TIPPET

[MontanaMoose]

Hello flyfishfairwx, i've started looping everything the past couple of years and recently got the idea, 'why not loop to loop my tippet?' Seems to work just fine though I've not tried it on gin clear trout streams yet, only big rivers and lakes for steelhead, smb and lmb. Only difference from what you're doing is that i generally tye my own leaders. Seems versatile in that i can change back and forth between tippet size (not to exceed the last knotted then looped section) and tippet length if i'm fishing steel or smallies, or if i go to the lake. Lotsa options and main leader stays intact. I should also mention that i use fairly heavy tippet for all the above (0X, 1X, 2X or even spool mono like you do) but were i to go dry fly trouting, i'd use a leader tapered to 3X, loop it, then loop on some 4X, 5X for fussy trout...never finer though. Thanks for the informative post fffwx !

Cheers,

MontanaMoose

I buy a 9ft, 1,2 or 3X tapered leader, tie a loop in the end, the take about 2 - 4 ft of mono or poly line, size or weight 2 lb 4lb, 6 lb , 8 lb and loop to loop what ever size that I need, to the end of the leader, when the looped "tippet" gets too small I loop a new tippet it again, no need to cut and tie to the leader, and you can change "tippet size" fast..

Anybody else do this or am I the only one??

[flyfishfairwx]

Hello flyfishfairwx, i've started looping everything the past couple of years and recently got the idea, 'why not loop to loop my tippet?' Seems to work just fine though I've not tried it on gin clear trout streams yet, only big rivers and lakes for steelhead, smb and lmb. Only difference from what you're doing is that i generally tye my own leaders. Seems versatile in that i can change back and forth between tippet size (not to exceed the last knotted then looped section) and tippet length if i'm fishing steel or smallies, or if i go to the lake. Lotsa options and main leader stays intact. I should also mention that i use fairly heavy tippet for all the above (0X, 1X, 2X or even spool mono like you do) but were i to go dry fly trouting, i'd use a leader tapered to 3X, loop it, then loop on some 4X, 5X for fussy trout...never finer though. Thanks for the informative post fffwx !

Cheers,



MontanaMoose

I used to go through 3 or 4 leaders a season.. not now.. have not had any fish refuse becasue of leader, maybe the tippet I used was too big, but other than that good..

[DG]

Rambo, consider a situation I was in last weekend. I was fishing a small Colorado stream that holds large brown trout. When I started fishing, there were no bugs hatching, and I was throwing streamers for these browns. Due to their size, I was using a leader with 3x tippet added.

Later in the morning, I moved upstream to a pool that had bugs hatching and trout rising. I switched the tippet from 3x to 5x and caught some fish on small dry flies. I would have used 6x but I had left it in the truck. The next pool had no risers, so I went back to the 3x and a streamer again.

Without those tippet spools, I would have been either replacing an entire leader to adapt to the situation, or having to pass up some of those fish.

I put a loop in the business end of my leader so that I can loop-to-loop connect tippet, and even loop the end of the heavier tippet sometimes if I think I will be adding on some finer tippet for dries at some point in the day.