Tippet material....

[imaxfli78 0]

Have they made a new tippet material that will break the surface tension and then stay floating near the top of the water yet? Or do I still need to use my old stuff and rub mud on it??

[chugbug27 0]

Yes, sort of. Flourocarbon tippet will break the surface, but only in sizes 4x or larger; 5x or smaller will not break the surface. At least for Rio...

https://www.rioproducts.com/learn/fluorocarbon-tippet-for-small-dry-flies-

[imaxfli78 0]

Ahhhh...does it stay straighter and have less memory...but it doesn't stretch right? Guess that could be handled in the leader.

[chugbug27 0]

Not sure. Just make certain you wet it before tightening the knot

[SilverCreek 0]

16 hours ago, imaxfli78 said:

Have they made a new tippet material that will break the surface tension and then stay floating near the top of the water yet? Or do I still need to use my old stuff and rub mud on it??

Use mud! It also removes the sheen on tippets.

 

https://www.yellowstoneangler.com/gear-review/tippet-shootout/

"Buoyancy factor

Anglers sometimes worry about fluorocarbon sinking more rapidly, since it has a heavier specific gravity than nylon. (The specific gravity of water is 1.0, nylon has a specific gravity of 1.05 to1.10, fluorocarbon is denser and runs 1.75 to 1.90.) To put this in perspective, tungsten, used as a powder in sinking tips, has a specific gravity of 19.25. So there really is not a substantial difference between nylon and fluorocarbon, especially when most anglers are just using fluorocarbon for the tippet.

A much bigger factor is surface tension. If you are using small­diameter tippets and a small dry fly, the surface tension won’t usually allow either nylon or fluorocarbon to break through the surface. This seems to apply especially for tippets 3X or smaller.

Also, once the tippet material has broken the surface tension and is under the water, there is almost no practical difference in the sink rates of nylon or fluorocarbon tippets.

If you are using a full tapered leader of fluorocarbon, only then does the weight become slightly more of a factor in terms of sink rate and breaking the surface tension more easily."

[niveker 0]

Good info, Silvercreek, thanks.   

[imaxfli78 0]

Soooooooo...I gotta keep rubbing mud on my 4x-7x tippets to get them break the surface tension? What about the best "mud" to rub-last longest, works best????

[Sandan 0]

On 9/10/2020 at 9:51 AM, imaxfli78 said:

Soooooooo...I gotta keep rubbing mud on my 4x-7x tippets to get them break the surface tension? What about the best "mud" to rub-last longest, works best????

I sure wouldn't use and "abrasive" mud on 7x.  anyhow.....https://www.yellowstoneangler.com/gear-review/tippet-shootout/

[imaxfli78 0]

Sooooooo....is there a good commercial "mud" out there. I have an old ORVIS one that I never thought worked very well.

[JSzymczyk 0]

On 9/10/2020 at 10:04 AM, SilverCreek said:

So there really is not a substantial difference between nylon and fluorocarbon, especially when most anglers are just using fluorocarbon for the tippet.

 

Blasphemy!  You will be excommunicated if you continue to display common sense while discussing fly fishing. 

[JSzymczyk 0]

I've used Trilene XL clear or green for tippet in all my freshwater fly fishing (with the exception of wire when I was trying to catch pike and pickerel) for the last 30 years or so.   I don't seem to remember a time when I said "Dammit! I wish I would have spent $7 on 25 yards of XYZ tippet material!"   I've bought fluorocarbon, I've bought this and that and a lot of everything else, but just haven't been anywhere it mattered.   I'm having a new house built less than a mile from the Letort Spring Run near Carlisle Pa, apparently all the trout there have doctorate degrees in very intelligent intelligence, so maybe I'll need to buy special tippet.  We'll see. 

[SilverCreek 0]

1 hour ago, imaxfli78 said:

Sooooooo....is there a good commercial "mud" out there. I have an old ORVIS one that I never thought worked very well.

Loons Snake River Mud is probably the most popular commercial "mud."

Commercial Mud is made of several ingredients.

First they contain a cleaner (detergent) that removes any oils or residual chemicals that are on the surface of commercial tippets from the extrusion process. These oils prevent the leader from sinking. Secondly, they contain a sinkant or surfactant (detergent) that destroys the surface tension of water molecules so the leader sinks immediately. Thirdly, they contain fuller's earth compound that dulls the leader to remove the shiny surface so that the leader surface is less reflective. And finally, they contain a substance (glycerin) that keeps the degreaser from drying out.

If you look at the formula you may think that the only thing you have in your house is the detergent. However, you may already have a substitute for fuller's earth which is a special kind of bentonite clay. Bentonite is a clay material that anyone who visits Wyoming for fishing has probably walked on. It is a common material in cat litter and commercial bags of clay oil absorbent. So if you have clay cat litter or oil absorbent for your garage, you have the major ingredient for making your own degreaser.

Glycerin is used in commercial leader degreaser to keep it from drying out. If you don't have glycerin, you can get some at a drug store. It is used as an anti-constipation agent. However, it is not absolutely needed.

I make my own degreaser by crushing the clay to get the finest particles and then mix in Dawn or another dishwashing detergent to get a paste. I happen to have glycerin and so I also use it but you don't have to. I store the degreaser in a 35 mm film canister and rub it on the section of leader you want to sink.

Degreasers are different from sinkants such as Gerkes Xink. These are liquids surfactants that you put on flies that you want to sink. They are commonly used on the marabou of wooly buggers so that they sink and absorb water from the very first cast. Another use is for small flies like midge pupa so they will sink faster. You can make your own sinkant as well. 

Kodak Photoflo, a wetting agent used in photo processing, is used by fly fishers to sink flies. The main ingredient in Photo Flow is ethylene glycol, which is also in antifreeze. Ethylene glycol disrupts the hydrogen bonding of water that creates the meniscus surface film that supports flies. That is how ethylene glycol prevents water from freezing. So try some antifreeze as a wetting agent.

[WJG 0]

I make my degreaser with a package of bentonite from the wine makers store.  No bulk purchase and grinding involved.  The small packet with a little water and a few drops of dish soap,  makes just enough for a 35mm film canister and stays pliable at least two years without using glycerin.

[vicente 0]

On 9/11/2020 at 7:40 PM, JSzymczyk said:

Blasphemy!  You will be excommunicated if you continue to display common sense while discussing fly fishing. 

Pretty sure he was just talking about sink rate.

[mikechell 0]

6 hours ago, vicente said:

Pretty sure he was just talking about sink rate.

And I KNOW JS is being sarcastic.