what tippet do you use in the park

[millerdvr]

On small waters like in the park I see no need to ever get ahead of myself, I mostly use a 3 wt rod with 4 weight fly line so the heaviest tippet I ever use is a #6.

The fish in the park are not the biggest but I still like a good challenge and catching fish on the light tackle is what makes fishing a "sport" to me. You could land a lake trout on a #3 tippet so I see no need for heavy tackle in the park to land a 6" trout.

[JoelO]

I generally stay in the range of 5x to 6x since those match the size of the flies I throw.

I'm more curious as to whether everyone regularly use flouro or mono tippet. Mono tippet is tons cheaper but it doesn't vanish in water like flouro does.

Other comments about the two I found elsewhere:

These two lines are totally different. Fluoro has the index as water (1.1) ,it's more abrasion resistant than mono. It has very little strech, where as mono streches 30%.
It is not for top waters, due to it sinks and mono floats. Fluoro is a much smaller dia.

Since I fish the Caney on a regular basis and I'm dropping midges and small flies I use flouro most of the time. Do you alter your tippet (flouro vs mono) if you're fishing midges on the Soho vs throwing a dry/dropper tandem in the park or do you think it doesn't matter?

[3wt]

Someone told me that flouro sinking is not a bad thing for dries because it wont cast a shadow under the water. Mono floating on top casts a big shadow and can spook fish in slower glassy pools.

[kentuckytroutbum]

Originally Posted by flyman

I think sometimes I see too much attention being paid strickly to tippet size. There is a correlation between tippet size and fly size that I use to help determine what size tippet I am going to use. A large wind resistant size 6 hopper pattern calls for a different tippet than a sparsely tied size 20 BWO. Too fine a tippet will make turning over a large wind resistant fly with a dropper difficult. Conversely a tippet that is too heavy will appear thick and unnatural on a small fly. I do use 4 and 5X most of the time in the park, but it's because it falls within the range of the size flies I am fishing. I will often use material as heavy 2X and as light as 6X. You can not simply just tie one size material on for a tippet every time you fish under every condition, there is no one size fits all. There is some leeway, but try to keep in mind the correlation between tippet and fly size.

http://www.orvis.com/intro.aspx?subject=2202&csc=true

Flyman-
I agree with you that there is a correlation between fly size, and tippet size. I am familiar with Orvis' recommendation for selecting a tippet size.

I take the size of the fly hook that I'm going to fling, divide by 4, and add 1. For example, take a size 16 hook, divide by 4, and add 1, and that tells me to use a 4X or 5X tippet. If its windy, or I'm going to add a dropper, I would go with a 4X. Just a rule of thumb for me.

Its strange in that when I was starting out, no one explained this correlation. I was using 1X or 2X because I thought I needed the line strength. No wonder the fly didn't turn over, or I got horrendous tangles.

[ChemEAngler]

Gotta go with the 2X. Gotta have the abrasion resistance along with a stiff 8-wt when I am in the mood for some otter snaggin'.



Sorry, couldn't help it.

Usually use 5X fluoro, except in drought conditions like a couple years ago.

[ifish4wildtrout]

I pretty much always use 5x fluoro, sometimes 6x.

When I first started out I knew nothing about tippet and leaders. I was using a 9 foot piece of 17lb mono tied to my fly line. Needless to say, it did not work out very well.

[silvercreek]

5x for trout. 0x for tubers.

[lwflyrod]

I primarily use 5x and it is one of my favorite. mainly because I use flys ranging from 8-14 and it works well, for both GSMNP and SNP along with up in the poconos (where I learned to flyfish 29 some years ago).
It is also a little more forgiving when you get hung in a tree.
however, I move to a 6x or 7x when I fish the smaller flys like 18-22 mainly to get the tippet through the eye and so it give no chance of weight or unnatural drift. plus it makes to not horse the fish if you a bigger one on.
4x and 2x for heavier streamers with weight.