Largest fish landed on 5x tippet?

[Bamboozle]

I use tippet all the way down to 8X when conditions and some of the sub size 24 files I fish necessitate it.

However for streamers and mayfly nymph fishing it is most often 3X or 4X because it works, casts better and break-offs due to snags are almost non existent.

When fishing the lighter stuff my rods really cushion the lunges that some of biggest fish I ever caught on (20+") made and I do my best to get them on the reel so I have control and can release them as fast as possible.

This may sound weird but the part of fishing I enjoy the least is playing fish...

Bottom line, like a race car driver has to trust his tires & brakes, you have to know your tackle and trust your tippet & knots if you want to get fish to hand quickly. You would really be surprised how fast you can horse a fish in on stuff lighter than 5X if you have the ball$ to try.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I've caught steelhead ranging (by my estimate) in the 8-10lb. category. The 5X I was using was Cortland fluorocarbon. I swear by the stuff for low water steelheading. It has a 5.7 lb. breaking strength compared to the Orvis Mirage fluorocarbon in 5X that breaks at 4.1 lbs. Having nymphed for awhile I have a good understanding of the point when my tippet will break under load and that Cortland tippet definitely felt to around its stated breaking strength. I'd run that Cortland tippet as my main trout tippet but it's too expensive so I have just subsidize it with Seaguar Invizx fluorocarbon in 4lb, which I have found to be a great tippet for most trout nymph fishing scenarios. The Invzix would probably be rated at 5X in terms of diameter.

 

[Millsertime]

I gave up fishing tricos a few years ago and haven't fished anything smaller than 5X for quite a while and I fish 4X more than 5X for dries bc I like to go in low light or dirty conditions. I go through 2X fluoro the most (streamers).

 

[krayfish2]

Got this bad boy on 5x just the other day....be jealous and yeah, you fellas might wanna take some lessons.

Luckily you're knot held

 

[krayfish2]

Biggest landed on 5x? Brown that measured right around 23.5". Luckily it was in slower water and swam at me or it would have been a problem.

Like others mentioned, 0x-3x flouro for streamers, nymphing usually done with 3x-4x flouro and typically 4x mono on top. I'll go to 5x when conditions require it but would prefer to stay heavier when possible. Tiny olives or tricos might get me to use 6x

My goal is to break the tippet, the hook, the fishes jaw or the rod by getting the fish to net as quickly as possible. Nothing makes my blood boil like watching someone get a fish to net and let it run 50' only to do it for 8 minutes. While we are enjoying the battle, playing a fish to the point of exhaustion results in more dead fish than you think. Learn side pressure and use heavier tippet so we can enjoy the fish again some time 😁

 

[pcray1231]

I use 5x more than anything. 4x isn't unusual for larger nymphs or big dries. I will occasionally use 3x (streamers) or 6x (midges/tricos), but I don't do those a ton.

I have landed a steelhead on 5x would be my largest. Not intentionally. I thought it was 3x. Vest was wet and the sticker came off the spool and stuck to the 5x spool... Ooops. Next one broke me off, and when I pulled out my tippet to re-tie I figured it out.

 

[JerryC]

A couple of 20 inch browns. It's been awhile. One on a stream in Vermont. The other on the Grand River in southern Ontario.

 

[Silent Ocelot]

I use tippet all the way down to 8X when conditions and some of the sub size 24 files I fish necessitate it.

However for streamers and mayfly nymph fishing it is most often 3X or 4X because it works, casts better and break-offs due to snags are almost non existent.

When fishing the lighter stuff my rods really cushion the lunges that some of biggest fish I ever caught on (20+") made and I do my best to get them on the reel so I have control and can release them as fast as possible.

This may sound weird but the part of fishing I enjoy the least is playing fish...

Bottom line, like a race car driver has to trust his tires & brakes, you have to know your tackle and trust your tippet & knots if you want to get fish to hand quickly. You would really be surprised how fast you can horse a fish in on stuff lighter than 5X if you have the ball$ to try.

I agree with your sentiments. A lot of people fear going down in tippet diameter size because they don't really know the limits of their gear.

The famous angler Stu Apte was known for using light tippet for big gamefish such as tarpon and Marlin, often combatting them faster than other anglers who using thicker tippet. It's all about applying pressure in the most efficient manner to wear the fish down in the quickest manner possible, something steelhead fishing has taught me.

 

[jifigz]

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.

