[Mike Barrio]

Best tippet material 2013? ...... Still the same favourites or are you trying something different?

Cheers
Mike

[Rob Brownfield]

I have some interesting "tippet" material that I have taken from my coarse fishing side of things. Some of the hi-tech line used by the Match guys is extremely thin so I have been able to reduce diameter, but increase strength. As its designed for big fish, it has very good shock and abrasion resistence. Only real issue is that it is very limp, so you can only really use a foot of it at the end of a "normal" leader else the fly wont turn.

Other than that, I am using the Orvis stuff. Still not 100% confident though...but working on it.

[Ben Dixon]

If it is not turning Rob, the diameter is too small.  Stiffness has little to do with turnover in fact, I'd suggest a softer leader turns over better than a stiff leader in most cases I can think of. What is the brand, Rob, or is that a secret ? 

Super Strong for trout / grayling, Mirage for salmon & saltwater.


Cheers

Ben

[Mike Barrio]

If it is not turning Rob, the diameter is too small.  Stiffness has little to do with turnover in fact, I'd suggest a softer leader turns over better than a stiff leader in most cases I can think of.

Good point Ben

[Iain Cameron]

Best tippet material 2013? ...... Still the same favourites or are you trying something different?

I still use a lot of Drennan sub surface, mostly in the 3, 4, 5, 6lb ranges; it's proved reliable, consistent and not expensive. It's good for droppers, as it seems to have the right stiffness not too tangle too much. It's not the thinnest out there. Useful on lochs when pulling flies, or when light/thin diameter isn't the most important factor.

For thin work, I use short lengths of Riverge Grand Max flouro - expensive but then it is very thin to weight. Also got some stroft super soft, which has been OK (but not used extensively).

Tried a couple of spools of maxima green this season, and been happy enough with them - the spools are large diameter though, so they don't fit in my usual tippet pocket and often get left at home

cheers
iain

[Rob Brownfield]

If it is not turning Rob, the diameter is too small.  Stiffness has little to do with turnover in fact, I'd suggest a softer leader turns over better than a stiff leader in most cases I can think of. What is the brand, Rob, or is that a secret ? 

Surey "stiffness", if the same no matter what the diameter, would be the important thing? Surely a thin but stiff (stiff being a relative word) line would turn over better than a thicker but limp line?

As for brands..loads out their but the ones I use are Preston Innovations Xceed, Maver Zero HF Smart etc. Similer if not slightly lower diametrs to Orvis SS but I seem to be able to knot it better.

[Ewan Lindsay]

Leeda Profil tapered 9' Leaders + Gamma Froghair Copolymer for dries and Airflo G3 sightfree Flourocarbon for anything wet.  On the chalkstreams I usually don't even bother with a tippet on the end of the Profil leader.

Ewan

[Marc Fauvet]

positive or negative turnover will be a matter of mass, something quite different from stiffness or diameter. (although diameter is close enough if we're comparing the exact same material)
softer materials make tighter loops making for less wind resistance/better turnover compared to stiffer.

Mike, Stroft GTM and some braid in 0,04 mm for secret funky stuff 

cheers,
marc

[Rob Brownfield]

softer materials make tighter loops making for less wind resistance/better turnover compared to stiffer.

Are you talking softer fly line or sofet tippet?

Once a loop is formed in the fly line, it remains pretty constant, right to the fly. It cannot do anything else due to the energy wanting to travel in a straight line. Having "limp" tippet would not mean the loop tightens..it just cant.

[Marc Fauvet]

seems to me the subject is tippets.

'can'ts' generally don't lead to understanding. are you saying a leader doesn't form a loop at turnover ?... 

[Euan Innes]

I still use a lot of Drennan sub surface, mostly in the 3, 4, 5, 6lb ranges; it's proved reliable, consistent and not expensive. It's good for droppers, as it seems to have the right stiffness not too tangle too much. It's not the thinnest out there. Useful on lochs when pulling flies, or when light/thin diameter isn't the most important factor.

Right there with you Iain. For wild trout I mostly use 3 and 4lb - Orvis SS 6' tapered leader (8.5lb), Riverge ring and then Drennan.
It turns over nicely too 

 

[Marc Fauvet]

Do you know it's density ? 

[Euan Innes]

Do you know it's density ?  lots of laughs

Nope!

 

[Rob Brownfield]

seems to me the subject is tippets.

'can'ts' generally don't lead to understanding. are you saying a leader doesn't form a loop at turnover ?... 

Ok, fine. I am not saying the leader does not form a loop, I am saying the loop formed by the leader cannot be anything different to the loop formed by the fly line. Kinetic energy can only travel in a straight line.

So, a 2 foot loop in a fly line will pretty much produce a 2 foot loop in a leader. If we really look into the physics of it all, the loop in the leader will open up as the fly comes around the arc of the loop as it is no longer travelling in  a straight line and, so like a car in a corner, will want to travel in a straight line and thus open the arc.

This can be clearly be seen in this video and pretty much every casting video

[Ben Dixon]

Rob,

Where are you measuring loop size, at the face? 

Very simple test, go get tapered leaders in Fluoro and copoly in same spec, cast them on the same line and see what if anything is te difference.  From personal experience and using Orvis SS & Mirage 9' 0x tapered leaders.  Turnover was much better and everything held a better shape as the leader went through the loop with SS leaders.  Taper is (or was a few years back) the same on both.  SS slightly stiffer or about the same stiffness as a fly line, Mirage, very much stiffer for the same diameter as most fly lines.

Surey "stiffness", if the same no matter what the diameter, would be the important thing? Surely a thin but stiff (stiff being a relative word) line would turn over better than a thicker but limp line?

A lighter end tippet (assuming a good taper to whole leader) will hold a better and tighter shape as it goes through the loop, i.e it continues the mass reduction from the belly of the fly line.  A softer material of the same mass will tighten up and hold shape better than a stiff material.

Anyway, for a given diameter say .38mm, I would rather have a soft material than stiff material.


Cheers

Ben

[Rob Brownfield]

Thanks Ben.

[Derek Roxborough]

I have been using Snowbee Magic line for the last two years and it works for me, before that I used Viper, I have used Orvis superstrength each of them has done the job for me But I do like the Snowbee stuff , easgach 1