Replacing my tippet

Anyone use Orvis SS or Rio Powerflex to build an entire knotted leader? They're both offered in .023-8x. I know most use Max for the butt and mid but just wanted to see.
 
Here's what I'm doing this year. I tied a snap hook to the leader, then the tippet is tied to a tippet ring. So, now when I "move" from one spot to another, I un-snap the tippet, take the rod in half, move to the new spot, put the rod back together, snap on the tippet, and I'm fishing. No broken rod....no tangled flys and tippet.


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dudemanspecial said:
I would not want that thing pulling through my guides.
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I don't. I reel in the line near the last guide, break the rod in half and fold it over. No need to wind it all the way back to the reel....that would just add more "non-fishing" time to the outing.

Of course, at the end of the day I reel it all the way back. But I'm not reeling like a mad man. The snap simply slips through every guide easy peasy.
 
ChuckofWagon said:
I honestly don't know the last time I bought new tippet line. All I know is I've fished a few times this year and have lost half-a-dozen flys because my knots just broke. They broke when a trout hit, they broke just casting, they broke when I just (post spit) cinched them up. I'm no pro but I'm not a newbie. I just think I'm going to pitch my current tippet material and get new.

The knots I tie are (at times) nail knot.....but mostly Clinch knot, double clinch knot, the 16-20 knot (because it's easy).

So...that being said, what brand should I look for? I have Orvis and I looked at their website. Flurocarbon tippet is pricy and Nylon tippet is much less. Is the price difference worth it? Any assistance would be appreciated.

Thanks!!
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How do you carry your tipet rolls fishing may be the cause of your poor performance with them braking. Storing mono outside of your pack or vest; exposed to uv light will degrade it quite quickly. I usually store it in my wader pockets.
I've used this method for years and a get usually use the up before it is degraded condition.
If you use floro you can carry it outside, exposed to uv and it will not degrade and will last for years.

I also use a tippet ring and the leader will last for quite some time . They sell different sizes us small for 4x and smaller and the med size for 4x and bigger sizes.
I think there is a large for even larger diameter line.
 
Hilltop said:
Anyone use Orvis SS or Rio Powerflex to build an entire knotted leader? They're both offered in .023-8x. I know most use Max for the butt and mid but just wanted to see.
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Yes, Orvis Superstrong but that was a long time ago. I later switched to Maxima for the butt sections of trout leaders, not because I found anything wrong with SS, but because my warmwater leaders were all Maxima and it was easier to stick with one brand for the heavier stuff.

These days I use Orvis Mirage for everything because I just prefer fluorocarbon.
 
ChuckofWagon said:
Here's what I'm doing this year. I tied a snap hook to the leader, then the tippet is tied to a tippet ring. So, now when I "move" from one spot to another, I un-snap the tippet, take the rod in half, move to the new spot, put the rod back together, snap on the tippet, and I'm fishing. No broken rod....no tangled flys and tippet.
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I guess I don't understand the need to break down a rod to move from spot to spot...

I do the "wrap the line around the reel foot and hook the fly on a guide thing" sometime also wrapping the looped line around the rod and other times I just hold the fly in my fingers and walk/wade.

I even just walk with a fully extended 13 foot Tenkara rod...

The ONLY time I feel the need is to breakdown is at one or two super tight creeks with so much rhododendron or multi flora rose that it is about impossible to walk period but that's one or two spots.

Isn't all of this un-snapping, breaking down the rod in half, reattaching and putting the rod back together again also adding a whole lot of "non-fishing time?"

What am I missing...?
 
Bamboozle said:
A couple of tippet things...

IF the brand survives a few years in business, ALL tippet spools will get redesigned at some point making a tippet dispenser that accommodates them, obsolete.

This is the reason tippet dispensers that fit a particular size spool (like the one sold by Orvis many moons a-go) fell out of favor and were replaced by clunky spool holders.

I've been using a homemade tippet dispenser since the 1980's. The one I use to day is MUCH smaller at 4.25" x 3.25" x .75" and holds six spools. Using one requires winding new material onto one of the spools that fit the dispenser which only takes a few seconds with a drill motor or about a minute or two by hand by the creek.

If anyone is interested, the tippet dispenser made by Stonfo is pretty slick and small.

I stick with top brands of tippet, but even at $15 bucks for a 30 meter spool for fluorocarbon, it comes to $0.012 an inch or about $0.16 a foot.

(IF, and that's a big IF); IF I use 10 feet on a fishing trip, that's a whopping $ 1.60 a fishing trip...

Which is considerably less than the eggs I ate for breakfast, the gas it took to get to the creek, any of the cigars I smoked or the beers I drank before and after fishing...
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I have never seen a tippet dispenser like that. I think if you could get extra spools for it. That would be better. Does the tippet take on curls being stored on small spools?
 
I can't imagine it would matter enough for you to ever tell. I just happen to have many recent Orvis tippet spools with the little cutting blade at the edge. Nice idea, except that I quickly found that it leaves a too-short stub of tippet to pull on the next time. At least that's how it works for me; a little stub that slides back into the grommet hole in the elastic tippet keeper band OR is just very small and requires digging and picking to get at the tippet line again.
As far as Orvis vs. Sci Anglers vs. Cortland vs. Rio, who really can say. Things come and go. Back when I was in the Lehigh Valley, Verivas was a big deal. I just don't know why one could be designated as "better" than another. Sure, you can run tests, but that will be academic when an 18 incher goes under a rock or around a stick. I don't know any of those brands that I would not use.

Just don't go for Fluoro for it's clarity or durability. Fluoro is stiff and dense, true;. But I can about as easily see fluoro in a clear beaker filled with water as I can mono (nylon). Look at the YouTube video of the saltwater guys doing an abrasion test. The overwhelming results surprised the testers: fluoro was softer than nylon.
 
wildtrout2 said:
Once you start using a tippet ring, you won't look back.
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I use 2 rings on my Euro rig. One is at the sighter/tippet junction. The other one is further down where I have a dropper/point separation. I just find it much more convenient than using the tag ends off knots. And then, I could ALWAYS do a separate dropper anyway. It also is nice for drop-shotting

Of Note: I find the Orvis 2.5 mm the best. 2mm is just too small for me at 55 and the 3 mm looks like a chain link. (not reallly, but, yeah). I try the others but it's like a wrong-sized shoe. You get the correct sized one and it just works and feels right. I would certainly use a 2 mm ring on a dry fly rig, if I fished that way, but I don't use tippet rings on dry fly leaders.
 
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