Tippet Material

[cdock]

OK I currently use Rio Fluro tippet material. Works great, no complaints, except price. I've been recommended Climax and Umpqua. What is everyone else using and what do you think is the best bang for the buck?

[Guest Rocknbugs]

Ive been using Dai-Riki GTS Fresh water for the simple fact that Fish Tales doesnt carry Climax. Any time Ive been to Russles they dont have the Climax I want. Im not a fan of the Dai-Riki it breaks to easy and I dont find that it ties up very good. Ive been using Frog Hair for the last month or so and I really like it but it is more money than some others I guess thats why it ties better and lasts longer. You get what you pay for, try it you'll like it.

[Glenbow]

I use Rio Fluoro and I like it a lot. Like you say it's pricey, but I like it. I have had the odd rare bad batch that breaks too easy, but this has been the exception not the rule.

[OneMoreLastCast]

I'm a big fan of Frog Hair.

Used it for a day on the Bow last week, ran out and was forced to use the Umpqua in my vest that I had bought as back up.

 

I was using very small flies and had to use very light tippet. The Frog Hair outperformed the Umpqua ten fold, so I'll be sticking with it until I find something that beats it.

 

With the Frog Hair, I was landing >20" fish on 3 lb test. The next day I was getting snapped off on the Umpqua on 3.75 lb by fish that were in the 16" range.

 

There's nothing more frustrating than bad tippet IMO, so I have no problem spending the extra money.

[walker1]

Also a big fan of the Frog Hair and have been using it for 2 years now. Saw a demo on it's strenth and elasticity at the Expo a few years back and was "hooked".

Climax is what I use exclusively for nymphing. I tie my own leaders ( Maxima tapered down to Climax)

[snakeman]

I use climax simply because most stores seem to carry it, the price is right, and I have never had any issues with durability.

[Guest bigbadbrent]

gidee up for vanish, 6 lb

[hawkeye]

Berkley 6 or 8 lb mono line for leeder.

 

Berkley 4 or 6 lb mono line for tippet.

 

Its cheap and works just fine for me!

[Inconnu]

You know I have a spool of leader on my vest that will not set a knot. Thae stuff just pulls through and comes undone. Ran down and checked, it is Dai-Riki oddly enough.

[Guest tallieho]

i'm not sure whether i seen it on this board or the other one that disbanded.anyways there was a comparison on the various materials & it was pretty well determined that if you had rio tippet the knots held better if the were of the same manufacturer,the difference was very substantial,when mixing ordinary tippet with flour carbon. hope this helps

[lonefisher]

have always used umpqua or fenwick as its the only brands readily available to me..... But the other day I made a trip into the city for some materials for the UK fly swap and tried to find froghair..... 3 shops no froghair that sucked.... so I bought some rio 1x-6x flouro and some vanish flouro 6lb..... gotta say that vanish is something else..... looks thick but I have already noticed its effectiveness.....

[Rick]

Fenwick has been very acceptable for me. Fish Tales had lots of Frog Hair last Friday. Dave showed me and interesting test with P-line tippet. He tied a wind knot in normal tippet and one on the P-line tippet. The p-line was very hard to break and the regular tippet broke at the knot with out much pull at all. Funny thing is I've been using P-line for my dropper for the past two years and always wondered why my line usually broke at my leader knot even though my dropper tippet was rated lower strength. I guess we never stop learning and wondering. Rick.

[Flytyer]

have always used umpqua or fenwick as its the only brands readily available to me..... But the other day I made a trip into the city for some materials for the UK fly swap and tried to find froghair..... 3 shops no froghair that sucked.... so I bought some rio 1x-6x flouro and some vanish flouro 6lb..... gotta say that vanish is something else..... looks thick but I have already noticed its effectiveness.....

 

West Winds had it last time I was there , they also had the kit as well.

[lonefisher]

Yeah fenwick is a good tippet specially for the price and considering I buy mine at a gas station..... P line sounds cool I will have to look that stuff up as well. Due to the outrageous traffic and my little success I gave Fish tales a miss..... guess I shoulda headed there instead.....

[ladystrange]

for mono i have used fenwick. only a few breakage problems when it started to get old and time to change tippet.

 

now i have switched over to Rio and i have used the Climax when borrowed from someone else. both worked fine. i have not yet had a problem of breakage with rio. a little pricey but since i havent had any problems, i don't mind

[Guest Rocknbugs]

You know I have a spool of leader on my vest that will not set a knot. Thae stuff just pulls through and comes undone. Ran down and checked, it is Dai-Riki oddly enough.

Thats why I dont use it anymore.

[birchy]

MTB.. about the Frog Hair - mono or Flouro?

[pigl]

I really like P-Line - both the flouro and the regular stuff. I have found the flouro to be a little limp at times, but both are strong and come in both big spools for the boat and smaller interlocking spools for the vest.

[Guest bigbadbrent]

Yeah fenwick is a good tippet specially for the price and considering I buy mine at a gas station..... P line sounds cool I will have to look that stuff up as well. Due to the outrageous traffic and my little success I gave Fish tales a miss..... guess I shoulda headed there instead.....

 

troutfitters has some up front in a container, not on the tippet wall, for sale too i believe

[OneMoreLastCast]

MTB.. about the Frog Hair - mono or Flouro?

 

Sorry to the local retailers, but I order my tippets and most of my leaders online. I'm in a small town, so that's my excuse, unless I want big shiny lures for Pike, I'm SOL....Otherwise I do 98% of my shopping at Westwinds simply 'cause I like to give Gord my business.

 

That being said, I buy from Cabela's and I usually order enough that I can save quite a bit.

 

Check out Frog Hair's web page for info on their products.

http://www.froghairfishing.com/

 

Rio also makes great tippets BTW and they are a lot easier to find usually.

 

I usually use Flouro for Bigger Nymphs, Streamers and big Dries usually because it sinks faster and holds up better in the wind, or wind resistance from big bushy flies.

I use Mono for Smaller Nymphs, Emergers and little dries where I am using lighter line because Mono absorbs shock better and allows me to get a better hook set with smaller flies. Mono is more visible than Flouro, but doesn't sink as fast, so it is much better than Flouro for dries. The one disadvantage I've found is that Mono tends to fray and break down faster, so check your tippet often for abrasions and change it if necessary. Mono is easier to get good knots though.

 

I always recommend that newer Fly Anglers stick with Mono because when it comes down to it, it really doesn't make that much of a difference IMO. For the average, or majority of the Anglers on the Bow that dredge the bottom with a BAW, I'd say to stick with Mono.

 

It's also a good idea to match your tippet brand to your leader brand to get better knots.

[DutchDryfly]

I am currently using Stroft and will not go back to my old brands.

It is everything I want in tippetmaterial.

[albannachxcuileag]

You know I have a spool of leader on my vest that will not set a knot. The stuff just pulls through and comes undone. Ran down and checked, it is Dai-Riki oddly enough.

 

Writer1,

 

try this knot, it was devised for competition fishing in the UK for fast fly changes by Davie Wotton. For added security you can repeat the last step and get even more hold on the hook - wet well before drawing tight!

 

Davy Knot

 

For those of you having trouble knotting different materials in step down leaders, try using tippet rings, this is the only way to ensure that you can get good knot stability with mixed leaders.