Tippet
- This topic has 22 replies, 16 voices, and was last updated Sep 25, 2009 at 9:36 pm by
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I’ve tried most all brands over the years, now I’m mainly using RIO and Seaguar, it’s getting time to replace.
What is your favorite brand(s), why
RIO for trout
Maxima Chameleon for steelhead and streamers leader main sections
Scientific anglers saltwater/hard nylon for big poppers, bass,etc.I don’t use any flourocarbon.
I am off the flouro bandwagon right now.
Trout..I am using Frog’s Hair…has been consistent in terms of quality and the pricepoint has been okay.
Steel/Salmon Maxima Green or Chameleon neither have failed me.
Honestly Billy…I used to swear by Rio flouro…then I happened to run out of it 1 day and had some frog’s hair in the chest pack…switched to that out of necessity and did not see a noticeable decrease in catch rate.
So..if I am catching similar amounts of fish with a product that is easier on the wallet…why not switch?
I use seagur flouro or berkley vanish unless i’m throwing something with a small hook eye.
If I do end up using smaller tippet I have a bunch of old spools of orvis superstrong that work fine in 5x or 6x.
Seaguar flouro or vanish in 2-20 pound tests. I don’t buy the waaaay over priced tippet spools and have never had anyone school me that was using them.
I get samples of every new product that comes out and I still go back to Maxima. The only thing bad about it is the spool itself there is no locking points,and they are bigger than most others. I haven’t found any of those tippet minders that are worth a s*** either.
MSI like the Orvis Mirage fluoro better than anything I’ve used so far. Very consistent quality and less $$ than Rio or Seguar.
I’ve done some nonscientific testing of fluoro vs regular mono tippet on the picky fish of my homewaters (a tailwater). The fluoro seems to always get more strikes. So that’s what I’m sticking with for now.
Greg
I use a lot of tippet so I want a brand that makes 100 meter spools. I have been using Rio the past years. But also Climax and SA makes 10 meter spools.
So basically no preference in terms of brand.
Hi All, I really like using Varivas Super Tippet and Varivas Midge Super Tippet for all my Trout fishing and I use the Maxima line for Steelhead fishing.
I had major problems with Berkley Vanish due to inconsistent strength and breakage.
It is named vanish for a reason… 😉
All right, here’s why I use high end fluoro-carbon tippet. I’m surprised to see how many people are badmouthing this stuff.
(1) High-end fluoro like Rio Fluoroflex or SA Fluorocarbon II tippet is extruded with much tighter tolerances than level baitfishing line, intended for spinning or casting rod use. This means when the label is marked “.005” (6X tippet), the odds of any given length of the material actually being around that listed five hundredths goes way up.
(2) Fluoro has lower opacity than monofilament. I’ve heard it roughly stated that 6X fluoro on a bright day will reflect about as much light as 7X mono, meaning you effectively gain an X class when trying to fool fish. This matters; I’ve switched from 5X to 6X many times and seen a noticeable and measurable increase in the amount of bites.
(3) Fluoro has a higher specific density than monofilament, meaning it will tend to sink through water quicker for a given thickness. This is advantageous when nymphing because it helps prevent the U-bend effect. Sinking fly lines are advertised as “density compensated” these days; that means there are more grains of the sinking powder (usually tungsten dust) in the tips than in the bodies of the lines, so that the tip actually plunges down in a straight line. Because the tip of the line has less overall material than the body, it necessarily has less dust in it; without density compensation, it would be a challenge to get a fly to swim on a level plane below the surface. This exact same thing applies to fluoro tippet. When I rig a nymph system, I use mono through my 4X connection, then switch to fluoro for the 5X or 6X tippet; the last three feet or so. This causes my nymph systems to sink ever so slightly straighter, meaning I can set hooks on quick takes.
(4) Finally, and very importantly, fluoro is far more resistant to UV light degradation than mono. That means that while a spool of fluoro might cost you three times more than equivalent mono, when you start tying knots with the stuff on the bottom of the spool three years from now, it isn’t going to be breaking like rotten spider silk in your hands. Mono has been touted as more environmentally friendly because it breaks down; this is BS. Polymers never completely degrade; they simply break down into fine plastic fibers or dust which are picked up by filter feeding organisms and then pass back up the food chain. The only environmentally safe way to handle fluoro or mono tippet scraps is to pack it out and recycle it. Less UV-based failure means less line in landfills; we all know how treacherous an old bird’s nest of fishing line can be to wildlife.
All in all, I think fluoro is worth the expense, especially in anything smaller than 5X. It’s all I use.
Zach
Not to argue but I’ve been using the baitfishing line on my fly rod for many years now and I have absolutely nothing bad to say about it, nothing whatsoever. This year alone we’ve put over 50 twenty pound class Striper in the boat and three or four thirty’s using 20 pound Vanish as tippet. The Bass fishing industry that these conventional lines are targeted at is a much larger segment then the fly fishing segment. To assume that they would just put a line out that is inconsistent would be incorrect. Ever seen a multi million dollar tournament won using brand X tippet? IMO if tippet was that much better the Bass Tournament guys would be all over it and the tippet manufactures would be tripping over themselves to get it to the market.
lost a huge channel cat on sunday with a straight piece of 20lb vanish as leader.
i tried to lip the beast but it broke me off (no net, bogas, etc)
at least i caught the incident on film.
Mike –
I’m relaying conversations I have had with guys in line labs at several companies, who have tested those lines on micrometers for consistency.
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