Slinky Sighter

[1cam]

I am trying to make my own slinky sighters. What I would like to know is what diameter of mono to use and what seems to be the best colors. I live in CO. and fish from small streams to large rivers like the North Platte in WY.. Any info would be greatly appreciated .

[Esopus Guy]

http://shop.siman.cz/

Order Aarons DVD. He gives you the low down on how to make them and shows the diffarence between materials that are commonly used.

[Caleb]

I usually use 12lb Stren Hi-Vis for mine. Most people I know use anywhere from 8lb-14lb.

[Caleb]

My last post got cut-off. Many of the guys I know use between 8-14lb on average. I use the Hi-Vis because it's all I have and I have no problem seeing it. A lot of them use Amnesia or Berkley Solar. This is what I was taught: make about 20 wraps around an empty ball pen. Leave room on the ends for perfection loop. Boil for 9 minutes and freeze for 24 hours. Some of the competition guys that help me out use clear mono marked with a black sharpie if they are fishing clear water for spooky fish. They color about 1/3 of the slinky while it's still on the pen and then take off. I'm sure the DVD explains it much better and goes into the how's and why's. Hope this helps!!

[Jkilroy]

Here's the scoop. 6-8" of 15lb red amnesia blood knotted to 15 lb or 14lb. golden stren or solar collector green. the 15lb holds the coils better. I wrap the whole 8" of the golden stren around the bolt. I also put opps on both ends before boiling. I also use a 6' 1/4 bolt from Lowes and use small rubber bands to hold the mono on. boil and freeze overnight.

[rs0i]

Here's a couple of videos on how to make them:

How to Make the French Slinky Strike Indicator

How to Build a Coiled Mono Sighter

[Chris Smorul]

[quote author=1cam link=topic=5169.msg40062#msg40062 date=1295458222]
I am trying to make my own slinky sighters. What I would like to know is what diameter of mono to use and what seems to be the best colors. I live in CO. and fish from small streams to large rivers like the North Platte in WY.. Any info would be greatly appreciated .
[/quote]
Everyone's eyes are different. I see the floro orange color best while others pick up better on green. Experiment with different colors to see what works best for you.
I still use a dacron backing sighter. Believe it or not, plain white seems to work best for me.

[Magnet]

I havent tried amnesia but the color sure stands out. I dont know if it holds the coils as the name amnesia means it has low memory. Ande makes a nice color green either envy green 15 lb ( i havent tried it) or Ande tournament florescent green in 16 lb. The TPO store as most of you know has the sighter pens already made up. You can get about 10 sighters out of one TPO pen. If you are like me, one pen will last avery long time possibly months as I dont change the sighter that often. The curls do relax and it does loose the curly properties after a while. If you are not trying to suspend small nymphs with the sighter on the film it may not be important to have tight curls. If one is just starting out with this technique, a barred backing sighter is just fine. The subtlties of what the coiled sighter is telling you take a while to master and are really not necessary to implement when you are just getting started. Ask yourself this question, is your sighter on the water during most of your drifts or is it out of the water giving you direct contact during your drifts. If the answer is on the water then you really are fishing visually and may have a slight bow in your leader. You have less contact this way but have distinct advantages if you can read the subtlties of the curly. You can also suspend small nymphs in the drift this way. It can tell more than just a strike. It can tell you how your drift is going given the water characteristics. If the answer to the question is , my sighter is always out of the water above the surface then you are fishing a more tactile contact technique and a barred backing sighter or a straight uncoiled colored mono sighter might be the way to go.

[Esopus Guy]

You just blew some minds talking about floating a sighter.... SHHHHHHHHH ;D

[Magnet]

Aarons DVD goes over the use of the sighter for various applications and also the best way to tie the sighter into your leader system. Brandon you are right. I dont want to confuse guys over this sighter thing and they should watch the DVD to visualize how the system works.