Preferred tippet for dry fly presentations?

Actually, it was you who were right, the two terms really aren't that related. However, to be technical, fluorocarbon is also monofilament!

Co-polymer - At least 2 different polymers are used to complete the polymer chain. This is on the molecular scale. From a manufacturing standpoint, it can be drawn into as many lines as you wish.

Monofilament - 1 single strand was drawn. As opposed, to say, drawing multiple lines and braiding them, or furling them, etc. This speaks to manufacturing method, and has nothing to do with the molecular arrangement of polymers.

Fluorocarbon is a monofilament. It's a plastic drawn into a single line. Rather than fluoro vs. mono, we should simply stick with fluoro vs. nylon (although a co-polymer implies that it's not "just" nylon).

But yeah, regarding the marketing, they'll take a false public perception and run with it.
 
For dries i use and really like RIO suppleflex with climax tippet coming in second.
 
I prefered Frog Hair up until I heard about and tried some of the Trout Hunter tippet & leaders, good stuff that's now my go to.
 
Rio Powerflex
 
I use a lot of different tippets, being a tippet junky. (NB - but I'm a junky with everything - nothing specific about being a tippet junky). I like the suppleness of SA, which is almost as supple as the old Japanese Aeon. Both, however, are not very abrasion resistant. You can see the finish dull as you use them. With use and time, the little nicks that they accumulate can cause sudden weakness and failure. Since I change flies constantly, this generally has not been a problem for me.
 
I use orvis Mirage for all my tippets, dries, nymphs and streamers.
 
Trout Hunter for me. A little pricey.
 
what is the advantage of nylon over fluoro ?

i dry fly very little and have just used 5x -7x flouro. i don't have the chance to fish evening hatches, so haven't done it much but would like to do more..

cheers

Mark
 
Trout Hunter. I've been using this tippet for 3 years now and love it.
 
"What is the advantage over nylon vs Fluoro?"
Here's a link that will give you info on both
http://www.flyfishamerica.com/content/fluorocarbon-vs-nylon
 
LeTortAngler2 wrote:
"What is the advantage over nylon vs Fluoro?"
Here's a link that will give you info on both
http://www.flyfishamerica.com/content/fluorocarbon-vs-nylon
Click to expand...

wow. great article. thank you for sharing it.

 
Rio Powerflex is all i use for all my type of fly-fishing!
 
It is a good article.

They missed a biggie, though. Errr, barely touched on it I guess, and didn't consider it a category on it's own.

Suppleness.

When you change from 5x to 6x, you are going down in diameter. But in the world of trout fishing you are typically NOT doing it for visibility purposes. You are doing it for drag purposes. A thinner tippet is more supple, and thus creates less micro-drag. There are exceptions, but more often than not I believe it is drag, not visibility, that creates refusals. Especially in the world of smallish dry flies.

Nylon is more supple than fluorocarbon. Both can vary quite a bit from brand to brand, and there is some overlap (meaning the stiffest nylons are stiffer than the most supple fluoro's). But that's the general truth.

Nylon advantages:

More supple (less drag). More stretch (IMO, a good thing when fighting bigger fish). Easier to tie knots (less slippery).

Fluoro advantages. abrasion resistance (biggest advantage for nymphers or trophy hunters). More dense (good for all subsurface). Less visible.

I'm a nylon fan, but the abrasion resistance is an important advantage of fluoro. If you're fishing sandy areas or even bottom dredging rocks, that's important. Likewise, if you expect big fish, like steelhead, those teeth can easily abrade line. Fluoro is a clear advantage in those situations. Steelhead may be one rare example where fish actually are line shy as well. For steelhead I actually use nylon right up to the tippet, but fluoro tippet. Having the nylon up the line gives the leader that stretch and shock absorption for runs and head shakes, but you got the fluoro at the terminal end.
 
Trout Hunter tippet seems to have solved all my break-off while fighting big trout issues. I'm a believer!
 
Trout hunter all the way, for nymphs and dries.

Maxima makes for good leader material but sucks as tippet, especially when a delicate presentation on clear water is needed.

Orvis tippet isn't up to par. Any of their types.

Frog Hair is excellent and would be my 2nd choice after Trout Hunter.

Rio Suppleflex is nice as well. Rio Fluoro sucks though, I have returned many spools to shops b/c a week or two after bought the tippet is brittle and has such low break strength.

Rio Powerflex is good down to 4x. 5x-6x sucks.

 
I would like to try Trout Hunter. Have heard good things but have never even seen a spool. Where do you buy it?

Allan, pretty much agree with the rest of your post, cept Frog Hair. It's plenty strong, but I find it to be stiff as well. But right on the mark with Maxima, Orvis, Rio Fluoro, and Suppleflex.

I've noticed that the smaller diameters of powerflex aren't as good as well, though it's more a case of "slightly better" vs. "clearly better" for me. I'd still choose Suppleflex over Powerflex at any size.

Dai-Riki Dynamic isn't bad (note, not the same as Dai Riki GTS). Nor is the Scientific Anglers.

Here's a good link. When it comes to the tables, for small dry flies especially, I really place my greatest importance on suppleness.

http://www.yellowstoneangler.com/gear-review/tippet-shootout-seaguar-grandmax-trouthunter-orvis-mirage-riopowerflex-pline-dairiki-varivas-sa-climax-maxima-froghair-stoft-umpqua

When it comes to fluoro, the only one I've used that I find acceptable is Seaguar Grand Max FX (different than Seaguar Grand Max regular). The other one they rate as supple is Hardy Mach, though like Trout Hunter, I've never found any to actually test.
 
I would like to try Trout Hunter. Have heard good things but have never even seen a spool. Where do you buy it?
Click to expand...

You can mail order it direct from the Trouthunter shop out West, or pick some up locally either from Jonas at the Feathered Hook or TCO, but TCO doesn't have it at all their locations (State College doesn't have it, at least not back in the fall)) so they might have to mail it to you.
 
i like using a 7.5' tapered leader to start in 4x or 5x then add tippet as needed. usually whatever is on sale for me but I am partial to orvis.
 
not many votes for climax but i'm a fan myself. I'd also like to try the trout hunter brand.
 
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