"Leader/Tippet" Material

[Dale49]

I buy tapered leaders (mostly Rio) in 7 1/2 to nine foot in length. I always add tippet material to these leaders to make them longer. Also, the rock gods and tree eat the leader material and I will "build' a new one from the old leader.

Tired of paying the high price for tippet material. Can anyone recommend line in 2 to 4 pound test that you've found to be a good substitute for tippet material that is much cheaper in price? I want to use this line mainly as an intermediate section. I will still use tippet material both regular and fluorocarbon as the final section to attach the fly.

Thanks in advance,

Dale

 

[jdaddy]

Dale49 wrote:
I buy tapered leaders (mostly Rio) in 7 1/2 to nine foot in length. I always add tippet material to these leaders to make them longer. Also, the rock gods and tree eat the leader material and I will "build' a new one from the old leader.

Tired of paying the high price for tippet material. Can anyone recommend line in 2 to 4 pound test that you've found to be a good substitute for tippet material that is much cheaper in price? I want to use this line mainly as an intermediate section. I will still use tippet material both regular and fluorocarbon as the final section to attach the fly.

Thanks in advance,

Dale

I find tippet material to be pretty decently priced when you guy it in guide spools and figure there are other areas to skimp on than the main connection to my feesh. I am not aware of a "common" mono fishing line that has the suppleness with strength of a good tippet material. If you are wanting to simply build leaders a lot of folks use Maxima for both stiff and supple butt and mid sections. This could be your answer. Trying searching "Maxima" in the search function in the top left corner and you will get all kinds of opinions of leader construction.

Edit: Also, for the trout fishing, I would generally recommend 9.5' leader. Look at the manufacturers specs on the leader to see how much tippet is already built into the leader. Start out fishing your 9.5' leader without adding any tippet. As you work a foot or so into the built in tippet, start adding a couple feet of tippet. There really is no reason why you should get into the intermediate section of the leader.

 

[bam]

I wouldn't recommend 2 or 4lb test fishing line for an interemediate section of leader, it's generally weaker than tippet material in the same diamater. Should you get hung up, it would probably be the weak point in your leader and break first. If you're going to use it, and I do it quite a bit for nymphing, use it as your terminal line.

 

[Foxgap239]

I would also recommend tying your own leaders. You buy a leader kit from someone like Orvis (I swear by Super Strong tippet material) and you can build a hundred leaders for what you now spend for a dozen. The money you save there will let you buy good tippet material. Super Strong can be purchased in 100 meter spools for about 8 bucks and it lasts several season. I also prefer knotted leaders anyway, so tying my own makes sense there too!

 

[ryguyfi]

stick with your tippet material you're buying specifically for fly fishing. It'll break down over time and you'll probably throw some away before using it all. Its a smaller diameter than your spin fishing line and fits better in your vest. Keep it out of the sun and repair leaders at home. Take the advise above and get a kit or enough material to tie your own leaders. It'll save you money in the long run and you can custom them to whatever your needs are.

 

[Dale49]

JDaddy,

Would appreciate it if you would provide me some info on purchasing guide spools.

Guys, do appreciate your advice to build my own leaders. I plan on embarking on this activity during the winter. Frankly, I'm a little lazy with knot tying. I figure that during the winter months I can hopefully perfect either the surgeons or blood knot and build respectful leaders.

Dale

 

[MKern]

I can step in for jdaddy...Guide spools are just larger spools of tippet. Instead of 30 yards they are usually 100 yards.

For example rio powerflex is @ $5 for 30 yards, but a guid spool is like $14. Just look at cabelas website and you'll see the different prices from regular spools to guide spools.

 

[pcray1231]

Agreed on the tippet material, stick with the FF stuff, it is better. Not saying that there is no regular line that would do the trick, but all in all tippet ain't that expensive (unless you go fluoro).

For leader materials, it's a different ballgame. Experiment and substitute away. Just remember it's the diameter, not lb test, that counts. And mic it, don't trust the diameter on the box. I've always recommended Silver Thread products, they make some very good supple copolymers. In my bait fishing days that and Tectan blew away everything else, and Tectan is nearly impossible to find, so.....

FWIW, I generally use Maxima Chameleon for stiff sections of leader, Orvis Super Strong for intermediate, and Rio Powerflex or Suppleflex for the supple sections/tippet, and have been more than happy with the materials, most of my experimenting is with leader designs using various combinations of these materials.

 

[jdaddy]

MKern wrote:
I can step in for jdaddy...Guide spools are just larger spools of tippet. Instead of 30 yards they are usually 100 yards.

For example rio powerflex is @ $5 for 30 yards, but a guid spool is like $14. Just look at cabelas website and you'll see the different prices from regular spools to guide spools.

Note Orvis uses meters and Rio uses yards, which works out to same amount of material.

http://www.orvis.com/store/product.aspx?pf_id=1Y27&dir_id=758&group_id=10660&cat_id=5134&subcat_id=6018

100m = $9.95
30m = $4.25

http://www.cabelas.com/product/RIO174-Powerflex174-Tippet-Spools-150-110-yds/742691.uts?Ntk=AllProducts&searchPath=%2Fcatalog%2Fsearch.cmd%3Fform_state%3DsearchForm%26N%3D0%26fsch%3Dtrue%26Ntk%3DAllProducts%26Ntt%3Dpowerflex%26x%3D0%26y%3D0%26WTz_l%3DHeader%253BSearch-All%2BProducts&Ntt=powerflex&WTz_l=Header%3BSearch-All+Products

110y = $9.95
30y = $4.50

 

[Dale49]

Thanks for the information guys. Really do appreciate it.

Dale

 

[dryflyguy]

I've been tying my leaders out of stren lo - vis mono fishing line.
It's very limp, and I haven't had any problems with it.
But I still use 5x orvis super strong for the final tippet section

 

[coinman]

It's hard to beat maxima for price and strength. I use it for all sections of the leader and it has held up very well.

 

[FlySwatter]

jdaddy,

100 m is almost 10% longer than 100 yd (well, 9.36%, to be more accurate).

 

[jayL]

FlySwatter wrote:
jdaddy,

100 m is almost 10% longer than 100 yd (well, 9.36%, to be more accurate).

As Jdaddy mentioned, Rio guide spools are 110 yds.

Anyway, I can't get into orvis super strong. The memory drives me nuts, and it seems to have crappy abrasion resistance when compared to the rio.

Powerflex or bust for me, from now on. I do have SS in heavier sizes and will continue to buy it for mid sections and terminal sections on streamer and the occasional nymph rig.

 

[pcray1231]

Jay, it's still hard to find, but I've experimented with Rio's new tippet. Think it's called suppleflex. I'm happy so far, it's pretty much powerflex but a touch more limp.

 

[jdaddy]

pcray1231 wrote:
Jay, it's still hard to find, but I've experimented with Rio's new tippet. Think it's called suppleflex. I'm happy so far, it's pretty much powerflex but a touch more limp.

Sounds like Stroft.

 

[quillfly]

generally i use a good quality tippet on my dry rigs and streamer rigs but for nymphing i have been known to take a single piece of whichever florocarbon i used on my spinning reel that year and use that as the whole leader . this only works for nymphs for me as otherwise you don't have the ability to turn over a fly . i do use megathin for the butt to middle of my leaders but stick with a quality tippet there really is no subistitute in strenght to thickness