Charles Crolley wrote:

The drag seems okay (again, only in reference to playing the fish) but
if this continues I'll play with that, too.

If you're using really light tippet, set the drag to the lightest
setting that will prevent overspooling when you strip line. Play the
fish by palming the spool. (I usually do this anyway with trout, even
with heavy tippet. I can always tighten the drag after the hookup if I
want.)

On the hookset the drag shouldn't even come into play, as you mention.
However, the line is held in your left (noncasting) hand. That acts as a
"drag." Hold the line gently between your thumb and index finger. The
shock of the hookset in what's breaking your tippet. Maybe you're
gripping the line too firmly.

Another problem could be the way you're tying your knots. Tightening a
knot too quickly heats and weakens the tippet above the knot, and this
is especially true for light tippets and clinch knots (not so much with
surgeon's knots). If there is any curling of the tippet that means it's
weak and you should retie.

--
Cut "to the chase" for my email address.

Scott Seidman wrote in
. 1.4:

Charles Crolley wrote in
:

Last week, I broke off my 7x tippet at least 4 times on strikes. It
broke anywhere from just below the knot joining it to the leader, at
the hook, and other places in between. This happened with two
different spools and types (Orvis and Frog Hair) 7x. None of the
tippet is old (according to the expiration dates, at least). The
last few times I broke off, I replaced the entire tippet - but it
still broke off. (Oddly enough, I don't break off once the hook is
set.)



I've had similar problems with Frog Hair in the past. I never tracked
it down to my knots, age, improper storage, or the product itself. I
stopped using it.

I do know that the company sent me a stack of samples of their
leaders, and they came with instructions for tying a knot I don't
usually use--I think it might be the uniknot. I can't tell you why
they do this.

Scott


By way of follow up, here's the original thread.
http://groups-
beta.google.com/group/rec.outdoors.fishing.fly/browse_frm/thread/60c1ee65a4
32c594/4a2fad3a2b6bd82a?q=frog+hair+author:seidman&rnum=1 &hl=en#
4a2fad3a2b6bd82a

Charles Crolley wrote:

Slight tug - less than the BassMaster "jerk 'em into the boat"
approach, but more than just raising the rod. I should try to be less
excitable...


Kevin and Steve gave good advice on setting the hook, you have to take
it easy.

There was a tippet available a few years ago, I think it was Varias
Superstong. You might want to do a web search and see if it is still
available and buy some of the smaller diameter stuff. If I recall
correctly their 7x had the breaking point of most other makers 5X. It
was good stuff but I've not seen it lately or I would load up on it.


The drag seems okay (again, only in reference to playing the fish) but
if this continues I'll play with that, too.

As Steve said, keep it as light as it will go. There are lots of good
reels out there which will cover 95% of one's trout fishing needs for
under a $100 up to $600+. In that 5% range are those situations where
startup inertia will help increase the strain on small tippets

A 5wt Orvis Trident TLS, mid-flex.

I've not played with a mid-flex Trident in some time but i remember
them vaguely as being a little stiffer than other mid flex rods. If you
still continue to have break offs after you lessen the power on your
hook set, I would reconsider using 7X with this rod. If you like Orvis
rods, want to keep using 7x AND want an excuse to buy another rod, look
at their Superfine series of rods.

"Jonathan Cook" wrote

Otherwise you
can use your lips.

god, jon, i love it when you talk dirty.

yfitons
wayno (alright, wolfgang, that may be gonzo, but it wasn't *intentionally*
gonzo)

"Charles Crolley" wrote in
message ...

I took this sport up in October of last year, so TIA-
Charles

I hope you see what you started.

Use five x for another year, it's plenty fine.

john

Charles Crolley wrote:
I took this sport up in October of last year, so I'm still a novice -
pardon me if this is a stupid question,

Last week, I broke off my 7x tippet at least 4 times on strikes. It
broke anywhere from just below the knot joining it to the leader, at
the hook, and other places in between. This happened with two
different spools and types (Orvis and Frog Hair) 7x. None of the
tippet is old (according to the expiration dates, at least). The last
few times I broke off, I replaced the entire tippet - but it still
broke off. (Oddly enough, I don't break off once the hook is set.)

