# Tippet Material 100% Fluorocarbon



## Dillusion (May 21, 2012)

> Wondering if a spool of 20lb 100% fluorocarbon that I got at Wally world is good tippet material?  I don't want to buy those pre-made expensive stuff.


You need to tie in other weights of material, not just 20


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## Bissell (Feb 27, 2010)

I use the cheapest stuff I can find, I've never had a problem. Just know your knots


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## JBMitziSkiff (Nov 2, 2012)

> > Wondering if a spool of 20lb 100% fluorocarbon that I got at Wally world is good tippet material?  I don't want to buy those pre-made expensive stuff.
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I use to tie in a shocker and then the tippet material. Then one day I didn't have any except tippet and from then on been tying in just that. I have landed 25 lb reds 3-5 lbs speckle trout and an occasional flounder with no issues. I can see why on a Tarpon but never had to on any thing else. What do you tie in Mattyvac


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## Dillusion (May 21, 2012)

> > > Wondering if a spool of 20lb 100% fluorocarbon that I got at Wally world is good tippet material?  I don't want to buy those pre-made expensive stuff.
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When I was 12 years old I used to catch fish on fly with a 10wt eagle claw rod, with 6wt line, and green ande 8lb mono as the tippet. Doesn't mean you should keep doing it... 

There is a 'proper' way to tie leaders, much of it is personal preference and depends on what weight line you are using.

For 6-8wt lines I like to use 30lb-20lb-14lb, for 9-10wt I use 40lb-30lb-20lb. I also add bite tippet of 30lbs if I am snook or tarpon fishing.

I dont tie my leaders as a science like some do, so I just use about a middle-of-chest to top of finger span of each lb test fluoro and go from there.


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## JBMitziSkiff (Nov 2, 2012)

> > > > Wondering if a spool of 20lb 100% fluorocarbon that I got at Wally world is good tippet material?  I don't want to buy those pre-made expensive stuff.
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hmmm well my 8wt Ticrx I use 8wt Floating and tie 30lb to 20 tippet and have always done it that way.

Now I just got a new Redington Link 7wt 10 ft with Allen Kraken #3 which is there 7-9wt reel and I am putting Intermediate 7wt line to 30lb - 20 lb tippet.  Not sure if its right, but that what I have always done in the past.

I too learned at age 7 on an eagle claw "wright and McGill" 9wt with a mitchell fly reel and still have it to this day..  But never would I use Ande Green! lol


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## bw510 (Sep 1, 2011)

You can still catch fish with straight 20lb but your gonna lose Accuracy without tapering it from heavier to light line which helps it turn over


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## JBMitziSkiff (Nov 2, 2012)

> You can still catch fish with straight 20lb but your gonna lose Accuracy without tapering it from heavier to light line which helps it turn over


That's what I was trying to understand.. I assumed that was the issue with why my line wouldn't turn the loop over to good. Now I know why! 
Thanks guys!


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## natasha1 (Jul 27, 2009)

Straight 20 is fine. More about casting technique then anything.  As far as quality, I like ande floro the best.  Never lets me down...


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## TidewateR (Nov 11, 2009)

I agree that tapered leaders help. I usually just buy a few 20lb tapered flouro leaders. As the end of the line gets shorter from changing flies/retying, I will tie on 20lb flouro "tippet" which is usually seagar or something. I use my 9' fly rod to measure out my 9' leaders. Building your own leaders with 40lb-30lb-20lb for example, is definitely a cheaper route, but each knot is another element to snag grass algae etc...so I usually stick to premade seamless tapered leaders

When using topwater, I find that the flouro negatively affects my fly by slowly making it sink which I find annoying....so I keep mono on board for topwater.


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## bugslinger (Jun 4, 2012)

My personal "recipe" for a redfish leader on 8wt is 6' of 30#, followed by 3-4' of 12# all flouro, and I have never had any issues.


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## amc139 (May 9, 2013)

For those who are making their own leaders, what type of knots/loops are you using for each segment down to the tippet and the fly?
Thanks in advance, New to fly fishing, still practicing in the grass :'(


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## Samsamoyed (Apr 13, 2013)

I've been using 20# regular Seaguar fluoro for heavier tippets for years and it works fine. Most of my leaders are two-stage or three-stage loop-to-loop with Trilene big Game in the butt sections. Always a Bimini in the tippet section with a non-slip mono loop to attach the fly. Either Biminis or surgeon's loops in the butt sections - as long as your tippet is the weak link, it doesn't really matter. Just be aware that a Bimini is stronger than a surgeon's loop, and if it's tied correctly, it won't fail. Whatever knots you use, it's absolutely essential that you learn to tie them properly. The fish that destroys a sloppy leader is not gonna be a small one.


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## hawaiifly (May 28, 2011)

For bones I usually use Ande 40,30,20 tied together with blood knots seaguar g max tippet with a improved blood knot. The g max seems like it works the best.


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## Shadowcast (Feb 26, 2008)

> Wondering if a spool of 20lb 100% fluorocarbon that I got at Wally world is good tippet material?  I don't want to buy those pre-made expensive stuff.


If it's Berkeley Vanish....then yes it's good. Been using it for years.


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## jlb05f15 (Apr 4, 2012)

For technical fishing; tailing reds, perms, bones, ect..., I would use a tapered leader system whether bought or custom. This might be frowned on by some but I have had no issues with accuracy or "castability" when using straight 20lb or 30lb for certain applications with an 8wt. (Dock Snook, beach snook, baby poons, bonito...) And for tarpon, I am over tying biminis and huffnagles!! I just attach 8ft of 50-60lb mason with a blood knot to 6ft of 40-80lb seaguar fluorocarbon. I'll even go straight 40lb fluoro to see if I can just get a bite sometimes with poons.


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## JBMitziSkiff (Nov 2, 2012)

> > Wondering if a spool of 20lb 100% fluorocarbon that I got at Wally world is good tippet material?  I don't want to buy those pre-made expensive stuff.
> 
> 
> If it's Berkeley Vanish....then yes it's good. Been using it for years.


That's the stuff.. I like it and I can say from this weekend tying in 40, 30 , 20 with blood knots It actually does work better as far as laying the line over. I closed my loops in a bit and love my new Redington Link 7wt 10' rod with my new Allen Kraken #3 7-9 wt reel. It is an awesome wade fishing combination!


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## landlord2401 (Feb 19, 2013)

The fluorocarbon has its good and bad. As far as whether it is visible in the water is good. Depending on what type of fishing your are doing needs to be considered. Fluorocarbon will sink faster than mono. Fluorocarbon seems to be stiffer and harder. It handles abrasions better than mono. When designing a leader we need to consider the weight of the fly. In order to turn over a near weightless fly with a soft presentation we very much need to taper our leader to turn over properly and spend all of the energy before it gets to the fly and allowing it to present softly. If we are presenting a heavy fly we can get by with a straight leader. The straight leader will send the energy all the way to the fly. It is that energy transfere that turns over the heavy fly. As much engineering as goes into fly line design can go into our leader design. We need the proper line and the leader is a continuation of our fly line. We can get the job done with any line type we can get to the fish. The physics of the cast is very interesting to me. But it's just fishing.


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## CurtisWright (May 9, 2012)

Flourocarbon works great for all flies except top waters. It will sink them.

I use pre made tippits and sometimes just strraight 20lb seagar


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