal usage
Angling Active — How to fish a washing line · 2026-07-11
Draft reference — pending review.