Problem with Cabela's tippet material

[eggman]

I picked up a spool of Cabela's brand 4x tippet and for some reason when I cast a dry fly (no particular size), the stuff twists up terribly with about 3 false casts. None of my other tippet does this, which is a mixture of Cabela's brand, Cortland and Rio and various sizes (3x, 4x, 5x and 6x).

Any idea why this is happening with this particular spool? I'm ready to toss it....

 

[MKern]

I don't know why it's doing it, but I had a friend who just started fly fishing and was looking at buying tippet.

When I broke down the cost per foot, RIO Powerflex was the exact same price as the Cabela's stuff. Cabelas is cheap, but had 5 yards less. I didn't even factor in diameter and strength.

I advised him to do with a "popular" brand.

 

[jayL]

Rio powerflex, at the same cost/yard as the cabela's is a no brainer. I never realized that the cabela's stuff shorted you like that. The powerflex, to me, is superior stuff. That may be all in my head.

The way I see it, there are lots of better places to skimp than tippet.

 

[FiveWeight]

On the subject of tippet.

Cortland (Fairplay) tippet material 6X and other sizes that I have are giving me fits with knots slipping. Double surgeon and blood both just slip loose. Another fishing friend of mine stopped by yesterday and I told him about it. He tied a few knots and same result. This guy is no slouch when it comes to fly'n and spey fishing. Anybody else have this trouble? I guess you get what you pay for. Back to the Maxima tippet for me. Oh, and yes I'm wetting the knot down before pulling tight. I know I could tie another type of knot but when I'm mid stream those two are the easiest for me to tie. Heading to Huntingdon tonight! By 20:00 I'll be watching the Juniata roll on by. You'ns have a good 4th.

 

[Ramcatt]

tippet... nothing but rio
level leaders for swinging... maxima


the shortened length also happens on tying thread...

big box will sell a uni-thread 100yr spool for 25-30% less than your fly shop will sell a 200yrd

 

[GreenWeenie]

Fiveweight,

Funny you should mention knot slippage. I use Rio Powerflex exclusively and had the same thing happen to me about 3 weeks ago with a new spool of 5x tippet. No matter what kind of knot I tied, it just wouldn't hold no matter what I did. I would pull, feel it tighten and it would just continue to slip and slip until the tag end would slide out and sometimes I was leaving a 1" tag to begin with to see if I could get it to tighten up on itself. But other spools of 5x tippet (still Rio) held perfect knots so it wasn't my technique. I went through about 10 yards of tippet from the new spool before it started holding the knot. It was frustrating to say the least.

 

[Alpabuck]

Rio FluroFlex plus or Orvis Maxxnot! I'm not a fan mono but the rio stuff others have mentioned works fine as well. Dont cheap out on tippet.

 

[groove790]

I have two spools of cabela's tippet and I hate the stuff. I'll borrow that size from someone if I can to avoid using it. My 6x cortland is stronger that my 3x cabela's. I'll probably toss it this year and replace it. The cabela's tippet is newer than the cortland stuff too. I won't buy it again.

 

[mystillwater]

i too have had bad experiences with Cabelas tippet and leaders. they both tend to kink up easier than most. the leaders turn over terribly and have too much memory. they're very hard to straighten out. i tie a new leader on at the beginning of an outing and by the end, it looks like a telephone cord.

now i'm using orvis leaders and tippet. even the cheap stuff works for me.

 

[WildTigerTrout]

Rio makes a good product. I have used Rio's mono and flourocarbon tippet for some time without any problems. I know mono breaks down ALOT faster than flourocarbon. I tend to replace mono spools every season so its fresh. Heck the stuff is cheap! Not to get off the subject but does anybody use tippet rings? I have used them for a couple of seasons and really like them. I build my own leaders and when using tippet rings you can lose your tippet and then replace it without a loss in the length of the leader. Pretty neat!

 

[tomgamber]

I've never had any noticeable problem with it... where can I get Rio fro the price of Cabela's?

