Preferred tippet for dry fly presentations?

[troutpoop]

I just checked my tippet supply for the upcoming season. I have a spool of everything between 3X and 8X but they are mostly almost gone. Good thing I checked.
I prefer to fish dries as often as possible. Looking for a good drift so I'm assuming a supple/soft tippet? Suggestions & reccomendations??

 

[CathyG]

I like Rio Suppleflex in 6x for small dries. For bigger dries I'll often use fluoro. It sinks just below the surface and is less visible and some flies can stay afloat. Hair wing and foam flies in particular.

 

[moon1284]

Maxima. You can get 220yd spools instead of small spools if you want.

 

[BrookieChaser]

Maxima clear.

 

[hendeylathe]

I've had no complaints with the FrogHair Tippet material I've been using.

 

[The_Sasquatch]

I use whatever I can find for the cheap. Cortland, usually, and most times I'm fishing 4x or 5x. Sometimes I'll go 6x, but that's about it. I fish a lot of dries too.

 

[albatross]

This is my new go-to tippet material. Comes in 100 meter spools too!

http://www.lostcreekflies.com/item/STROFT-Tippet-Material-24

 

[dryflyguy]

Orvis super strong. Been using it practically since I first started fly fishing. And still haven't found anything I like better

 

[LeTortAngler2]

"Orvis super strong. Been using it practically since I first started fly fishing. And still haven't found anything I like better"
+1
Dai Riki Dynamic and Rio Suppleflex is what I've been using the past couple years and have come to really like it for nymphs and especially dries. Orvis Super Strong always on standby.

 

[GenCon]

I am a Maxima guy. Always have been. I use maxima clear for the 1st 2/3 of leader and maxima green for the last 3 sections. Maxima ties great knots.

GenCon

 

[whheff]

I like Varivas tippet for dries. My second choice would be Rio.

 

[KeithS]

I got a free spool of Umpqua 5x and 6x at Somerset. We'll see how this is.

 

[troutpoop]

I like the idea of the larger spools from Stroft, especially to avoid the problem I'm having right now with a bunch of "almost gone" spools. Maybe cut it down to 4, 5 and 6X and be done with it.

 

[phiendWMD]

I'm still new enough that my first spools of Orvis Superstrong are just running out. I haven't used anything else to compare it too. I am not unhappy with it but I might try something else this season.

Would anyone explain some differences between the Orvis and Maxima since that appears to be popular? If it makes any difference I mostly fish dries with a streamers thrown in when the dries aren't working at all.

 

[Heritage-Angler]

phiendWMD wrote:
Would anyone explain some differences between the Orvis and Maxima since that appears to be popular?

Maxima is a co-polymer nylon monofilament material.

Orvis SS is also co-polymer nylon monofilament material.

For a given diameter, most nylon tippet materials are stronger and more supple than Maxima - usually significantly so.

I prefer to use hand made knotted leaders. I use Maxima for the upper and mid sections, and Rio for the tippet section.

Having a long section of co-polymer tippet in a dry fly leader's construction is a great way to help combat drag. In the constant battle to get long, drag free drifts while dry fly fishing, this is your best weapon - along with good casting/mending techniques.


Yellowstone Angler Tippet Shootout

 

[krayfish2]

Rio mono for dries. I've been very pleased with their product / quality control. I've had a few spools is SA / Cortland stuff that was defective IMO. 5x they couldn't withstand 2 pounds of pressure. That's what got me to switch and never looked back.

Also, Rio comes in 110 yard guide spools. Typically not carried in many local shops but they do exist.

 

[pcray1231]

Hey Ed, monofilament and copolymer are opposites, cannot be both. 😉

Maxima chameleon is a true mono. It's stiff stuff. Love it for leaders, not tippet. Most other non-fluoros are copolymers that are commonly (mistakenly) called mono.

For small dries, I like really supple materials. As such, stay away from fluoro and mono and go with the softest copolymer I can find. So far, the softest I've found is Rio Suppleflex. Rio powerflex is more common and still more supple than most. Frog hair is stiff! As is maxima's copolymer.

Simple to test. Cut equal lengths at equal diameters and place in vice. Observe how it hangs, play with it a bit.

Nymphs is a different story. Abrasion resistance becomes more important, suppleness less so, imo.

 

[troutbert]

dryflyguy wrote:
Orvis super strong. Been using it practically since I first started fly fishing. And still haven't found anything I like better

Orvis SS is good stuff. Not just for dry flies. I use it for nymphs, wets, streamers, i.e. everything. Keep it simple.

I've used Umpqua, Dai-Riki, and some others and they were OK too, but I like Orvis SS a little better, though the difference is not huge.

The only tippet material I had very bad luck with was some Scientific Anglers tippet. Maybe I just got a bad batch. But it was very bad. It broke very easily.

When nymph or streamer fishing, you don't need a different type of material.

Just make sure the tippet is at least 3x when fishing streamers, never lighter. Trout often hit streamers hard against a tight line, so you need stronger tippet than when dry fly or nymph fishing to prevent break offs on the strike.

 

[sandfly]

rio or maxima, because I sell them

 

[Heritage-Angler]

pcray1231 wrote:
Hey Ed, monofilament and copolymer are opposites, cannot be both. 😉

That's what I always thought until I read the description here.

Guess the term "mono" gets abused pretty much. I actually had it right, but went back and modified my post after reading that product description.

You should contact them and pcray them. :lol: