Tippet rings

[Papasequoia]

I forget who it was that recently told me that they have started using tippet rings - probably someone at the Volcano Party. In any case, while I haven't tried them yet, I found this brief discussion and video interesting enough to make me consider picking some up for a trial run. The video has some good tips, including how not to lose the little buggers when tying a new one on.

http://midcurrent.com/2013/10/27/attaching-tippet-rings-to-leaders/

[anacrime]

So is this supposed to be stronger than a double blood / uni knot?

[Papasequoia]

I think the main reason behind it is to make changing tippet easier. Rather than surgeon's knots at various spots on your leader you just pick a spot to tie in the ring then that will always be the tie in point when adding new tippet. Btw, I haven't seen the little gadget he has for cranking tippet/leader material into a small storage container for later disposal - also pretty cool.

[tomsakai]

One big advantage is that you're not continually shortening leaders when you're tying on more tippet. When I used a guide (Eric Hein) in Mammoth a couple weeks ago I noticed that he's using tippet rings to make his nymphing leaders.

[KRoberts1]

They're really nice on nymph rigs and furled butts.

They're also very easy to lose while tying them on. I keep mine on a safety pin, now.

keith

[DrCreek]

One little accidental "nick" or "bump" into your rod while flying through the air and... you can guess the rest.

[fly addict]

One little accidental "nick" or "bump" into your rod while flying through the air and... you can guess the rest.

I think a beadhead nymph would be a lot worse than a 2mm tippet ring when it comes to causing damage to your rod... Here is a tip to keep from hitting your rod with your flies or a tippet ring while casting, lengthen your casting stroke to open up your loop.
I have been using tippet rings for a few years now. I use them on my dryfly leaders and when I’m nymphing also. They will give you a lot more use out of a leader. I use a 6 turn clinch knot on 5x or smaller and a 5 turn clinch on any leader that is heaver. The 2mm rings seem to be the right size for trout fishing. Anglers Image are the ones I use, and they have worked well. I once bought some cheap ones on Ebay that had a sharp edge that cut through my tippets every time. I might have given those to Eric.

[anacrime]

^ Thanks, good enough for me to try em.

[Benny]

. I once bought some cheap ones on Ebay that had a sharp edge that cut through my tippets every time. I might have given those to Eric.

[RichardCullip]

I like them when I go trout fishing, especially on my dry fly leaders. As others have said, it makes adding tippet to the leader very easy.

[RSetina]

I've been using them for years. Can rig without them now. Well I could but I get in a bad mood. I have a bunch on hand all the time and I highly recommend them. It's so easy to change tippet and the nice thing is you never cut the leader unless you break off at the ring.

[planettrout]

I have been using these for a least the last eleven years. One does not burn through leaders using these to attach tippet material and I have yet to ding any of my rods with them:



...keep the rings on the gizmo when attaching it to the leader, then slip it off...


PT/TB

[AZWanderings]

I use them on my furled leaders. Makes it so easy to change tippet and does not impact the cast or "floatability" of the leader.



Ben

[meb]

I used to use them when I saltwater fished. I would tie the heaviest part of a leader using Maxima ending at a ring, and I would use cheap fluorocarbon as the tippet. Seemed to work really well, since tippets take such a beating at the beach.

MB

[FlyKastr]

I apologize for resurrecting this older post, but I’ve got some questions for adding tippet rings onto tapered leaders. I’d really appreciate any advice that you could pass along.

Does one simply cut off a couple feet to add the tippet ring or is it best to actually locate where the taper ends and cut the leader there?

2mm OD is a common trout size. Does anyone use smaller of larger diameters than this?

Lastly, it’s unclear if Rio or Anglers Image tippet rings are stainless steel. Does anyone use these brands for salt water leaders?