Largest fish landed on 5x tippet?

JeremyW

JeremyW

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I've been surprised how large of a fish one can land on 5x, what was yours?
 
I fish alot of 5x and 6x, this the most recent fish that comes to mind on 5x.
IMG 14771
 
28” carp in the 10-12 lb. range. I generally can’t resist taking a shot at a feeding carp even while fishing for trout. I usually hook many of them but percentage wise land very few. The fish mentioned above was definitely a memorable one on 5X tippet with my 5 weight outfit.
 
By May or June I fish Trouthunter 5.5 and 6x almost exclusivelyunless tossing a bigger fly like a drake. Have caught many 20 plus trout on it. If you take a length of it you will find it is hard to break. Most breaks seem to happen due to bad knots I think.
 
I don’t recall an example at the moment but I don’t think it’s that sporting to target large fish for the specific purpose of landing a big fish on light tippets.

Silly in fact.

I get it if it’s a spooky trout that won’t take a heavier tippet but it’s usually the drift.

Once conversed with a young fellow fishing a 3 wt rod for Atlantic Salmon on the Salmon river in NY- to see if he could. Guess he was a local and gets board. Not gonna get all bend since it’s an artificial fishery. Let them Eat cake.
 
kbf64 said:
I've been surprised how large of a fish one can land on 5x, what was yours?
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Largest I've landed on 5X was ~20-21" in a large PA stream. I agree with Acrstickid that landing large fish on light tippet for sport is pretty silly. Use tippet according to fly being used and conditions. For larger rivers, I rarely use smaller than 4X-5X as there really isn't a need to IMO. I primarily fish nymphs, and I have not noticed a difference between using 4X-6X in catch rates on larger rivers. I do agree smaller streams and clearer conditions require lighter leader setup though.
 
caddisflyer said:
By May or June I fish Trouthunter 5.5 and 6x almost exclusivelyunless tossing a bigger fly like a drake. Have caught many 20 plus trout on it. If you take a length of it you will find it is hard to break. Most breaks seem to happen due to bad knots I think.
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Which knots do you prefer with lighter tippets and big flies? I don't do much fishing with light tippet and dries these days because when I did, I had more breakoffs than I wanted.

I think my best on 5x was a 19" rainbow on a scud. But it may have been back in the days I borrowed 4 lb mono from my spinning tackle bag to use as tippet.
 
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I only started to use 5x a couple years ago, since I considered there to be enough overlap between 4x and 6x (I can at least blood-knot or surgeon's knot one to the other). I didn't see it in previous posts, but what is the best material for tiny size tippet? Any time I try a long cast with anything bigger than 16 on the thin stuff, I get curlicues. Is there anything that balances tie-ability with performance?
 
5x is usually the lightest I fish. For smaller nymphs and dries, the Davy knot all the way. For larger streamers, usually a trilene knot or a clinch version.
 
jifigz said:
5x is usually the lightest I fish. For smaller nymphs and dries, the Davy knot all the way. For larger streamers, usually a trilene knot or a clinch version.
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I too like the Davy and also use the Orvis knot since I learned it with Knot Kneedle. I find they use less material (the way I tie anyway) than is used with a clinch or improved clinch. I have trouble with bloodknots streamside, so I try to not use up tippet with fly changes.
 
I have landed a few in the 20 inch class on 5X and even a couple on 6X that come to mind. I was def not targeting big fish with light tippet. It was more like in Ryan's case above that it was shirt sleeve weather and small bugs were on the menu. I let size of bugs and the needed presentation to catch fish dictate the tippet size more than considerations about the size of fish. There is a difference nymphing on a short line vs throwing 50 foot casts on the West Branch with 6X too in my book, but I am a dirty nympher....
 
Use the heaviest tippet that's practical to use. For streamer fishing, use 3X and heavier, never lighter.

Unless you want to create "the one that got away" memories. When fishing streamers, big trout will often break 4x, but almost never break 3x, in my experience.

When fishing big dry flies, such as Green Drakes, or big terrestrials, 4x is a good choice.

For medium to smaller sized dries and nymphs, I use 5x.

I haven't used anything lighter than that for several years. Even for BWOs in the spring, I use 5x, not 6x.

For Tricos and midges...I don't bother with that annoying tiny stuff.
 
troutbert said:
Use the heaviest tippet that's practical to use. For streamer fishing, use 3X and heavier, never lighter.

Unless you want to create "the one that got away" memories. When fishing streamers, big trout will often break 4x, but almost never break 3x, in my experience.

When fishing big dry flies, such as Green Drakes, or big terrestrials, 4x is a good choice.

For medium to smaller sized dries and nymphs, I use 5x.

I haven't used anything lighter than that for several years. Even for BWOs in the spring, I use 5x, not 6x.

For Tricos and midges...I don't bother with that annoying tiny stuff.
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I am guilty of fishing streamers, even big streamers, on whatever tippet I have on. 5x tippet, no problem, I'll chuck that Sex Dungeon on it! I don't really change tippet for different flies. I guess I'm a lazy fly fisherman. I have lost fish, sure, but I don't think it is that common. I don't play fish lightly, either. I bring em in to get them unhooked and back in ASAP.
 
troutbert said:
Use the heaviest tippet that's practical to use. For streamer fishing, use 3X and heavier, never lighter.

Unless you want to create "the one that got away" memories. When fishing streamers, big trout will often break 4x, but almost never break 3x, in my experience.

When fishing big dry flies, such as Green Drakes, or big terrestrials, 4x is a good choice.

For medium to smaller sized dries and nymphs, I use 5x.

I haven't used anything lighter than that for several years. Even for BWOs in the spring, I use 5x, not 6x.

For Tricos and midges...I don't bother with that annoying tiny stuff.
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Good advice ^.

6x for tiny flies like midges / tricos though.

Also agree, nothing lighter than 3X for trout streamers and even heavier tippet for smallies.
 
jifigz said:
I am guilty of fishing streamers, even big streamers, on whatever tippet I have on. 5x tippet, no problem, I'll chuck that Sex Dungeon on it! I don't really change tippet for different flies. I guess I'm a lazy fly fisherman. I have lost fish, sure, but I don't think it is that common. I don't play fish lightly, either. I bring em in to get them unhooked and back in ASAP.
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I feel like that is an expensive game to play 😂. When using streamers like that which can run $6 each, I'm more upset if I lose a fly than a fish. I follow TBs rule of never using under 3X for streamers.

My local streams are often marginal and to catch any trout at all, you've gotta draw them out of cover, so I usually start the day with 2x or 3x and some sort of streamer and only go with a lighter approach if I'm really desperate. Does not apply to brookie fishing - usually 4x and a big bushy dry fly for those. And the 4x is more protection against abrasion from sticks and overhanging rhodo leaves than anything else.
 
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