3x Tapered Leader

[theiceman2]

OK heres the deal...I fell for a gimmic of a "knotless tapered leader". The problem is even though its 3x leader its only 4lb test, the regular leader I use is also 3x but its 8.5lb test.

 

For the Bow River should I scrap the knotless 4lb test leader and go back to the 8lbs test regular leader?

 

Icy

[Lawrence]

THat's pretty strange, you could use the knotless leader for dry fly fishing. but as for nymphing you may want to bulk up a bit.

[maxwell]

working at a shop for hte past few months it blew me away at the different poundage for the X system the tippet and leader companies use. so from what i have gathered the manufacturers are using the x system too rate the diametre of the tippet on tehre tapered leaders and there tippet spools too keep every the similar... and the biggest difference i have found is what you see iceman, pretty much all leaders and tippets have the same diametre for 3X or whatever use wish too use as your control... but! the poundage rating can be off from company too company by as much as 3 or 4 lbs. we have about 5 or 6 different comanies in our shop and on one 5x tapered leader pack the difference was huge ranging form 2.5lb too 4.4 lb depending on what tippet you use with the rest in between like 2.7, 3, 3.4 , 4.0 etc. long story short its best too buy the same leader tippet material as your leader so you dont have a huge difference in the LB test... its best too scan all teh packs by every company and pick the "best" for yourself... its not suprising either that some of teh cheaper stuff is the weaker material while the expencive companies are the tougher material with teh same X grade... hope that helps dude

[rusty]

Max has got it.

 

The X rating is dictated by the diameter, which is 11 minus the X rating in thousands of an inch.

 

3X = 11-3 = .008"

0X = 11-0 = .011"

6X = 11-6 = .005"

 

The strength is affected by the diameter, but it's also heavily affected by the quality of the material - hence the difference in breaking strength at the same X rating.

[theiceman2]

The crazy thing is the two leaders I picked up were both from the same company, the knotless one was 4 lb test, adn the regular leader was 8.5lbs. I just wanted to make this post for everyone out there who may loose "the fish of their life" by only noting the X value but not hte poundage rating.

 

Thanks all for your replys

 

ICY

[Harps]

What brand??

 

It should be the same or very close for the same brand, unless its a diferent model (floro vs mono, or Rios extreme vs power vs max tippets).

And pretty much all leaders now are "knotless tapered", unless you buy leader Material, to build your own, or tippet material, which are very different things.