I haven't had the same problem with 6x, which leads me to believe I'm
doing something wrong. I'm still catching fish, but would prefer for
environmental/stealth reasons to go with the lighter tippet. I'm
careful in handling the tippet, and am using a surgeon's knot to
attach it to my leader.

Can anyone hazard a guess as to the flaw in my technique that might be
causing me to break off with the 7x?

The flaw is using it. Go into the light and find the 5 or 6X.
--
TL,
Tim
---------------------------
http://css.sbcma.com/timj/

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005, Charles Crolley wrote:

Last week, I broke off my 7x tippet at least 4 times on strikes. It
broke anywhere from just below the knot joining it to the leader, at
the hook, and other places in between. This happened with two
different spools and types (Orvis and Frog Hair) 7x. None of the
tippet is old (according to the expiration dates, at least). The last
few times I broke off, I replaced the entire tippet - but it still
broke off. (Oddly enough, I don't break off once the hook is set.)

I haven't had the same problem with 6x, which leads me to believe I'm
doing something wrong.

Not enough info to figure it out. Regarding breaking at the knots do you
lubricate the knots before tightening them up?

Mu

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 13:50:07 GMT, Charles Crolley
wrote:

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 08:38:25 -0500, wrote:

On Tue, 14 Jun 2005 13:19:49 GMT, Charles Crolley
wrote:



I'm reminded of the George Carlin bit about man being conceited enough
to believe that HE can take out a planet that has survived al these
billions of years with volcanoes, ice ages, asteroid strikes, and both
the Johnson and Nixon US presidencies with a pack of Pampers and a can
of Right Guard...well, he may be right, but as long as folks like you
are keeping the environment safe of things like an extra .001" of tippet
material, I think this good ol' third rock from a minor star will do
just fine...


When I used the word "environmental", it was used in the context of
describing the fishing situation - to the water being particularly low
and/or clear, or the fish being particularly spooky - not to specific
pollution/ecologic concerns I may or may not hold.

"Folks like me..."?

Pardon the confusion - folks who swoop in without reading so much as a
week or two posts before asking a recently-covered, re-covered, and to
make sure, over-covered topic...you know, morons...

Help me out since I'm new he are you normally a hot-headed gasbag?

I'm not _normally_ anything, anywhere, or at any time...are you still
beating your wife, your kids, and/or dog?


HTH,
R


It didn't.

It didn't, what?

HTH,
R

wrote:

Pardon the confusion - folks who swoop in without reading so much as a
week or two posts before asking a recently-covered, re-covered, and to
make sure, over-covered topic...you know, morons...


While it is *normal* for a seasoned usenet user to expect most folks to
lurk and reveiw past threads, if I read his headers right he is using
an sbc global account as his server. Back when I had the sbc dsl
account and used the sbc server, the amount of messages stored on the
server were relatively small and four day old posts were off the
server. Plus it was hit and miss as far as keeping all the threads.

And his question was a little different than the usual *what
brand/technique/where is the fish* post.

On Wed, 15 Jun 2005 00:37:20 -0500, wrote:


"Folks like me..."?

Pardon the confusion - folks who swoop in without reading so much as a
week or two posts before asking a recently-covered, re-covered, and to
make sure, over-covered topic...you know, morons...

As distinguished from morons who sail into a diatribe about the
ecological impact of tippet, when the question had nothing to do with
that whatsoever, simply because they see the word "environmental"?

In fact, I did view the tippet thread before I posted, and I read the
20 of the 50 or so posts that appeared there. (SBC doesn't do a great
job of keeping older posts available.) The posts I read didn't
answer my specific questions.

Others made me aware of the existence of other parts of this thread,
and I went to an alternate news server to pick up the posts SBC was
missing (particularly, there were some about tippet breaking on
strikes).

In retrospect, I should have done that before posting the question.
Mea maxima culpa. The only plausible explanation for the oversight
is that I was momentarily by your "Michael Jackson/Real News" post.
Now, THAT'S on-topic.

I'm not _normally_ anything, anywhere, or at any time...are you still
beating your wife, your kids, and/or dog?


Ooh, that's original.
Same to you, but more of it.

HTH,
R

It didn't.

It didn't, what?


In common usenet usage, HTH is the acronym for "hope this helps".
It didn't (help).

HTH,
R

It still doesn't.