Leader & Tippet Question

Good morning fellow R.O.F.F.ians......Heres wishing one and all a Safe & Happy
holiday...... My question is is there a difference in brands of leaders and
tippet i have been using SA but it seems to curl on me i use 5x with 12 14 &
16 flies so didn't think fly size was the problem..........Thanks in advance


Handyman Mike
Standing in a river waving a stick

Mike asks:
My question is is there a difference in brands of leaders and
tippet i have been using SA but it seems to curl on me i use 5x with 12 14
&
16 flies so didn't think fly size was the problem.

definitely a difference as you go through various brands. At the extremes,
Maxima and Mason have very stiff nylon, and DaiRiki and some of the other
Japanese brands are relatively soft. Usually, I make up dry fly leaders with
stiffer stuff in the butt section and limper,softer stuff for the tippet and
section right behind it.
The curling issue may be fly size in the case of bulkier size 12 and 14 on a
5x, due to wind resistance when you cast them. BTW, you do want a few soft
curves in your tippet when it lands, it delays slack a bit, but tight kinky
curls usually mean too fine a tippet pushing out too bulky a bug. Try a longer
4x tippet with the same brand and see if the problem goes away...
Tom

Great answer Tom. I was geting ready to reply in detail until I read your
response and covered it better in fewer words than I could.. One other thing I
found is that materials vary in abrasion resistance. Don't remember brand
variations except that Ande mono that I use for sal****er leaders is very
abrasion resistant.


Lou T

Greg Pavlov wrote:

On 25 Nov 2003 14:51:36 GMT, (Tom Littleton) wrote:


At the extremes,
Maxima and Mason have very stiff nylon, and DaiRiki and some of the other
Japanese brands are relatively soft.



... and Rio makes several different types, so that
"trout" is less stiff than "salmon/steelhead."


From a thread over in ROFT, tippets are a piece of equipment that have
made some dramatic and practical improvements since I started fly
fishing. The increased strength of tippet material allowed the use of
small flies to become popular. Hatches that were impractical or
frustrating to fish, now provide some great sport.


Another thing I would add is that tippet material does get weak with
age. I'm a cheap SOB but I always make sure I have fresh tippet
especially in the smaller diameters.

Willi

Tippet materials will be softer to stiffer depending on the brand and
series.

If your tippet is curling or twisting up while casting a dry fly you can do
one of three things:

Use a shorter piece of tippet

Use a heavier tippet

Find some slightly striffer tippet material

Certain dries twist up more than others too.

--
Bill Kiene

Kiene's Fly Shop
Sacramento, CA
www.kiene.com

"Mike" wrote in message
...
Good morning fellow R.O.F.F.ians......Heres wishing one and all a Safe &
Happy
holiday...... My question is is there a difference in brands of leaders
and
tippet i have been using SA but it seems to curl on me i use 5x with 12
14 &
16 flies so didn't think fly size was the problem..........Thanks in
advance


Handyman Mike
Standing in a river waving a stick

I'll respond since my dentist does not frequent this newsgroup. All I know is
that Ande is tougher to chew through than other brands.


Lou T