I have always wondered why fluorocarbon tippet is so expensive, but up until now I have been willing to buy it. However, today I saw that Scientific Anglers is now charging $17.50 for a spool! No doubt other tippet sellers will follow suit and raise their prices, too. It is my understanding that there are only 3 manufacturers of fluorocarbon line/tippet in the world, so all of the branded tippet that is sold is made by just a handful of companies that each use a single formula and process to produce tippet that is then sold under various brand names at various (high) prices. (Why isn't there a generic fluorocarbon like there are generic medicines?)

The cynic in me sees this as purely an attempt to charge whatever the market will bear, rather than a reflection of how much it costs to produce. I guess that is the nature of capitalism, but I must admit that I have reached my breaking point. I will not pay $17.50 for a product that I believe probably costs a dollar to produce. Why do I think that it costs so little to produce? Well, if you look at the cost of fluorocarbon fishing line, you will see that the cost is dramatically lower per yard than the cost of fluorocarbon tippet. That implies that the cost of materials and manufacturing is not high. And the quality of fluorocarbon fly line must be pretty good or spin fishermen wouldn't be buying it and using it successfully.

In fact, that leads me to my proposed solution. I'm going to switch to using fluorocarbon line as my tippet rather than buying fluorocarbon that is labeled as "tippet" and priced at exorbitantly high prices. Unless there is a dramatic difference in diameter per pound test, or in stiffness, I can't see why this wouldn't work. At least for leader butts (e.g., 1x, 2x, 3x) this should work.

Other strategies include buying tippet on eBay or at discount sites, such as Sierra Trading Post. But I will no longer be duped into spending inordinate sums of money on tippet.

Comments, please. If anyone sees a flaw in my logic I would love to be enlightened.