Rod choice for fine tippets

[afishinado]

Great article that I've found to be true about rods and light tippets >

Tippet Protection and Nymphing Rods

You do not need an extra-soft rod tip to protect delicate tippets while nymphing. Skip past that selling point in the marketing jargon, and make your fly rod decision on the other factors that matter.

troutbitten.com

 

[caddisflyer]

I didn't read the article but when I chose a rod specifically for fishing dries on light tippet I wanted something with a lighter tip. In my case it seemed to help.

 

[nymphingmaniac]

I tend to agree with Dom on this one. I have lost very few fish due to a tippet break. abrasions and bad knots, a few. Besides, It's no big deal to lose a fish from time to time. The thrill for me is in the take. You spend the vast majority of the time casting and mending. I pick a rod that fits those actions the best. When nymphing indicators and weighted rigs, a stouter tip is the ticket.

 

[Bamboozle]

Every trout rod I own handles light tippets which includes one 7wt and a 6wt I used for decades on the Letort. However, those heavier weight rods also handle fish so I don't have to play them forever.

In addition, every trout reel I own is always on the lowest setting to prevent over run. IF I catch a fish worthy of adding drag, I crank it on during the fight and back it off after I release the fish.

I wish I could say this happens often... 😉

Like the article alluded to, 90% of issues are user created and one thing I'll add is you need to test the limits, KNOW the limits and be confident in the limits of lighter tippet material if you plan to use it.

If you are afraid of losing fish on light stuff, rig up a rod and tie a larger bare hook to the end of a leader tipped out with 6X to 8X, hook it to something and walk out about 20 to 30 yards of line... Now PULL the line and leader straight out until the leader or a knot pops. You can try the same test adding a little rod backbone each time to the pulling.

I think you will be shocked at how much it takes to break a leader or have a knot fail. In other words if you C&R, you can HORSE those fish in and release them in very short order if you know the limits of your tackle.

That's more important to me than making sure I land them.

 

[6xAdams(Jones)]

If you are afraid of losing fish on light stuff, rig up a rod and tie a larger bare hook to the end of a leader tipped out with 6X to 8X, hook it to something and walk out about 20 to 30 yards of line... Now PULL the line and leader straight out until the leader or a knot pops. You can try the same test adding a little rod backbone each time to the pulling.

Good steps to take when learning how to build your own leaders and learning your blood knots, double surgeons, etc.
You can also tightness-check your terminal knot by hooking the fly to a zipper pull on your vest and pulling only on the tippet. It's surprising to see how hard you can pull it - and also how easy it is to detect less-than-adequate knot tying skills. (No, I'm not the originator on this tip. I saw it on other forums on this site.)

 

[afishinado]

Some good info in posts above. I posted the article because I agree many FFers are under the impression that a soft rod is needed for fine tippets. Not really true for the most part. If you ever tried to land a real nice fish on a rod too light to handle it, you'll know what I mean.

I've fished out-west in the San Juan River, Big Horn River, the Missouri during the spectacular trico hatch along with the Delaware River, where small flies and light tippets were sometimes needed to catch trout, big trout. In all these cases I used my regular 9' 5wt and/or 10' 4wt rod to land some really big fish. And I used the same rod that handled casting larger dry flies, big weighted nymphs or streamers. It's the fly angler and not the fly rod that breaks the tippet.

Bam's advice in the post above about testing the amount of pressure you can put on your rod and tippet is a great one. You likely will be surprised how much force can be applied. If you use a rod all the time you'll have a good idea on how much oomph you can put into your rod to land fish quickly without breaking even a light tippet.

The long and short of it is to choose a rod that fits your casting and fishing and can handle all the types of flies and rigs you plan to fish.