Tippet Rings ???

[PeteA]

Hey Guys, PeteA from Westchester County, NY here. New to the forum. Been fishing small flies and the Croton Watershed for 25 years. I just started reading about tippet rings. Never used them before. I might be a little behind the times. I fish a lot of small dry flies (size 20-24) and light tippet - 6x, 7x, 8x for 26 Tricos. I'm just wondering if anyone else has experience using these rings for small flies and fine tippet and if they might affect presentation.

 

[moosekid]

The tiniest size of tippet ring is really hard to tie on. IMO, it's much easier to just tie a blood knot or a double surgeon's.

I tried using tippet rings for the first time early this season, and I'm not drinking the cool aid. They create tangles, and they're really hard to tie on.

I suspect they'd be useful if you were making a crude leader and you wanted to jump between two very different tippet sizes -- in perhaps, indicator fishing for steelhead...

 

[lightenup]

Don't use them, I never have, but my lazy friend who hates tying knots and leaders swears by them...

 

[FIN-ITE 34]

I'm not the lazy friend but I use them for everything. Large sizes for streamers, medium size for nymphing and smallest for all my dry fly fishing down to size 26. And yes, the smallest rings will float on the water surface and not pull down your fly. They can be had in sizes of 1, 2 & 3mm.
I tie my own leaders and the last section before the tippet I always include a ring. If you want to put it on a tapered leader then cut off about the last 18" of leader and add the tippet ring, then add whatever size tippet you want to that leader. Go from 4x to 8x in any additional length you want.
This tip is for you and Moosebaby, Make sure that you tie the end of your leader to the ring while it is still attached to the snap swivel that they come on and remove the ring from the snap after you have made it fast.

 

[PeteA]

I'm not the lazy friend but I use them for everything. Large sizes for streamers, medium size for nymphing and smallest for all my dry fly fishing down to size 26. And yes, the smallest rings will float on the water surface and not pull down your fly. They can be had in sizes of 1, 2 & 3mm.
I tie my own leaders and the last section before the tippet I always include a ring. If you want to put it on a tapered leader then cut off about the last 18" of leader and add the tippet ring, then add whatever size tippet you want to that leader. Go from 4x to 8x in any additional length you want.
This tip is for you and Moosebaby, Make sure that you tie the end of your leader to the ring while it is still attached to the snap swivel that they come on and remove the ring from the snap after you have made it fast.

Great info. Exactly what I was looking for thx!

 

[cingras53]

I use the braided leaders with the tippet ring already installed for trout and saltwater. Sometimes the length of the tippet that I tie onto the ring causes a hitch in the final segment of my cast so I might start tying a two part tippet off the ring. The tippet is usually 30--40 inches. As far as braided leaders, they do tend to tangle more than the mono leaders.