Well Sarce, truth be told, I was just using the Sex Dungeon as an example of a big fly on light tippet. I actually don't fish them. I do tie other big, heavy streamers though and will fish them on 5x. I don't tie or fish any articulated streamers. I have tied and fished them and even bought them, I just don't think they are worth it for my style.

And I am too proud to fish flies I didn't tie. If, streamside, a buddy gives me a fly, it usually gets stuck in the corner of the box and never tied on and I will always keep choosing patterns that I tied. I'm stubborn that way. The one that was given to me will most likely never get used.

 

[sarce]

Well Sarce, truth be told, I was just using the Sex Dungeon as an example of a big fly on light tippet. I actually don't fish them. I do tie other big, heavy streamers though and will fish them on 5x. I don't tie or fish any articulated streamers. I have tied and fished them and even bought them, I just don't think they are worth it for my style.

And I am too proud to fish flies I didn't tie. If, streamside, a buddy gives me a fly, it usually gets stuck in the corner of the box and never tied on and I will always keep choosing patterns that I tied. I'm stubborn that way. The one that was given to me will most likely never get used.

Got it. I can't personally trust 5x with a big heavy streamer of any kind but if it works for you, that's great - probably getting it to sink well with the thinner tippet!

I tie single hook jig type streamers and love to catch fish on them, but if I want articulated I will splurge and buy those. Only if they're great quality (tied with enough weight in them), though. Nothing worse than buying a huge streamer to find it swims like crap or falls apart after a few fish. If it's self tied, you just learn and adjust the next one off the vise - but I haven't had time to learn to tie articulated yet.

 

[DaveKile]

Like some others have said, for trout fishing in PA I use 5x tippet 95% of the time. Mainly because it's easy for me. I will go to 6x for small BWO's and 4x for streamer fishing once in a while, but I'm pretty happy with the 5x.

I did catch a nice ~21" brownie on Penns during the drake hatch a few years back. At least I remember it being ~21" and Maurice can correct me if I'm exaggerating, which is very possible. Anyway, I hooked him across the steam next to the bank pretty far away from me. I had been trying to get him for about 45 mins not realizing how big he was until he was hooked. I fully expected him to pop off with fight and current. I was thinking that the 5x or the knot on my tippet ring wasn't gonna hold.

 

[wbranch]

On 5X many dozens of larger 20" - 24" browns. The one in the boat is on the main stem Delaware @ 23". The one where I am wading is 25".

 

[wbranch]

On 6X also quite a few. Almost all were in spring creek type settings where the current didn't aid the fish in eluding capture.

 

[Mike]

5x = 22” Golden rainbow last spring

 

[rrt]

I think T/bert's post is about what I'd recommend, maybe even hanging with 4X with medium size dries and nymphs.

Unlike T/b I liked to fish with Tricos. However, the tricos are pretty much gone where I used to like to fish them -- on 6X, or a stream like Spring Creek that is too crowded for my taste.

I probably have landed most of my large trout on 4X, with only a handful in the low 20s on 5X.

As T/b suggests, I try to use the heaviest tippet I think I can get away with so that I can play trout to the net pretty quickly.

 

[Vtsalmon]

I am a 5x junky . It is about the only tippet if use . For trout and salmon fishing . It is a beautiful dance when you hook a big landlocked salmon on 5x so addicting. I hope you other 5x junkies get a chance at one .

 

[caddisflyer]

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.

I have used a regular surgeons knot for a long time. I use the Trouthunter fluorocarbon. Talking small dry flies here. I cannot even remember the last time I had a breakoff. My main rod has a light tip which I do think protects tippett when fish takes off. For Drakes I use 4x or even 3x. When they are eating them they lose their caution.
For streamer fishing on bigger water I make a short leader of 20 lb test to 10 lb test Maxima. The total length of the leader is around 40 inches or less.
Tricos. A size 24 looks good to me on 7x. I find it makes a difference in how many I can fool. I know others disagree.
Years back on Penns during drakes I was fishing an emerger that my brother made. I kept snapping off fish. After asking him for yet another fly he asked what tippett I was using. 5x. You need a stronger line
( probably no less than 4x) when fishing downstream and swinging flies like that in current when big fish are around.

 

[Canoetripper]

Several years ago I fished with a guide on the Elk River in West Virginia. I used tiny #32 flies that I watched the guide tie. He had me use 9X tippet. Dry/dropper. I could barely see the dry and caught all the trout on the dropper.

The trout weren't very big, but it was a very interesting fishing experience and all the trout were safely netted and released.