Cylindrical Split Shot

[flyflinger 0]

A few years back I used a non-lead split shot that was shaped like a cylinder (with a slot down the edge).  I seem to recall they were called "stylers", or something like that.  Does anyone know if they are still available? - I can't seem to find them . . .

Regards, 

 

[niveker 0]

 

You got the old name right, looks like they got re-named.  

https://www.mrfc.com/products/boss-tin-6-way-stylers-dispenser

https://www.bosstin.com/product/4-way-stix/3?si=true

 

 

 

 

[flyflinger 0]

Thank you very much.  They're out of stock, hopefully not discontinued . . .

Regards,

 

[Steeldrifter 0]

After 30+ yrs of fly fishing it is not too often I see something which I have never seen before, but I gotta say, I have never seen those before 😮

[flyflinger 0]

At the risk of identifying an item that may be discontinued or "going away", I must say this is a gem of a product. 

Background: I have fished and guided for 40 years on the front range of Colorado.  Much of our water is high quality in terms of catch-and-release of beautiful, and sometimes very large trout.  The key locations on the South Platte River, for instance, have some outstanding fishing that is about 1.5 hours from both Denver and Colorado Springs.  This means that those water are accessible to thousands of fishermen, and the trout become conditioned, and very "cautious" of presentations and tackle components that don't look extremely natural.  This can make something like a split shot on a tippet become reason for a fish to avoid your flies altogether.  If this seems a bit dramatic, just ask anyone, including some of my local brethren on this forum, who have fished in Cheesman Canyon near Deckers Colorado!   

Solution:  Ideally, having no visible "sinker" would be best (for instance an upper fly with a integral hidden tungsten bead), but this quite difficult to execute with the very small flies required in those fisheries (size 22 flies are common).  So clever fishermen dealing with spooky trout have developed some innovative solutions.  I believe that the "stick-like" appearance of these "Stix" (aka Styler) split shot are one of many solutions to our wary fish, and it doesn't hurt that very few fishermen use them.  Additionally, they come in "camo" color and are easy to remove/replace if you only crimp the ends and not the midsection.

So that's my accurate, albeit lengthy, explanation/epistle of "why" I like Stix.        

Regards, 

 

             

[SilverCreek 0]

You can remove a regular split shot easily with a hemostat the has a "pick" on it.

How do you remove the cylindrical ones?

How are they better than Twistons lead strips?

[flyflinger 0]

If you only crimp the two ends of the cylinder on your leader/tippet, the middle of the split is still open.  Then you can insert anything that will fit in the open slit (like hemostats) and pry it open . . .

I don't know that they are better than Twistons, but have smaller sizes and are quite secure on small leader/tippets.  

Regards,

 

[SilverCreek 0]

Thanks for the repy.

[flytire 0]

i always preferred the round kind

 

easy on easy off

 

[tferg 0]

I'm with flytire. Some get hard to remove but they are very inexpensive.

[DFoster 0]

Speaking of shot, I was watching "Trout Bitten" on you tube.  He gives a great tip regarding the problem of shot slipping on the leader.  After placing the tippet in the slot wrap the tippet around the slot once before very lightly clamping.  I've been doing this, the shot can't move and you really only need to squeeze it on with the lightest force so it's easy to remove.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td6HHVXSmVs

[flytire 0]

yup 

ive been wrapping the tippet around the shot way back in my colorado fishing days (1980's)

[Mark Knapp 0]

On 6/14/2024 at 3:59 AM, DFoster said:

Speaking of shot, I was watching "Trout Bitten" on you tube.  He gives a great tip regarding the problem of shot slipping on the leader.  After placing the tippet in the slot wrap the tippet around the slot once before very lightly clamping.  I've been doing this, the shot can't move and you really only need to squeeze it on with the lightest force so it's easy to remove.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Td6HHVXSmVs

 

5 hours ago, flytire said:

yup 

ive been wrapping the tippet around the shot way back in my colorado fishing days (1980's)

Great tip.

[Sandan 0]

Those are pretty cool. I like to use a small nonlead shot and  adjust with tungsten putty.  Regarding weight I like to work my way down the water column rather than starting at the bottom and working my way up. 

[DFoster 0]

On 6/15/2024 at 11:47 AM, flytire said:

yup 

ive been wrapping the tippet around the shot way back in my colorado fishing days (1980's)

 

On 6/15/2024 at 5:06 PM, Mark Knapp said:

 

Great tip.

Guys It's amazing to me that after 20 years of fly fishing and watching hundreds of you tube videos of others fly fishing that was the first time I saw this technique of wrapping shot.