Is there a way to permanently dye or darken a tippet ring to a murky deep water color? So that in clear water you don’t get the FLASH it can give off…which fish don’t seem to like.?
Gemrod
You talking a little tiny 2mm or 3mm tippet ring used on some furled leaders?
I’d be more worried about the presentation of a fly and or motion of a rod, guides, reels etc. before I’d worry about a little tippet ring. The water has glints of light flickering all the time in moving waters.
Or if it really bothers you, just blacken it with a sharpie once in a while.
Dull your hooks while you’re at it.
Why not try paint. Epoxy type. Hardware store
has small cans of it.
Nothing wrong with what your up too!
Steve
Try ammonia or bleach, but you would have to do this before the ring is on the leader. Just soak the rings until they turn. In a pinch, urine should work also.
I am sure you are not in a pinch…LOL
Try a torch low heat should blue it nicely…
I mostly use a black marker, but if you use the stainless steel rings, then you can also heat them slowly on a stove plate until they turn dark blue. This is an oxide that forms on the metal surface, and is semi-permanent. It does not appreciably weaken the rings. However, heating them close to red heat will!
The nickel silver rings are best just coloured with a marker.
You are also quite right, the “flash” given off by these rings can scare fish, although sometimes smaller fish will actually try to grab them.
This may also be of interest to you in regard to leader rings;
http://www.mike1.bplaced.net/Wikka/TeamSedge
TL
MC
None of the thousands of trout that I’ve caught using silver tippet rings and / or stainless steel tippet rings on furled leaders were scared off. Now I’m wondering how many thousands were, that I might otherwise have caught !!!???
Seriously, I find it difficult to believe that this little piece of metal, mostly obscured by the tippet end of a furled leader material and covered in part by the tippet attached to it, could scare off any fish, even in the clearest water.
I’ve fished very light colored furled leaders with not much more than a foot of tippet to the fly, and caught fish, in spring creeks and “gin clear” tailwaters. With more than a few feet of tippet, the end of the furled leader is probably so far away from where the trout is looking at the food you are offering up, the fish won’t even see the leader, let alone the tippet ring.
I read about the “flash” from Team Sedge. I really have a hard time believing something that small is going to scare any kind or any size fish. I’m with John Scott and Bamboozle on this one. Imagine the thousands that got away because of the flash:o
Mine are the nickel silver rings. Thanks to those who really tried to provide an answer to the original question.
Ouch! to the zingers. Why the zingers? I don’t understand.
Now I see what you get when you ask a question on FAOL.
Gemrod
BTW I think I will just not use them.
Glad you got the help needed, now let us know how it works out.
Maybe the manufacture of those rings will heed your thought
and make a new version…
Gem:
If the rings make your fishing easier keep using them. If fish are that darn observant that to them the twinkle of light reflected off something that small bothers them; well I have to assume we’d never catch a thing. Have YOU seen the flash and if so are you sure it’s the ring and not the tippet material reflecting the light?
I use 1.5 mm rings which are a minimum of 4-6 feet away from my fly and if somebody can prove to me that it’s the rings and their associated flash that scare the fish not anything else like shiny mono tippets, orange wing posts, the flash from bright fly lines, glossy rod finishes, wedding bands, gold teeth, pierced earrings, nose rings or the myriad of stuff we have hanging about us, I’ll buy them dinner. And as far as fish hitting the rings, that doesn’t prove a thing except that fish are dumb. They hit my blood knots all the time.
I really doubt there is anything to be concerned about to warrant worrying about darkening them but I wouldn’t stop using them unless your convinced I’m wrong for not worrying.
But heck if I’m wrong; I owe you dinner.
Gemrod:
I furl leaders and have chosen to not use tippet rings - not because of the flash - just as a matter of personal preference. I don’t believe that the glare from a 2mm ring would scare many fish but that is merely my unsubstantiated opinion and nothing more. As to raising the question - I see absolutely nothing wrong with that. My 75 year old fishing partner and I fish daily and some of the fun, I believe, is pondering even the most minute details of our sport. Soooooooooo PONDER ON BROTHER - PONDER ON. Right of wrong there are a lot of us right in there with you.
