# Class Tippet material for Tarpon Leader



## Uno (Sep 9, 2010)

Hi All,

What material (Mason Hard Mono, Fluorocarbon, or Mono) do you use for your class tippet material on your Tarpon leaders?


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Uno said:


> Hi All,
> 
> What material (Mason Hard Mono, Fluorocarbon, or Mono) do you use for your class tippet material on your Tarpon leaders?


Uno, I strickly use fluorocarbon for tippets cause it's stealthiness and abrasion resistance. Plus, it's stiffer than mono, which aids just a bit more to turn over flies.

To answer your direct question, I'll use 15lb-16lb for small juvi poons. and normally 20lbs for larger tarpon.

Here's some additional info about the subject we were just discussing.

http://www.microskiff.com/threads/backing-for-tarpon-reel.36837/page-2#post-296811

If you do a search on this fly fishing board, you can see others respond about "tarpon tippets."

Ted


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## coconutgroves (Sep 23, 2013)

At this point, tarpon leader recommendations should be a sticky post on this board. Has to be a top 5 recurring post.


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## Capt. Eli Whidden (Jun 7, 2012)

coconutgroves said:


> At this point, tarpon leader recommendations should be a sticky post on this board. Has to be a top 5 recurring post.


Probably because Tarpon season will be in full swing in a few weeks!


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## coconutgroves (Sep 23, 2013)

It doesn't pick up June here in TX, but I am off to Belize in April to chase them!


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## ifsteve (Jul 1, 2010)

I am with Ted. I use fluorocarbon for my tippets. In fact I use flourocarbon almost 100% of the time anymore. About the only thing I don't use flouro for is for dry flies or salmon in off color water.


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## Uno (Sep 9, 2010)

Thanks guys...I picked some 15 lb and 20 lb fluorocarbon today to finish my leaders.

Capt. Eli - I will have all kinds of goodies when I come down.


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## Dpreston (Oct 16, 2015)

16# or 20# Mason...transfers the leader's energy and turns over best due to it's larger diameter and stiffness, especially when casting into heavy wind on the oceanside. Also keep in mind florocarbon sinks, so in the interest of keeping everything high and happy where the poon likes it, I personally try to avoid floro in overall tarpon leader construction with the exception of bite tippet. And in muddy Everglades water you could probably save the $ going all-mono to the fly.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Dpreston said:


> 16# or 20# Mason...transfers the leader's energy and turns over best due to it's larger diameter and stiffness, especially when casting into heavy wind on the oceanside. Also keep in mind florocarbon sinks, so in the interest of keeping everything high and happy where the poon likes it, I personally try to avoid floro in overall tarpon leader construction with the exception of bite tippet. And in muddy Everglades water you could probably save the $ going all-mono to the fly.



What area do you live and fish?

No matter what I use for the butt section of the leader, weather fishing high with mono, a floating fly line and a top water fly, or low with an intermediate and fluoro butt leader and sub surface fly, I'll always use fluorocarbon for the class tippet and bite leader. For tarpon, I don't care if I'm fishing in a mud hole.... that's a part of the puzzle where I wouldn't skimp on, mainly for stealth and abrasion resistance.


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## Dpreston (Oct 16, 2015)

South FL - fish Biscayne Bay, Keys, and Everglades. I'm sure your setup works just fine, especially if you're not having to cast up the anchor line and turn the fly over into a 20k+ east wind in early May off Islamorada, which most aren't. At the end of the day the best system is the one that you are the most comfortable with and have the most confidence in. Just my personal opinion that the casting advantages of Mason outweigh the floro advantages you mention. But that's definitely more important in a windy oceanside setting. And I could be completely wrong, it's just what works for me. Different strokes.


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## sjrobin (Jul 13, 2015)

I think some of the early fluoros would hinge. I agree with Ted on the fluoro bite and tippet as long as the tippet doesn't hinge too much. I think the best casting leaders are an extension of the fly line and should have close to the same flexibility as the fly line. When I try a new fly line or fluoro I experiment some before I decide on the best combo of mono and fluoro for the fly line. I have not used it on fish yet but the Airflo Ridge clear tip cast well and you might be able to go to a eight or ten ft leader for windy clear water.


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Dpreston, it's always windy around the mouths of all the main bays, bridges and passes on the Gulf side, contrary to popular believe. It's where I do most of my poon fly fishing. Even in the Keys, on both sides (or at lease, whenever I hit it anyways). The only relief I get is when I'm staged up on a sheltered beach on a calm morning on the left coast or deep in a river or in the inside Glades. then the east breeze is on my back. I also stage up with an anchor and throw rope at times. Yes, that can be no fun.

We have a lot of picky fish over here that get hammered, especially out on the beaches and will eyeball and study a fly and what's dragging it before it decides weather it's gonna eat it or not. Aside from the right fly, stealth is the 2nd most important thing over here. It's not uncommon for me to throw a 10 to 13ft leader system on clear lines with the tippets being up to 3ft long (not saying I recommend it or always do that). Like sjrobin, I'm not crazy about hinging tippets, but with the tapers I build in the butt leader, it helps to turn them over. Plus the fluoros I use are generally stiffer then some of the fluoros out there. Remember, even if your tippet collapses on itself, you are leading the fish and had thrown beyond their path and have a little time to get that fly moving and recover. If your trying to ding them on the nose, then at lease over here, you'll spook them.

