Favorite Tippets/leaders

[troutfiend1985]

I always buy my tippets all at once, and it's about time for me to replace them. I've been an Orvis guy for tippet and leaders(mainly because Bass Pro carries them and its close to my house) but I'm considering looking into other brands. Anyone have any suggestions?

[flytyer57]

I always buy my tippets all at once, and it's about time for me to replace them. I've been an Orvis guy for tippet and leaders(mainly because Bass Pro carries them and its close to my house) but I'm considering looking into other brands. Anyone have any suggestions?

I usually buy SA leaders and tippets.

I have found that mixing leader and tippet material doesn't always work out too well. The diameter of the material, even though they could both be 4X, 5X, 6X or whaterver, will not always be the same between companies.

Last trip to the fly shop, they don't carry SA leaders, so I opted for Daiichi leaders. I did not buy new tippet since I have plenty of SA left over. Well, there is as much as a .002" difference between the two. The Daiichi leader is actually .002" smaller than the SA for the same size (4X)designation.

I've used SA, Daiichi and Umpqua leaders. My preference is still SA, but since I may not be able to find it in Mountain Home, I may be switching to Daiichi leader and tippet material in the future.

[Justin Spencer]

Pretty sure Blue Ribbon fly shop carries both SA and Orvis. I always use Orvis' fluoro tippet since it is the cheapest and works great. After living in Florida for a few years I realized the importance of Fluoro in clear water situations. Well worth the extra money. I seldom use smaller than 4X tippet and have no problems with fish seeing the line. It also sinks better than mono, so that helps if not fishing drys. I do still use mono leaders, too cheap to go the full fluoro route, but I would assume it would be great as it might sink just that much faster.

[brittsnbirds]

People will probably laugh and this will give away my amateur status but I use whatever is cheapest leader in 9' length in a 5 or 6x.

I tie (what I call) a English ring on and tie another 2 or 3 foot of Vanish fluorocarbon in 2 or 4 pound. I buy it in the mini spools and re-spool empty tippet holder with it. I've looked at the size and it compares to some of the other fluorocarbon tippets.

Seems to work for me!!

[Justin Spencer]

People will probably laugh and this will give away my amateur status but I use whatever is cheapest leader in 9' length in a 5 or 6x.

I tie (what I call) a English ring on and tie another 2 or 3 foot of Vanish fluorocarbon in 2 or 4 pound. I buy it in the mini spools and re-spool empty tippet holder with it. I've looked at the size and it compares to some of the other fluorocarbon tippets.

Nothing wrong with that! Try beefing up your line a little, baby steps if you are nervous about the fish seeing it. But here on the NFoW (which may be the clearest water in the state) I use a 7 1/2 foot 2X leader then tie on 3X (main fly) and 4X (dropper) (probably at least 6-8 pound) and it works fine. Also get most of my flies back when they hang on the bottom or in a tree. It took me a while to believe this wasn't too heavy of line, but now the lightest leader I carry is 5X, and I only use it if I can't get the 4X through the eye of my fly. Try it you'll be a believer when you use the same fly all day!

[Gavin]

I usually dont go smaller than 4x unless I'm park fishing, or fishing a tiny fly..Seagur Flouro or Rio Mono gets the nod most of the time...as for leaders...Nymph's & Streamers usually get a butt section of 30' mono..6-10ft of 8lb spinning line (take your pick), then tippet...For dries & poppers I usually go with a 3' butt section, then a 9' 3x Rio Leader, and add onto that if need be...A long 12-16' leader can really up the number of stikes on your dry fly sometimes. Cheers.

[ozark trout fisher]

I use 6x exclusively for trout, the cheapest I can find. Valuable money spent on tippet (I'm of the opinion it's all about the same) is money that I can't spend on flies or gas money to get to the stream. I know sometimes you can go heavier than 6x, but you never really need to unless you're fishing big streamers or going after smallmouth. And I do think that the light tippet is a real key to success on clear water streams like the upper Current when you're fishing small flies.

It doesn't seem to matter so much if you're fishing something #12 or larger, or if the water is a bit off color. Tippet size also doesn't seem to matter very much in broken water like riffles and pocket water.

[flytyer57]

I use 6x exclusively for trout, the cheapest I can find. Valuable money spent on tippet (I'm of the opinion it's all about the same) is money that I can't spend on flies or gas money to get to the stream. I know sometimes you can go heavier than 6x, but you never really need to unless you're fishing big streamers or going after smallmouth. And I do think that the light tippet is a real key to success on clear water streams like the upper Current when you're fishing small flies.

It doesn't seem to matter so much if you're fishing something #12 or larger, or if the water is a bit off color. Tippet size also doesn't seem to matter very much in broken water like riffles and pocket water.

I try to match the leader/tippet to the line/rod I'm using. I don't want to use 0X on my 4wt and I certainly ain't gonna use 6X on my 9wt.

Right now on my 9wt, I have a 12# leader/tippet. On my 7wt, I have 0X. On my 6wt, I have 4X. On my 5wt (if I ever get it back from repair) I have 5X. On my 4wt, I have on a 6X leader/tippet. Of course I may go up or down one or two -X sizes for these, except the 4wt. That will always stay a light presentation setup for smaller flies like the size 14 woolybugger I have tied on now.

[ness]

I haven't found anything I like better than a horsehair, preferably Percheron, Spring harvested center tail.

Seriously, I've got a variety on my spool and in the bag. Can't say I pay too much attention to it. Definitely won't pay up for it. Won't buy the cheapest either. Orvis, Umpqua, Frog Hair, RIO.

[flytyer57]

I haven't found anything I like better than a horsehair, preferably Percheron, Spring harvested center tail.

Do you still use silk lines too?