Sighters
| Sighters a.k.a. Curly-Qs Contribution by: Dean Rapp Last Updated: December 22, 2013 |
My first exposure to a Sighter was during the George Daniels presentation in the Winter of 2013. Now that I have had an opportunity to use them they will likely forever grace the list of must haves on any fly fishing trip I take.
The sighter is a piece of high vis monofilament that has been formed in the shape of a slinky and is attached between your leader and your tippet. When the fish strikes the sighter starts to straighten and you set the hook.
Sighters can be purchased at a variety of locations or you can make them yourself.
Materiels list for the do it yourselfer:
1/4" Dowell Rod (I use dowell pins for furniture assembling found at most any hardware store)
1/4" i.d. rubber o-rings (Or anything to secure the monofilament to the dowell)
Monofillement in the 15lb to 20lb range or .015 - .019 diameter (Use a color that your eyes see best!)
Slide 6-12 inches of monofillement through an o-ring, slide a dowell rod into the o-ring which will secure the monofillement to the dowell. Wrap the monofilament tightly around the dowell rod for a total of 8 to 12 wraps. Clip the monofillament with an additional 6 to 12 inch tag, slide the tag through the o-ring and over the dowell. Submerge the dowell in a pot of boiling water for 5 - 12 minutes. After such time, remove them and immediately place them in the freezer overnight to help set the coiled memory. Leave the sighters coiled on the dowell until ready to use.
If your monofillament seems to loose it's color I'd suggest boiling with a mixture of 1 part water and 1 part White Vinneger. I've found that doing such will help maintain some of the color.
The Czech fishing techniques for which these sighters evolved would include the use of an 18ft leader for which the sighter would be attached. My use of sighters has been relegated to small spring creeks where an 18ft leader is simply not needed. I attach the sighter to the end of a four foot piece of monofillament, typically .020-.024 diameter Maxima Chamelleon and the sighter essentially becomes part of my leader. I use a blood knot to connect the sighter to my leaders but you can use any of a number of methods. A tippet ring attached to the sighter then allows me to quickly and with out damage change out tippet through out the day.
The use of Mucilin or similiar floatant on the sighter is highly recomended. The use of such compound will keep your sighter floating high.
When done using the sighter for the day coil it back up on the dowell so it maintains and in some cases re-gains its coil.