Recent Patterns

[JarrodRuggles]

I have read about this rule before and I completely and totally disagree with it. It say to take the hook size and divide it by 4. So for instance you would supposidly use 5x tippet on a size 20!!!

Thats a bit rediculous if you ask me. 99% of the time I use 7x. Not becuase theres not big fish, because a lot of the decent fish recognize your line tied to that hook. You cant say that a fish will hit bigger tippets just the same as fine tippets.

One day,
I ran into a sweet march brown hatch. The trout were taking subsurface all over the place. I tied on a size 22 emerger pettern and caught about 3-4. But, I had many, many, many, more rejections. I was using 7x and then I went down to 8x. More or less every good presentation I gave to them they took. I immediatly doubled my catch.
Less then 5 mins I had a nice trout in the net.

Tippet should be judged upon water clarity. Its obvious you dont use a 7x tippet on a big streamer, say a #8. But, I wouldnt recomend 2x either. If the water is up and silty, you could get away with a 5x.

Dont be afraid to tye on those fine tippets. It could make the difference in a really good trip or a bad one. Just fight the fish and carefully play them. You can land big fish on small tippet. Thats just my thinkin outloud,

Jarrod

[atroutbum2]

The tippet rule you are talking about is just a rule of thumb. There are no police hiding in the bushes waiting for you to use the wrong size tippet with the wrong size fly. Jarrod you can do what you want but....

the reasoning behind the rule is that it takes a tippet of a certain diamiter to resist the force of the twist caused by a fly being pulled thru the air by the flyline.

If you ever fished winged drys and wondered why the leader got all twisted up after a few casts, this is why.

If you dont believe me , try puting a #12 wulff and cast a few times with an 7x tippet. then cast the same fly with a 3x tippet. you will see a diffrence.

You are right, water clarity,fishing pressuer and other factors do make you use the lightest tippet possible if you want to catch fish but you aint gonna catch didily squat with the tippet twisted in a knot, so you also need to use the heaviest tippet you can get away with.

[steeldrifter]

I agree with atb2, the tippet has to match the fly more than it does anything else or your gonna have trouble. Divide by 4 is a good rule of thumb.

Just as was mentioned if you put a 7x on even a size 14 or 16 dry fly your gonna have a leader that is 2 ft shorter after 10 min's because it is going to be so twisted up

I use 5x the most of any tippets I run and even on rivers that have extremely educated fish that get C&R many times a year such as on the Au Sable 5x is all that is needed. Every great once in awhile I will drop down to 6x on really small flies, and a 7x can be useful during a trico hatch, but using 7x all the time or 8x is just asking for break off's and over playing a fish to much.

presentation is way more important than trying to go to light on the tippet size.

SD

[JarrodRuggles]

light tippets are part of the presentation in my opinion. Whats the use of a straight tippet if the fish can see and reject it??? I have never had a problem with leader twisting or tippets twistin with the flies I use. I normally use from 8-24's. With the 8 I normally use 5 or 6 but with just about everything else I use mainly 7x. Thats just how I fish and how I will continue to fish.

[steeldrifter]

jarrod to each his own and no one is trying to change the way you fish, if it works for you then stick with it. I'm just saying that I fish some extremely pickiy fish on rivers that get pounded day in and day out year round and 5x very rarely will spook a fish. You must not be fishing dries though because if you put a size 8 hex on a 5-6x tippet and didnt have it twist up like a cork screw then you are the only person in the history of fly fishing to not have that problem

[JarrodRuggles]

I rarely run into that big of bug

[JarrodRuggles]

that was just the way I see it. If you wanna use large tippets be my guest. But you MAY be misisng fish. Just experiment.

[atroutbum2]

You may not have the hex, but you do have hoppers and crickets.

[JarrodRuggles]

I guess ya got me there. But I still wouldnt use no 4x for trout...born stubborn

[Frank G. Swarner...]

I know this post is about tippet size in relationship to fly size but, Presentation, Presentation, Presentation!!!! A fish will hit larger tippets just as he would hit a smaller tippet. You may not fool as many, but you will get your share. I've proven that to myself & others many, many times.

