Author Topic: A secondary sighter question (Read 128 times)

Rich Strolis · « **on:** July 15, 2010, 07:44:02 AM »

So I have been reading and watching just about every piece of material that I can get my hands on in relation to all of these wonderful nymphing techniques to fine tune my presentations and figure out what the limitations on versatility are. I have recently read but have yet to see any of it in person and was wondering if any of you could shed some light on what I am about to ask. I am in the middle of a good read that talks about how some competitors are using more than one sighter in their setup when they go with a much longer leader. My only question is, are they referring to the colored portion of their butt section as one of their sighters or are they adding a second sighter in another position down the line. I have no issues with sighter placement otherwise, but I was wondering what length setup is the cutoff for one sighter, and if you were to utilize 2 sighters how and where would place it along your leader. I mean, the whole purpose of the longer leader is to target spooky fish in shallower water from a greater distance, I would think that if you had a colored piece of line closer to your flies then that would defeat the purpose of stealth. I was going under the assumption that they referred to having a colored section in the butt of the leader as used in the shorter line methods as a sighter. Yes? No? Any insight?

Dejon Hamann · « **Reply #1 on:** July 15, 2010, 08:01:29 AM »

I think your assumption is correct. I've never found the need for one myself when long distance nymphing. The curly at a standard position does the job and since I'm almost always using fairly heavily weighted flies when I'm fishing at extreme distance to anchor the cast I can position the curly at a visible spot by using arm and rod length.

If you were using straight sighters in a deep polish nymphing rig I guess I could see the benefit as you could fish one sighter in shallow water and one in deeper situations with the former submerged.

My general question is that if you're fishing so far away that you cant utilize your "furthest" sighter... then what's happening to your strike detection and set times??? I'll bet they're severely diminished.

Loren Williams · « **Reply #2 on:** July 15, 2010, 08:01:37 AM »

Hi Rich,

From the guys I have seen and what I have done it's simply a straight section included in your butt section, I prefer my focus to be near the drift of the flies but if you deep nymph or lose visibility then the second sighter is nice.

Rich Strolis · « **Reply #3 on:** July 15, 2010, 08:08:39 AM »

Loren,

thanks a lot. That was what I figured but figured I would ask anyway as it seemed a bit odd to put two close together. Makes a lot of sense. I have also been reading that a lot of competitors are using braided leaders in their butt section of their setups. Some of these braided sections have colored ends as well. Sounds pretty interesting and may be something I will also play around with. Many thanks.

Todd Oishi · « **Reply #4 on:** July 15, 2010, 09:33:03 AM »

I often use three, or even four, sighters for my nymphing set up (depends on the length and presentation). I use a hi-vis braided loop; two different sections of brightly coloured monofilament; and a coil of sorts...