Tippet Lies

[Jake Watrous]

It's not really surprising that sizes and strengths vary. Company's are there to make a profit. A little manipulation to find their market share is standard operation. Marketing and hype rule the day. Just look at the fly lines. Is it really a 6# or maybe a7#.? Well, spend another $100 to find out which one you like. Buyer beware..

No, but when people rely on a product to do what it says on the tin, it should do what it says on the tin. Marketing claims are one thing, saying something breaks at 11.9lbs when it breaks at 9.8 is crap.

Also, if I were pursuing an IGFA tippet class record, and my tippet stated it was 12lb, but it turns out to break at 16lb, then I'm not gonna qualify for the record because IGFA is gonna test my tippet and check my fish against the 15lb class.

 

[ifsteve]

Jake I guess I wasn't clear.

Lets just take RIO 4x as an example. How many different spools of that are you testing?

 

[ifsteve]

No, but when people rely on a product to do what it says on the tin, it should do what it says on the tin. Marketing claims are one thing, saying something breaks at 11.9lbs when it breaks at 9.8 is crap.

Also, if I were pursuing an IGFA tippet class record, and my tippet stated it was 12lb, but it turns out to break at 16lb, then I'm not gonna qualify for the record because IGFA is gonna test my tippet and check my fish against the 15lb class.

Never do in search of a class tippet record unless you use gauranteed rated material OR send the actual material you plan to use to IGFA for testing before you go. Then you'll know for sure.

 

[Jake Watrous]

Never do in search of a class tippet record unless you use gauranteed rated material OR send the actual material you plan to use to IGFA for testing before you go. Then you'll know for sure.

Agreed. I’ve never gone in search of a record at all, but was using that as an example of why way underselling tippet rating might be undesirable.

 

[FishingGirl]

Following. I just had half a dozen flies break off mid-tippet yesterday and would love to read the results when available. Thank you for doing this!

 

[Evan B]

When I’m done, yeah. But for the moment I’m beholden to the folks who supplied me with/helped me get my hands on dozens of spools of tippet.

maybe we should put it up as an article

 

[Jake Watrous]

Never do in search of a class tippet record unless you use gauranteed rated material OR send the actual material you plan to use to IGFA for testing before you go. Then you'll know for sure.

Perhaps, but what if a person is fishing what they think is 5lb, catches a whopper of a fish, sends it in, and learns that they were fishing with 7lb? It'd probably be a frustrating experience that can be fairly easily avoided.

 

[Jake Watrous]

Jake I guess I wasn't clear.

Lets just take RIO 4x as an example. How many different spools of that are you testing?

So far, four different "flavors" of RIO 4x.

 

[Jake Watrous]

Following. I just had half a dozen flies break off mid-tippet yesterday and would love to read the results when available. Thank you for doing this!

You're welcome. I've been there, which was part of the genesis for the whole undertaking.

 

[SurfnFish]

Tippet Shootout

Our renown Yellowstone Angler "shootouts" directly compare similar fly rods against each other. See how we've ranked today's most popular fly rods.

www.yellowstoneangler.com

 

[Jake Watrous]

Tippet Shootout

Our renown Yellowstone Angler "shootouts" directly compare similar fly rods against each other. See how we've ranked today's most popular fly rods.

www.yellowstoneangler.com

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Yep, it’ll be something like that, but not 11 years old. Some data may be similar, though, as not everything has changed and perhaps some of the same folks are involved this time as well.

 

[DerekWhipple]

Tippet Shootout

Our renown Yellowstone Angler "shootouts" directly compare similar fly rods against each other. See how we've ranked today's most popular fly rods.

www.yellowstoneangler.com

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Trout Hunter scored maximum points for tippet spool design? Not gonna trust that shootout!

 

[SurfnFish]

plenty of info out there...here's a 2021 article

How the IGFA Tests Tippet Strength - Fly Fisherman

Here's what goes into testing tippet strengths and how you can decide which best suits your fishing needs.

www.flyfisherman.com

 

[Jake Watrous]

plenty of info out there...here's a 2021 article

How the IGFA Tests Tippet Strength - Fly Fisherman

Here's what goes into testing tippet strengths and how you can decide which best suits your fishing needs.

www.flyfisherman.com

Putting you on research next time.

There are some other ones out there, but those two were some of the best I’d seen, too.

 

[CougarZeke]

Jake- how did your results turn out?

 

[Reel fun]

Lemme guess, Rio was ovehyped and under delivered. At least their "strong" fluoro does for me.

I've used rio fluro flex plus in 2x ( they call it something else now) for years now and always thought it was pretty good stuff. What do you like?

 

[iveofione]

For years I have miked every spool of tippet I buy and written the actual diameter on the spool. My number seldom matches what is printed on the spool. And, yes Virginia, .0005 does make a difference. Calipers usually only read in .001 increments whereas micrometers read in .0001 increments, lots of room for error there.

 

[SurfnFish]

having tried a bunch, fave remains Blue Label and STS from Seaguar, the only FC manufacturer that builds FC in the same factory from raw material to finished product, the others outsourcing the resins they spin up.

 

[Stonedfish]

A lot of the stuff I fish, I don’t think diameter really matters. That is to both me and the fish.
Some fish just aren’t really leader shy, so if you want to use 20 lb test for SRC, go for it. You’ll still catch fish.
SF