I have been plagued this year with losing “that trophy fish”. I don’t mind when a fish spits a hook, that’s just part of fishing. These all had to do with bad knots and weak tippet. It’s come to the point where it’s driving me crazy, and I also hate the fact there is trout swimming around with my hook still in its mouth.
I used clinch and improved clinch for a long time but they would slip on me, and I’m not a fan of leaving alot of tag end. This led me to converting to a 16/20 knot, which Im liking so far. After my last encounter with a what looked to be a 22+ inch bow yesterday that broke off I’ve decided the new problem is the tippet. As the knot was still attached to my line. I fish a place that has very picky fish, size 22-24 flies on 5,6 and even 7x are a normal thing. Im currently using SA 5x trout fluoro.
Should I just drop down to 4x or is there some other tippets I should try? I have heard good things about Cortland. I have never fished 4X, as it seems too stiff and unnatural with these small flies, but maybe it won’t make as much difference as I think. Appreciate any guidance! Thanks!
Posted by PositiveHot3610
12 Comments
Cortland Premium Tippet is your best friend for having a lot of strength. It cost more but all but 7x it is great. 7X Cortland crincles and is a mess after 3 or more fish.
I got annoyed with tippet, it was always weak, tons of wind knots, always got damaged, and etc. I switched to off the Walmart shelf 4lb Trout SOS line and its been great. Solved all the annoying issues I had with tippet, saves money, and I haven’t noticed any difference at all in the water throwing dries, indicator rigs, dry droppers, streamers and etc. I also only use clinch knots with it w/o any issues along with a small tippet ring from my leader.
Have a look at the Davy knot. Easy to tie and easy to get seated properly and see that it’s seated properly.
I use 5x for everything except streamers, but even then I have used it when feeling lazy. I fish pretty tiny flies on the San Juan too. What weight is your rod? If you’re using a reel with drag check that; gotta let them run. Also try not to let them run down stream from you.
on certain streams I go down to 6x and 7x, clear water, small flies, picky fish. I use SA Absolute Fluorocarbon Trout Supreme or Cortland Supreme and I check my knots with some solid tugs before fishing
I lost 2 really nice fish recently on SA 6x and have since switched to Trout Hunter 6x. No issues so far and have landed some nice ones. Using the same tippet and nymph I tied up a couple weeks ago and it still hasn’t broke yet.
I’ve tried a bunch of different tippet brands. My favorite so far is Soldarini.
Maybe user error. Have caught 20+ inch fish on 6x and never slipped a clinch. How aggressively are you fighting these fish lol
Did the tippet fail at the fly or where it attaches to the leader?
I run the SA 5x trout supreme flouro with dry flies for stealth. Never had it rip besides coming undone on a tippet ring or tying a bad knot when joining with mono.
On the other hand, I’ve gotten my rio 5x power flex plus stuck in an area too dangerous I couldn’t physically get into go and figured why not pull to see how strong it was. I tugged the life out of it and it wouldn’t snap. Had to end up cutting it.
If you want the best in the game as far as tensile strength & knot strength, look into Sroft. The GMT is mono & the FC1 is fluoro, they also released the ABR which is an abrasion resistant tempered mono. There have been many test and reviews done on this brand, and it always comes out on top.
Here’s one test/review: https://www.tridentflyfishing.com/blogs/all/the-ultimate-tippet-shootout-5x
I use Scientific Anglers tippet. Most of my tippet after my leader is usually 5x FC. I usually have a hopper up on the lead, then I’ll tie 6x FC to the hook of the hopper and put my dropper on it. I actually don’t remember the last time I filled up on 4x or bigger tippet. I’ll tie anything from 18 and smaller on 6x, then 5x on stuff bigger. If I’m usually a really meaty lead fly, I may use 4x then.
When I was newer, I would have flies break off because of a bad knot not infrequently with my clinch knots. It came down to 2 things- 1, I wasn’t doing a good enough job in clamping down and pulling the tag tight enough on a wetted knot/line. And 2, I was probably cutting the tag too short giving absolutely no room for any more slippage that’s just going to happen in a few casts or when the first fish grabs it.
A mm or 2 of a tag isn’t going to do anything, especially with fluorocarbon. Fish are dumb. They don’t sit there and inspect knots or flies like people think.
Longer tags are more of a problem for preventing your fly from sinking quick enough than messing with the silhouette of your fly (because they won’t see the tippet anyways).
I use clinch knots. I’ve found no difference with “improved” ones. I think tests have shown as well they make virtually no real world difference either. Something like the tippet itself will fail before a non-improved knot will fail when tied right and not clipping the tag right against the knot as people want to do so their instagram photos look the best.
I’ve pulled in quite a few big fellas on 6x. I pulled in a huge landlocked salmon on 6x that couldn’t stop jumping. I euro fish probably 25% of the time, which you really only use tippet like that. It’s plenty strong.
I only use 4x (or bigger) when I am throwing streamers.
But if you’re having trouble breaking your tippet with 5x or 6x FC while trying to land most river trout, you need to work on landing the fish. I once heard, “if you fight your fish to land them and you don’t work with them, you’re doing it wrong”. Basically landing a trout isn’t about brute force or speed like you’re trying to reel in a marlin on steel braided line. Yes you want to do it quickly so they don’t get stressed too long. But you need technique to finesse them to calm waters to swim over close enough to scoop them up easily in your net. That was also something I had to figure out – you can’t just buy different material to fix the problem… you need to fix your skill problem.
If you’re suddenly seeing your tippet breaking easily, that’s more to do with having old/bad tippet. It happens unfortunately. It’s why you don’t buy more tippet than you need for a season as it doesn’t last forever. Personally I give my tippet a solid tug once I cut it off the spool. Again, you’ll get a feel for how hard you can tug before it breaks just because you tugged too hard, or whether it’s breaking because it’s too old or degraded.
Umpqua flouro is my go to after trying SA, Cortland, Rio and a few other randos. I fish typically 130-150 days or so a year and I just have less issues with it over any I’ve tried. I use standard old school knots and rigs. I use 6x when I’m fishing personally and 5 for clients and I’ve seen it hold up through some real bad technique.
Trout hunter if not Umpqua.