tippet question

[Terry Lightle]

Probably a stupid question but what is the difference between tippet and regular fishing line.Is all mono the same and is all flourocarbon the same in strength versus diameter?

[Paddy80701]

[Hi Terry, The answer is no Tippet material is usually limper and more flexible than standard mono fishing line in both nylon and Fluorocarbon. and the answer is also no as strength and diameter of tippet materials vary dramatically from brand to brand and also the breaking strength. Hope this answers your queation That being said, it also depends on what kind of fishing you are doing, for instance fishing deep for Salmon or steel head with sinking lines, many anglers use short level ( not tapered ) leaders as do many bass and Salt Water and stillwater fishepersonssize=24][/size]

[Quill gordon]

Probably a stupid question but what is the difference between tippet and regular fishing line.Is all mono the same and is all flourocarbon the same in strength versus diameter?

http://www.flyanglersonline.com/

[Buddy Sanders]

Terry,

I guess it just depends on your frame of reference.

My experience is just the opposite of what Paddy posted.

First, tippet material is 'different' than mono intended to be wound on a reel spool and cast with a spinning or casting rod.

Tippet is generally 'stiffer' and 'harder' in most cases. Tippet has different 'function', and being 'stiffer' helps it to 'turn over' the fly ad stay 'straight' when it does so.

Spinning/casting line has to be limper to allow it to cast properly.

Because they can make tippet 'stiffer', that allows the manufactures to make it 'stronger' for it's diameter than the limper spinning/casting lines. So, tippet is generally stronger, given the same 'diameter'.

Al this being said, there are tippet materials that are limp, some that are VERY stiff, and some that aren't as strong as their regular mono counterparts. Lots of brands and manufacturers out there, many looking to small niches in the market, others just not as good as the rest.

Many fly anglers use plain old mono for many aplications. It does work just fine for some things, and adequately for most.

Good Luck!

Buddy

[dudley]

Well actually they're both right to a degree
There are both soft and hard tippets
The major difference between fishing line mono and tippet is the tippet is more consistant in both diameter and strenght.
A leader built with hard mono will turn over better and hard tippet will not collapse under the weight of a heavy fly.
But the last thing you want when fishing a dry fly, or a nymph for that matter, is a hard tippet that lays out straight.
The s-curves in a good dead drift are the result of a proper slack-line cast and the use of a soft tippet