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/standard-item.jsp?_DARGS=/cabelas/en/common/catalog/item-link.jsp_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20431-cat20510&id=0011199319207a&navCount=6&podId=0011199&parentId=cat20510&masterpathid=&navAction=push&catalogCode=IA&rid=&parentType=index&indexId=cat20510&hasJS=true

4-30yd spools for 10 buckes

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/index/index-display.jsp?id=cat601301&navAction=jump&navCount=1&cmCat=MainCatcat20431&parentType=category&parentId=cat20431

1-30 yd spool $4+

Do you buy them somewhere specific?

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

If I'm not mistaken, Cabelas leader and tippet material is made by Climax. Anyone have Climax issues too? It should be the same stuff.

I've used and still use Rio PowerFlex and it's good. I actually like Cortland Precision II tippet but it's hard to find or no longer made. I did use Maxima but the other brands were thinner and I thought it helped get better drifts. I did like the greenish tint. To weave in from the OT thread between Alpa and Jack.... Judge me by the content of my spool, not the color of my tippet. LMAO

 

[Alpabuck]

sight_nymph_17109 wrote:
If I'm not mistaken, Cabelas leader and tippet material is made by Climax. Anyone have Climax issues too? It should be the same stuff.

I've used and still use Rio PowerFlex and it's good. I actually like Cortland Precision II tippet but it's hard to find or no longer made. I did use Maxima but the other brands were thinner and I thought it helped get better drifts. I did like the greenish tint. To weave in from the OT thread between Alpa and Jack.... Judge me by the content of my spool, not the color of my tippet. LMAO

Unless you can use either to your advantage to push an agenda! I dont know anybody who do such a thing such though!

 

[sight_nymph_17109]

OUCH! Guess my gas on the fire didn't help. For some reason, I think this has taken a turn for the worse and I'll go back to wrapping guide on my new bamboo blank I just harvested from my neighbors garden.

 

[jdaddy]

Rio FluroFlex plus or Orvis Maxxnot! I'm not a fan mono but the rio stuff others have mentioned works fine as well. Dont cheap out on tippet.

Orvis MaxKnot is awesome. Expensive but awesome. And yes, I use fluro for drys as well. I don't find the "sink" issue to be problematic at the tippet.

As far as Cabelas/Climax, yes all of my Cabelas leader and tippet packages indicate they are made by Climax for Cabelas. Not sure about their fluro products, but we can be sure they are made by someone for Cabelas.

 

[Dale49]

Varivas makes an awesome tippet especially in the smaller diameters. other than that, I use Rio.

 

[MKern]

Tom I was looking at the combo with the dispenser; which those spools have 25 yards.


Personally, I'm a Rio Floroflex in the guide spools (well at least for 4x and 5x).

 

[gfen]

FiveWeight wrote:
On the subject of tippet.
Cortland (Fairplay) tippet material 6X and other sizes that I have are giving me fits with knots slipping. Double surgeon and blood both just slip loose. Another fishing friend of mine stopped by yesterday and I told him about it. He tied a few knots and same result. This guy is no slouch when it comes to fly'n and spey fishing. Anybody else have this trouble?

I buy this stuff in 5x and 6x all the time, because its easy to get and dirt cheap.

The key is to lubricate the knots well. If you don't, they'll slip like you've noticed.

I don't see this with surgeon's knots (I usually do a triple, though), but my cinch knots are where I notice it.

 

[PACOFRANSICO]

I started to use Trout Magnet Phantom Fluorocarbon it's great stuff n it's like 3.99 a spool

 

[Redsun]

I use orvis atm. Floro and Mono. It is like 2-5 years old and still as good as ever.

Not to get off the subject but does anybody use tippet rings?

yep i use them. I find them to be great and have not had any trouble with it. i do sometimes notice that my leader collapses sometimes. but i blame that on my sucky casting skills.

Anyone have Climax issues too?

Kinda personal question.

to answer it. no I don't.
sorry to hear abut your troubles.