Yes, the tippet is part of the presentation, but so is the leader, rod & reel, fly line, your arm, wrist, fingers, etc... How one wades in the water and/or how an angler positions him/herself in relationship to the target is part of the presentation also. Understanding how different bugs move when they aren't hatching and how they move when they do hatch, and how other creatures swim or dart, and re-creating that motion or lack there of, is part of presentation as well.

I fish heavily pressured Southeastern PA streams(trout) throughout the year and I've only had to go down to 6x a few times, and that was because of the size fly I had chosen. Going down to 7x hasn't even been a thought in my mind and neither has going to any fly smaller than a 20. Using a size 20 is even rare for myself. Why? I have faith in my ability to fool the quarry. I feel that if I go to a lighter tippet and/or smaller fly size I am robbing/cheating myself of a learning experience that will be useful at a later time. What I learn, I can keep with me for the rest of my life and share with others. You will never learn as much as you could if you make the easy change.

I've been fishing these streams for a very long time so I am familiar with the hatches, forage fish, and the locations where trout like to hold. Through the years I've tried fishing those spots from various locations with different flies to find what works best. Sometimes I would try something that was totally opposite from what was hatching just to see what happens. What I've learned from this is that trout are very receptive to most flies if they don't know you are there. Once they they know your present, the difficulty level goes way up. It's like they know to start looking for your tippet and fly!!

I think most anglers don't like the thought that a fish is smarter than them, so it is comfortable for them to downsize, and if that doesn't work, they feel that they have tried all they could. This is not true.

Most of us know how picky trout can be. Sometimes they want the fly: on the surface, in the film, an inch or two below the surface, on the bottom, a couple of inches off the bottom, rising from the bottom like an emerger, sinking like a drowned adult, dead drift on the bottom, dead drift on the surface, on the swing, twitched or skittered, constant strips, strips and pauses, etc... get the idea? I/we could list many more types and variations of scenarios, but the point is there are quite a few other things to try before going down in tippet size and/or fly size.

By trying other types of presentations and changing your position in relationship to your target, rather than making the most common change, you will become a better fisherman because you are adding various tactics to your repertoire'.

When I'm fishing at the head of a run in moderate to heavy riffles my tippet size is at 3x to 4x for early season and off color water. I'll go down to 5x later in the season as the water warms and begins to drop, but never lower than 5x, even if the water is clear. As I work down from the head of the riffles into the run, I am at 4x and 5x, but not any lower unless the size of the fly dictates that I use 6x. If I can fit 5x through the eye, I'll go for it. Even in slow, still water I'll stick with 5x as long as I can.

Obviously if there is a hatch present and you realize your fly is too big, change, match the hatch as close as you can. If that means the tippet needs to change to accomodate the change in fly size, by all means do so.

Basically, what I am trying to say (or type for that matter) is that going down in tippet size and/or fly size should be your last resort.

~ Chip

[appalachian angl...]

SZ 22 March Brown???


uhh... NO.

AA

[JarrodRuggles]

I may not be an entomoligist but the fish liked whatever was hatchin and it was about the size of a 22 hook. There were some FOR SURE march's on the surface. The fish were hittn them too. But I managed to get more subsurface with a size 22 march borwn EMERGER. I know its small but it worked. It may not imitate the size of the bug but it was the same PATTERN.
There may have been some caddis mixed in as well. I dont know what they were i just know they were hittin em.

[JarrodRuggles]

besides this is not about what was hatchin but what size tippet is necessary. Most the places I fish, it is almost unheard of for someone to catch one on a size 5x or 4x tippet. Everyone I ever talk to uses 6-8x tippets. I'll use a 6x tippet with a bigger fly but most of the time I use 7.

[flytire]

tippet size fly size
6/5 .015 6/0-3/0
7/5 .014 5/0-2/0
8/5 .013 3/0-2
9/5 .012 2/0-2
0X .011 1/0-2
1X .010 2-8
2X .009 6-10
3X .008 6-14
4X .007 6-16
5X .006 8-18
6X .005 10-22
7X .004 14-26
8X .003 18-32

[JarrodRuggles]