[hot chrome]

As a self-confessed 'tinkerer', I have, over the years cut lots of various sink tips. cut up teeny lines, t-14, big boys, depth finders,etc. in search of perfect tips for certain situations. My question is, does anyone have a good way of marking the tips so that they are recognizeable in a tip wallet. In the past I have used little tags that i've written on, but they breakdown very quickly. Ideally, I would use a system similar to how I mark fly lines (wide bars and thin bars with a sharpie), but I'd like to do that on the dark sinktip material. Alternatively, a tagging system that is easy to work with while standing in a river would be good. I'd like to mark both tip length and total grains. Any suggestions would be great!

Thanks in advance,
J.T.

 

[speyman]

Nail Polish

I use marks of nail polish. It is pretty durable stuff.

The storage shop has pens for writing on plastic boxes which are gold, silver and bright colors. I bet those would work well also.

 

[sva01]

I've used a wire marking machine and it has worked for over a year now. It is similar to a label maker but designed so that the letters can be read after wrapping the label around various electrical wire sizes. (A label maker might do the same thing but I have no experience with them) They sell different types of tape (vinyl, polyester) and work pretty slick. I used one made by Thomas & Betts but I'm sure there are many other brands out there.

 

[juro]

When I construct my loops, I wrap a finish layer with a colored thread over the monofilament nail knot before coating with thinned aquaseal. This method is permanent and durable. Any tying thread will do.

Here is how I have been constructing loops for almost 15 years:

http://www.flyfishingforum.com/expertise/steelhead/lines/tipsystem.htm

(Since that writing, new line technologies have brought us really strong compact loops. Because of these great products I find I build less tips and get a lot more use from pre-made tips like the ones that Rio provides with their tip systems w/ wallet. Where I still make my own is for downsizing the grains for use with long belly lines, or when making a custom length of t14 for a Skagit head, etc)

 

[Gillie]

Juro,

When you pass the braid over the exposed core are you passing it over the intact line also ? If I'm reading it right you are and you are tying the whole nail knot over intact line with the braid and core section doubled over the intact line ?

Gille

 

[Nooksack Mac]

I keep mine in a nylon Creek Co. holder with six accordion pleated pockets. No two of my sink tips are alike. I write all the data on plain white paper, cut it to approx. 4" x 4 1/4" and put it each pocket, behind the tip. One of them reads: "15' No. 10 Wet Cel IV (51/2 - 6"/second); 139 grains; .043" belly; .036" tip."

It rides in my wader's belly pouch. When it gets wet (which it's not supposed to do, because a spey fisher shouldn't wade that deep :whoa: ) I can still read them.

 

[David Dornblaser]

Chicago River

Hot Chrome,

As in Friends of the Chicago River? Cool.

I fish for Chrome in MI and North on the Sheboygan and Oconto Rivers.

Best,
David

My email address, etc. is in my Profile.

 

[MJC]

Hey Hot Chrome...

You might try this:http://preview.flyfisherman.com/skills/linelabels/index.html

 

[juro]

Juro,

When you pass the braid over the exposed core are you passing it over the intact line also ? If I'm reading it right you are and you are tying the whole nail knot over intact line with the braid and core section doubled over the intact line ?

Gille

Yes, this is very important. Tying a nail knot over the exposed core won't pass the snag test. The compression of the nail knot is achieved by pulling on alternate ends, the opposite end bites the far end of the nail knot and vice-versa.

To prepare the coating, I whittle the coating with a fresh razor. I've tried both flattening the side I make the loop with and tapering, both work. This keeps the folded side from protruding out and simplifies the passing of the braid over the coating.

Don't worry about frayed ends on the line side of the braid, that will be clipped flush with a nail clipper after the nail knot is done and the aquaseal covers it. Just push it down further so you get enough to nail knot. The best of both worlds might be to wrap the colored tying thread over the clipped ends further smoothing it out.

The total glued area is barely larger than the nail knot in size, which is typically 8-9 turns. It's a tiny loop overall.

You can make the loop less than 1/2" without degrading performance. The biggest advantage of the braid is that even after the worst snag you can still uncompress the loop and change to a lighter tip. The integral core ensures strength and this loop does not hinge at all. Core to core loops hinge and do not uncompress easily.

By far the best nail knot tool for this job is a large needle eye. Just wrap the mono around the shank of the needle, pass the tag end thru the eye of the needle, and pull the needle out. Instant nail knot. Choose a needle without a lot of flare for easiest pullout. Should cost you less than a dollar at a craft store. I pop them in my foam flybox too for the fastest nail knots in the field ever.

When snagged I have cut tips in half on volcanic rock without popping the loop. This compression over the coating, the proper tightening of the nail knot from opposite ends, and aquaseal (without substitution) are key to making permanent bullet proof loops.