I don't mind mason in the butt section of the leader, especially throwing around and under mangroves, but not the tippets and leader. At least over here, I've compared them all (tippet materials), back in the late 90's and have found I get more eats with fluoro as opposed to the other two. I guess maybe I need to start coming over on your side.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

I use nothing but hard Mason for my tarpon tippets -they're spliced to fluorocarbon bite tippets. Both have the same single characteristic... No matter how curled or kinked up, they both straighten out immediately when pulled tight and held that way for a moment. Using hard Mason means you'll never need a fly stretcher
again...

The butt sections for all of my fly lines are permanently attached, and are Ande mono -mostly... Tippet and butt sections are loop to loop joined for quick changes day or night...


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## mturner560 (Mar 13, 2014)

What knot do you like for the mason 20# to flour 60 or 80 # bite tippet?


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## Blue Zone (Oct 22, 2011)

lemaymiami said:


> I use nothing but hard Mason for my tarpon tippets -they're spliced to fluorocarbon bite tippets. Both have the same single characteristic... No matter how curled or kinked up, they both straighten out immediately when pulled tight and held that way for a moment. Using hard Mason means you'll never need a fly stretcher
> again...
> 
> The butt sections for all of my fly lines are permanently attached, and are Ande mono -mostly... Tippet and butt sections are loop to loop joined for quick changes day or night...


What's the difference between Mason and say Ande mono? Aren't they both mono?


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Blue Zone said:


> What's the difference between Mason and say Ande mono? Aren't they both mono?


Mason is a harder and stiffer material than Andy mono or any mono for that matter. Mason also has a much better abrasion resistant than mono. It doesn't float as high as mono but floats where fluorocarbon sinks. Mason is a little stiffer than fluorocarbon, but doesn't refract light out of it, therefore mason can be seen more underwater than fluorocarbon. I think mason has a slight edge to abrasion resistance than fluorocarbon. Mono stretches more than mason and fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbon cost a lot more than the other 2 lines, but it's stealthier. That's why I use it.


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## Blue Zone (Oct 22, 2011)

Backwater said:


> Mason is a harder and stiffer material than Andy mono or any mono for that matter. Mason also has a much better abrasion resistant than mono. It doesn't float as high as mono but floats where fluorocarbon sinks. Mason is a little stiffer than fluorocarbon, but doesn't refract light out of it, therefore mason can be see more underwater than fluorocarbon. I think mason has a slight edge to abrasion resistance than fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbon cost a lot more than the other 2 lines.


Thanks Ted, 
Got it; mono on viagra.


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## Dpreston (Oct 16, 2015)

Thanks Backwater, I appreciate the knowledge. What brand floro do you find to turn over the best in the 16-20# class?


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## Backwater (Dec 14, 2014)

Dpreston said:


> Thanks Backwater, I appreciate the knowledge. What brand floro do you find to turn over the best in the 16-20# class?


Dpreston, go to Walmart and look in the fishing isle. They are carrying "Tsunami Pro Crystal Clear 100% Flurocarbon Leader." A 25yrd spool of 20lb is $9.99. Buy it and try it. If you like it then you can search from there.








I'm not saying this stuff is the best. I'm just saying it's somewhat stiff, easy to pick up and cheap enough. There are others that are better, but it's more work to order, etc. But if you like using it, then you can look into others.

We recently had a thread on fluorocarbon leader materials. One thing to remember is not to buy fluorocarbon fishing line or fluorocarbon coated mono core. Both of those are soft and not as stiff as 100% fluorocarbon leader materials. I also like the bigger spools due to memory issues.


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## lemaymiami (Feb 9, 2007)

Need to add a few notes to my last post.... For leader butt sections that are permanently spliced to my heavier fly lines.... they're a bit longer than you might imagine. I'm using 6' of 60lb mono for a 12 wt, 5 1/2' of 60lb for an 11 wt, and 5' of 50lb mono for a 10wt.... Those longer butt sections are the real trick to turning over big, bushy flies that might be as much as seven inches long...

Mason Hard mono is in fact just another monofilament - but it's got some different characteristics than most currently available mono lines.... It's noticeably thicker in a given size range than other monofilament lines, and also stiffer.... I don't think it was something they planned on using since years and years ago the cheapest mono lines were very similar. I think that it survived because tournament anglers found that it met their needs. I do remember that one tournament down in Islamorada not only required the Hard Mason - but also gave each participant a 100 yard spool of the stuff..... Over the years I've occasionally filled orders for shops that wanted tournament leaders. The very first order was for Hard Mason spliced to 110lb Maxima shock tippets - 100 of them in pairs, joined by a double length of Maxima - then loop to loop connected in a continuous chain (each leader had two Bimini Twists, a Hufnagle for the shock tippet to doubled tippet and a Surgeon's loop for the bitter end. I had to buy a batter's glove for my strong hand (and it was still sore a week later).... Here's a pic of a standard doubled pair of tarpon leaders as described above....


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