Tippet Material

[Jack Hise]

Going to step on a lot of toes here but I think that those expensive little spools of tippet are a total rip off!! Yeah sure you get these neat little spools of tippet you can hang around your neck to look cool or stuff in your vest with those little holes to tail it out of! A 110 yard filler spool of 2# test (7X) flourocarbon costs about 1/2 of a 30 yard spool of Tippet! I pre make my tippets and pack them in little baggies in my vest, 4-6' with a double surgeons loop. A 1/2 dozen pre made tippets take up about as much room as that over priced "Tippet" spool! And, they are a lot quicker to change!
Yes, I know I have strayed from the path of truth and may the gods forgive me.

[Panman]

Jack: I use the 110 yard filler spools also. I prefer regular Stren mono.

Tim

[Jack Hise]

panman;
Thank you for your support! We may both be in the hot seat now!

[flyandtie]

I want to look cool, So I buy the tippet specially for us fly guys and snap em all together and put em in my chest pack. I want everyone to see I fish with Rio tippets! I think it's better quality stuff.

[tailingloop]

For saltwater and most heavy freshwater fishing I use Stren or Berkeley (Trilene, Big Game) products. For tippets 4x and smaller for dry fly fishing for trout I use purpose made tippet material which I have found more supple than bulk spinning or casting mono, at least those that I have compared against.

[billknepp]

I'm a fan of the Berkley clear mono..but am now adding tippet of transition to all my leaders...With one Slight exception...I will not use anything but Maxima on the Blowline setup....Not the regular leader stuff...But the bulk spools sold for spin fishing...Same stuff...just cheaper this way!.

I've owned 3 tapered leaders thus far...and they all came with combo outfits bought from Cabela's...Those are a waste of good money too...Your better off picking a reel of your own chooseing...

[tea stick]

And here I thought I was the only one in this world to pre-make their tippits and place them in small plastic bags, only I use a perfection loop and the one end.

Scott

[Bamboozle]

A 110 yard filler spool of 2# test (7X) flourocarbon costs about 1/2 of a 30 yard spool of Tippet!

Yea but what is the diameter of that 2lb filler flouro? Is it .004"?

I have checked mono or fluoro fishing line and have yet to find a brand of fishing line that has the same strength/diameter ratio as fly fishing tippet material. For me diameter is the critical issue, not test. While I'm sure it doesn't matter a whole lot when you get to heavier tippets; it is critical when fishing the light stuff.

A 30 meter spool of fluoro is about $15. I use a tippet of about .75 a meter; that's about $.38 a tippet. Depending on how often I change flies; that may work out to $1 a fishing trip. I don't know about the rest of you but there are a whole lot of other consumables I use on a fishing trip that cost a lot more.

How many lost flies equal $.38?

While I don't like spending $60 when I need to buy 4 spools of tippet; I'm not buying it every week or even every month; more like once a year in certain sizes. When I look at it this way; it doesn?t hurt as bad.

[MikieFinn]

Yea but what is the diameter of that 2lb filler flouro? Is it .004"?

Berkley vanish 2 poumd is .004 diameter.
250 yard spool is about 10 bucks.

[Bamboozle]

Mikie:

Unless the specs I see on several websites are wrong; the STATED specs for Berkley Vanish in 2-8lb test are:

• * 2lb - .006 (5X)
  
  * 4lb - .007 (4X)
  
  * 6lb - .009 (2X)

Compare that by DIAMETER to the Seaguar Grand Max specs:

• * .006 (5X) - 4.8lb
  
  * .007 (4X) - 7.0lb
  
  * .009 (2X) - 12.5lb

Unless I'm missing something; there is no comparison between fly fishing tippet and fishing line when you compare strength to diameter.