Look no further - Orvis Mirage Tippet material. No. 1 among the best guides I know in Ont.
Look no further - Orvis Mirage Tippet material. No. 1 among the best guides I know in Ont.
I agree that Seaguar is great tippet, but I have stopped using it because I get so frustrated with the terrible spool that they use: the tippet retracts back inside the spool so that you can't get the end without opening the spool. t's just not worth the hassle.
I use the Orvis MaxKnot in 2x for steelhead. It think it is more flexible that the regular Mirage. Seaguar is pretty good too. That is the extent of my fluoro use.
Money, money, money. If you're buying fluorocarbon TIPPET you must have plenty.
VANISH 4lb test has a .005 diameter (equivalent to 6x) and is about $11 for 250 yards.
Compare 30 yds of fluoro tippet for $15.
According to Berkley; Vanish 4lb test has a diameter of .007, equivalent to 4X, not 6X. Even the Vanish 2lb test has a larger stated diameter than 6X while having a lower stated test rating than all fluorocarbon tippet material brands in a diameter of .005 (6X). As a matter of fact NO fluorocarbon fishing line matches any fluorocarbon tippet material in diameter AND test.Originally Posted by CoachBob
If an apples to apples comparison doesn't matter then by all means use fishing line and save $$$ but it's NOT the same.
I use Seaguar BTW.
Last edited by Bamboozle; 03-22-2011 at 09:48 PM.
Bamboozle is absolutely correct. The fishing 'lines' have lower 'stated' test to diameter ratio.....
But there are two issues with this that aren't often mentioned.
Stated breaking strength versus actual breaking strength...on fluorocarbon 'lines' the stated breaking strength on the label is ALWAYS lower than the actual breaking strength of the line....I've tested all of mine, and find my '4 pound' Vanish breaks closer to 6.5 pounds...my '8 pound' Cabela's 'line' breaks at 11 pounds consistently etc. This is quite common in the industry, with many main stream fishing lines breaking well above the label stated breaking strength. I have my own theories as to why this is done, but I really don't know why they do this, just that they do so. I haven't found that with to be the case with 'tippet', which tends to break in my tests very close to the rated breaking strength.
But that really isn't all there is to this issue...
Still, the 'tippet' is 'thinner'. It's fluorcarbon, it's supposed to be 'invisible' to the fish. You are supposed to be able to use a 'thicker' or 'heavier' line and still have the line be unseen by the quarry. As long as the diameter of the line doesn't effect how the fly behaves in the water, if the fish can't see 6 pound tippet, why would you need to use 4 pound?
Believe me, if I wasn't catching fish because the line I was using for tippet was too 'thick', I'd change to the 'expensive' stuff. But I caught just as many fish with 4 pound Vanish as I did with 5X Rio Fluoroflex (spent $35 on the 110 yard spool)....So I tried 6 pound Vanish, and I still caught lots of fish....and so, in trying to see where I'd get with trout in a VERY clear lake invironment (line visibility is much more of a concern in stillwater than in flowing water), I went up to the Cabela's fluorocarbon in 8 pound test....and I can't tell the difference as far as numbers of fish strikes I get.
I hook just as many fish, and I land more. I can land them faster, so I kill fewer of them. I lose fewer flies to snags.
I believe all the hype about fluorcarbon's 'invisibility'. If I didn't think the extra thickness of the line wound adversely effect the presentation of some of my flies, I'd trout fish with 10 pound fluoro...I doubt the fish would even notice.
If I have to use tiny flies, 20s to 24s, I'll use 4 pound Vanish...at the San Juan for instance...beacause the heavier tippet won't let the tiny flies move freely in the current. For just about any other application that involves subsurface fly fishing, my lightest tippet is 6 pound 'rated' Vanish (breaks on my scale at at least 8.5 pounds). I don't know or care what 'X' number that is, or what the diameter of the line is (it says it on the box), because it's not important because the fish can't SEE it.
All that said, most of the fluorcarbon lines and tippets out there are amazing stuff. Use what you have confidence in. Even at the high end of the cost scale, good tippet is pretty cheap stuff.
Good Luck!
Buddy
It Just Doesn't Matter....
It seems the Berkley site has issues because it shows 4lb Vanish at .009 and on the other Vanish listing shows 6lb at .009. My spool of Vanish 4lb shows .007 on the label but Bass Pro lists .005.
What I do find is that Vanish is stiffer than say Rio. But I love the price and for warm water never use less than 6lb. Not sure how much pull a 4lb bass can put on line but I've caught one on Vanish 4lb (curiously on a #12 Black Boudreaux)
I've used fluoro tippet a little, but stopped because I seemed to have trouble with knots, more than with nylon. I felt that knots don't pull tight as smoothly with flouro, and I had more failures. Maybe you folks who use fluoro can help me out. What knots are you using, tippet to fly and tippet to tippet (or leader)? I use an improved clinch at the fly and a double surgeon tippet to tippet. Hope I'm not diverting the thread to much, but any help would be much appreciated.
Spyderman
Spyderman,
I use the Tripple Surgeons for the tippet connection to an existing leader. Seems to hold a bit better than the double for me.
For tippet to fly, I went back to the Palomar Knot. I used it almost exclusively when I used conventional tackle I switched to the improved clinch when I really got into fly fishing, primarily because that's what the guy who showed me most of the ropes used (and it uses up less tippet, and when you are new you seem to change flies more often, thus using more tippet thus having to replace it more often,,,etc.). I finally came back to my senses and took the time to TEST my knots, and found what I expected to. The Palomar was close to twice as strong as the clinch knot, and I've been using it where ever I can since. It's one of the best knots for Fluorocarbon I've found as well as being stellar in mono.
Good Luck!
Buddy
It Just Doesn't Matter....
I do not like the H&H brand. I do like Rio plus and Seaguar.
The triple surgeons knot is a good knot, but it creates a angle in the line. Unlike the Surgeons knot, the blood knot keeps the tippet and leader straight! If there is a large difference in diamters between the lines, just use an extra wrap on the smaller side.
Last edited by hardhat; 03-26-2011 at 04:32 AM.
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