Gem -
If you took my comments as a “zinger,” I can assure you that it was not meant that way, and I am sorry that you took offense at it.
I am not sorry that I clearly stated a strong opinion on this subject, based on a lot of experience with tippet rings on furled leaders fishing for all the trout species in Idaho in many different creeks, streams and rivers.
As you may recall from an earlier PM to you on this subject, I certainly wouldn’t discourage the use of tippet rings, and just as certainly, I wouldn’t reinforce what I consider a misimpression about their effect on our quarry.
John
Gemrod:
Glad you got the help needed as asked for , now let us know how it works out.
Maybe the manufacture of those rings will heed your thought
and make a new tempered down version…
Those would be the ones I would use…
Take care…
You might want to give some of this a try:
http://www.birchwoodcasey.com/sport/index.html
The Plum Brown maybe just the ticket for you. When I used to fish Carolina and Texas rigged artificial for bass I seemed to have better luck using black snap swivels. Since I don’t keep score of the numbers of fish I catch from day to day I can’t give you any evidence like that to back it up but I perceived that it made a difference. I think you may be right.
My reply wasn’t a “zinger” either. I just have a hard time believing a tippet ring, with half of the ring being covered by the leader and the other half covered by a knot could cause any problem or flashing. Do what you want to do. It’s your leader.
I use stainless steel links from one of those the medi alert chains. They are the perfect size. You can get them in almost any drug store. I picked up mine at a yard sale. Because it had been worn by someone for a while most of its shine was gone. Problem solved. I imagine that ammonia idea would do the same job in dulling the flash point.
On the other hand, I add flash to a great number of the flies I tie as an attractant. Hmmmmmmmm
I know that the flash from a ring would not be coming from same place as the fly is and may distract the fish in a different direction which wouldn’t be good. It may affect some species of fish and not others. With any luck it would scare of the small fish and attract the larger ones.
You have sure given me something to think about. Does it or does it not make fish shy off?
Hmmmmmmm , I just don’t know and I doubt anybody else does either.
Ergo I’m going to ignore it as usual.
My personal opinion on this is if you use the tippet rings and the flash does not bother YOU, then don’t worry about it. If you use the tippet rings and the flash does bother YOU, then you need to do something about it because it is now affecting YOUR confidence which will affect your fishing whether it bothers the fish or not is not the most important point. Anything that bothers YOU will affect your fishing. I nymph fish 99% of the time and I give 100% of my concentration to watching the line because I do not use a strike indicator and if my concentration is broken because my side vision caught a flash and I looked that direction to see what it was, then my fishing has been affected. So, I guess my point is that the tippet flash may not bother the fish, but, it does bother my concentration which will affect my fishing.
Just my opinion and nothing more…
Lets just take a moment and think of this:
You are walking down the sidewalk and see a bright flash middle of the street. Nothing else around, just a flash and then nothing. Would that freak you out? Maybe not, but it might scare the bejesus out of someone else.
Now, you are walking down the street. You see a flash across the street and then see a guy walking. Musta been his watch or something. Wouldn’t freak you out, would it?
Now imagine this is a world where anything could be danger and get you killed.
Maybe it isn’t so impossible that an errent flash from a small shiney metal ring would spook trout. And a flash from a fly wouldn’t bother them and maybe attract them.
One more point. If confidence is 90% of fishing success (not a scientific number, but one I have come to in my fishing and opinion), then you need to do anything and everything to confidently present your fly. If coloring or dulling a ring on your leader gives you confidence, do it. It doesn’t matter if it really helps or not, but if it helps you make the cast in that tight spot without fear of spooking fish, thats good enough to make it worth the trouble.
PS
I didn’t mean to copy this idea from warren P, I didn’t read his post before I started writing. Same idea, different words.