Tippet Rings?

[Ben Kobrin]

Anyone use 'em? Like 'em? Hate 'em? I've never used them but they have recently cought my interest and I'd like to hear a few thoughts. As long as they're small and light enough it seems like a great idea. 2mm looks like the norm for light trout setups.

-Ben

[Darian]

Rings.... For a light Trout set-up.... Sounds like a bit of overkill to me. I can understand using solid rings in connecting tippets to main leaders in saltwater fly fishing (even tho I've never found the need for them yet....).

Not sure where you intend to place the ring in this set-up but, IMHO, a ring in a light trout leader set-up would not lend itself to delicacy in presentation or contribute to much to landing fish over a standard, tapered leader design. About the only positive I can see would be relatively quick change of leader tippets.

Having said that, Im sure others either use them or have used them to some degree or other with success. Maybe they'll chime in with some suggestions....

[mikenewman]

Hi Ben

Used to use the 2mm rings years ago for stillwater trout in the UK(Before I traded in my 3wt and became a bass bugger.) They are useful for maximizing the life of expensive tapered leaders and versatile 'cos you can quickly and easily change your tippet length to suit conditions. They are tiny and weigh practically nothing. Roman Moser uses them on the end of his furled leaders, including dry fly. (Famous European trout guru, if you've never heard of him.)

Anyway, they are as cheap as chips so nothing to lose by giving 'em a go

Cheers

Mike

[dbrosier]

Andy Burk advocates the use of tippet rings for czech nymphing rigs. Tying the droppers to a ring causes the dropper tippet to stand out from the main leader at a 90 degree angle. That reduces tangling, and gets each fly to drift more naturally.

Both my friend and I have tried them, and they work exactly as intended. My only problem with them is seeing the dang things, which is why I wear bifocals.

HTH

[jbird]

I have a hard time imagining any kind of knot can remain where you want it along the circumfrence of a ring. Especially while casting a team of weighted nymphs. I would think if your goal is to get your dropper to stand off the mainline at 90 d. angle, tie a knot that results in the tag standing off and tie the fly to that. ie. surgeons or blood knot.

The ring doesnt sound like a bad idea for saving length on expensive tapered leaders. It seems to fill a pretty unnecessary nich tho.

Jay

[mikenewman]

Actually, Jay, you are dead right - the knots do slide around the ring and I always used a surgeon's knot for the 2 droppers I invariably fished with.

[Jeff C.]

I tried using then for my leader to tippet connection. They work fine but are hard to pick up because they are so small. Try dropping a bag of them on the floor. Good Luck! I now just use a loop to loop for my leader to tippet connection which works out fine for everyday fishing. Jeff

[Jeff C.]

P.S. The tippet rings are really good for transitioning from a mono leader to fluoro tippet if you are trying to join them with a knot. Again with a loop to loop you don't have to worry about this. I can see using them if your going after some big fish. Jeff

[Tony Buzolich]

If anyone is looking for a great deal on some I've got a bunch that I'd like to get rid of. Brand new. I believe they're Cortland Climax?

TONY