Tippet

Can anyone tell me what some good tippet would be if anybody has any ideas please let me know.

Thanks
Liljoe

Liljoe,

You will get a wide variety of answers to your question. I switched over to using fluorocarbon tippet many years ago and when Rio came out with their Fluoroflex Plus tippet http://www.rioproducts.com/product.php?recKey=58

I started using it and never stopped.

Just for info, I take a lot of guided float trips on rivers in Washington and Montana. All of my guides have switched over to using fluorocarbon tippet and most use the Rio Fluoroflex Plus.

It is strong and very hard to see in the water.

Larry ---sagefisher---

Thanks for the info.

Larry,
First off I have to say that I've never used fluorocarbon tippet material. That being said, wouldn't it be a poor choice for a dry fly presentation?
Just wonderin'.

Some folks think that for very picky fish in clear slow currents floating tippet actually spooks fish. The floating tippet depresses the film ever so slightly, and the tippet itself acts as a lens that refracts light. This causes both reflection and refraction of light which some feel spooks the largest and spookiest fish.

Since flurocarbon sinks and is has just about the same refractive index of water, it actually is less visible than floating tipper. Also in these slow flows, water just below surface drifts at the same speed and direction as water at the surface. There should be little difference in drag caused by a floating or a slightly sunken tippet.

I've never fished where this type of condition is common but I think it does occur. Food for thought.

These three are my favorites:

http://i305.photobucket.com/albums/n...t/P1010654.jpg

PT/TB

For trout fishing I only use fluoro these days and I swear by Seagur Grand Max Fluorocarbon. The smaller sizes are incredibly strong.

Other fluoro brands I like are Orvis Mirage and Varivas IF I can find it.

When I used mono it was Orvis Super Strong for years.

In regards to dry fly fishing, FWIW I actually prefer a sinking tippet for dry flies but regardless of material, most of it doesn't sink without coaxing or the use of Xink. I believe much of the flouro out there is treated to promote floating. When I do get it to sink I feel it is less visible than a floating tippet slicing the mirrored surface tension of a glassy pool. Whether the fish care is open to debate. A sinking tippet also hasn't had any effect on whether or not my fly floats highly and it doesn't pull it under as many would expect.

YMMV

Lotech,

An 18 inch piece of fluorocarbon tippet won't cause a dry fly to sink. Maybe if I was fishing with a size 28 to 32 or something but then I won't be fishing that small. Most of the time the fluorocarbon still floats, as indicated in other replies, but if it does sink, there is so little of it that it does not pose a problem. The guides I use prefer flourocarbon because they want to improve a clients chances of catching fish and flourocarbon does do that. I use flourocarbon tippet on dries and while nymphing. I prefer not to put a split shot on fluoro tippet so I place a section of fluoro tippet at the end of the mono leader, placing the split shot on the mono at the knot, then tie on my top nymph onto the fluoro, then another section of fluoro to the dropper nymph. When using a dry dropper, be it another dry or an emerger, fluoro also works great.

Larry ---sagefisher---

Before flourocarbon, I used to take a pinch of mud from the riverbottom and dress the tippet to make it sink a bit. Haven't had to do that lately.

I like the Frog Hair brand of tippet by Gamma Technologies. I have tried others like Orvis, Climax, Rio, Umpqua, but none have performed as well as Frog Hair. I recently started using their fluorcarbon tippet and really like it.

Frog Hair!

Has anyone used the Flouro tippet that H&H sells? I see they sell 50yd spools for pretty much the same price as most other's 30yd spools so from a price perspective it's attractive. How does it work from a performance standpoint?

I actually switched this year, after years of fishing with standard mono tippet. I tried flourocarbon. I tried the Orvis Maxknot tippet on a recommendation, and love it! I fish 95% dries and grease my leader as always. No problem with sinking tippet or drifts. Love the stuff.

I use fluoro for subsurface (I carry 3X and 4X), mono up top (5X-7X)

Fluoro: Seaguar Grand Max. End of story.

Mono: I experiment with different brands, currently trying Stroft, Hardy Copolymer, Varivas, and Orvis Super Strong is an old standby.

Tried Frog Hair once and only once. Really wanted to like it since it's made locally, but I couldnt even tighten my knots without it breaking, so I still have a near-full spool of frog hair that I'll occasionally use to rib nymphs or some such. Same thing happened to me with Maxima, and Climax seemed to wear out rapidly.

I think if you stick with any of the major brands such as Orvis, Rio Umpqua and those that have been already mentioned you can't go wrong. You'll have to decide whether or not you want to spend the extra $$ for flurocarbon or stick with mono.

Dave

I like Rio Powerflex. Used to use Orvis and Dai-Riki; never had any problems with them either

Regards,
Scott

Surprised not to see Maxima Chameleon in here is it just an East Coast Canada Thing????? 95% of anglers up here have spools of this ranging from 2lb to 10lb in their vests. Or am I missing something

Quote:

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Originally Posted by Lew

Before flourocarbon, I used to take a pinch of mud from the riverbottom and dress the tippet to make it sink a bit. Haven't had to do that lately.

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Now folks carry a container of fullers earth mixed with liquid detergent and glycerin. It removes oils and dulls the surface sheen from tippets. Makes them sink faster and less visible. This is a staple of English fly fishers who often fish still water lochs for trout. Now so well known in the states.

http://www.fishingwithstyle.co.uk/fullersearth.htm

I wrote about using bentonite clay cat litter for fullers earth (bentonite) in the post below.

http://troutpredator.info/nymph-fish...-of-the-month/

Stage 1, I use Chameleon exclusively when fishing streamers and/or bass bugging. When I know that I am going to be nymphing only I will go with Maxima as well.

I don't think that you can go wrong with any of the major brands of tippet. That being said, I would point out that Hook and Hackle has some very nice tippet in both regular and fluorocarbon at an extremely reasonable price. 8T :)

I've been using the Hook and Hackle Floro tippet for over two years. I love it! 50 yard spools for about $9. I fish dries with it all the time with no issues. My fishing buddies think it's a bit stiff, but it works well for me.

Quote:

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Originally Posted by NJTroutbum

Stage 1, I use Chameleon exclusively when fishing streamers and/or bass bugging. When I know that I am going to be nymphing only I will go with Maxima as well.

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I however am not a big fan what so ever of the ultra green Beware IMO

I use Frogshair for the lower half of my leaders. Most of the time (95%) I use their flourocarbon in 4x or 5x for tippets. As a backup measure I carry Orvis superfine in 6x to 4x . I fish small woodland or brushy creeks and use soft hackles or flymphs.

Perhaps the most important aspect of tippet is the ratio of tippet to hook/fly size. There are general charts available that tell you what "X" (diameter size) tippet will generally work best with different hook sizes. Just google search on "tippet to hook size"

Stage 1, I actually spool my spinning gear with ultra-green. But it doesn't handle abrasion as well as some:^) I still have some of the maxima 50/50 leaders in ultragreen and Chameleon. The fact that I still have them in the original packets says something:^)

We are having issue up here with Knots on the ultra green.. they seem to back off.... Not just myself either....