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,

If you look back at past threads there is one on small tippets, people
fly fishing 20+ years can't agree on it.


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?

I prefer Frog Hair to Orvis tippet tho I perceive the Orvis to be a
little stronger, i think it has less *stretch* than the Frog Hair.

7x tippet is fine and very easy to bust off. Without seeing you break
it, how *hard* are you setting the hook? Are you tugging to set it or
are you just kind of raising the rod and tightening the line? Tugging
too hard, especially with a fast action rod and a reel with the drag
set too tight is a prescription for popping the tippet.

What position are you placing the rod when trying to play the fish?
Overhead in the traditional "Orvis" pose or otherwise straight up tends
to put more pressure then playing the rod off to the side.

How is the drag on your reel set? If there is a lot of start up inertia
when the line gets pulled off there may be too much pressure there.

And Lastly, what kind of rod are you using when fishing this tippet?
Again, IMO, it is tougher to fish small tippets with a fast action rod
than it is with a moderate action rod, because the moderate action rod
tends to absorb some of the energy across the entire rod where as the
faster action rods don't flex as much, too much energy stays in the tip
section. It may just be that 6X is the limit to your tackle. If the rod
is a Sage SP+ or a T&T Horizon I would say 6X is stretching it.

My thoughts, others will disagree.

Wayne