Leader and tippet question

[Mybad!]

Does the leader which is attatched to my flyline and tapers to a very small diameter at the end need a tippet or is that the tippet? Do I need to affix a piece of tippet or can I just tie a fly right to that piece of leader. I recently acquired fly fishing stuff for mi cumpleano and am winging it here.

[4frntmorrison]

i believe you can just tie a fly onto that, atleast thats what i've been doing, and then once that gets cut off or whenever it starts getting too thick you can tie on some tippet and then tie flies to that

[Jer]

I don't see why not, as long as you're not into really long tippets and as long as you're happy with whatever dia. your leader tapers down to. I've always used woven mono leaders and knotted leaders before that, so I'm used to tying on tippets.

[fez]

when you buy the tapered leader it will have tippet already there. you should buy some spools of tippet to match the leaders you regularly use. then when you break a fly off because you snagged the bush behind you or you lose a fish because you didnt see the wind knot in your leader, you can tie on more tippet to bring your leader back to it's original length and diameter.

once you get better and start catching fish, you should replace your tippet every few fish so you dont lose one. trout have teeth, they cut up your tippet and after a few it will break pretty easy.

[warthog]

For river and lake it is fine. When you get into big saltwater fish, you need to tie a bite tippet on. Check it after every fish for fray, cause you will lose fish and flies.

I don't normally have to worry about losing flies on snags. I use 20 lb flouro as a minimum,

[TS Quint]

I'm still a hardcore fly fishing JONG, but another advantage to the tippet as opposed to just tying the fly directly to the leader is that the fly is that much further from the fly line when it lands on the water...and if you cast as poorly as I do, it won't spook the fish as much!

[fez]

I'm still a hardcore fly fishing JONG, but another advantage to the tippet as opposed to just tying the fly directly to the leader is that the fly is that much further from the fly line when it lands on the water...and if you cast as poorly as I do, it won't spook the fish as much!

but too much tippet you will create a mismatched leader. the lighter tippet wont be able to turn over your fly. you can end up with a little pile of tippet or slack in the line near the fly. try to match your leader to your fly or the situation. smaller flies, lighter leaders.

i tend to use 9' 5-7x for regular dry fly fishing
9' 2x for things like hoppers and salmon flies or streamers on a floating line
7 1/2' 2-4x for nymphing
5' 0-1x for streamers on a sinking line

[Lumpy]

There are formulas (try www.flyfish.com) where you can ramp up the diameter of the leader just before the tippet to assist with turnover of larger flies. But alas, I'm a stupid laxy fuck who would rather tell you about it for your own research and fail at my own attempts to perfect the perfect dry-fly turnover.

My advice...get the bug where it should be in thefishes feeding lane, and mend, mend.mend (then drink from the plastic flask "labeled HOOCH" that every fisherman should have in his vest, chest pack, etc..)

Tippet, especially flourocarben, is ridiculous to buy. Get cheap berkely...unless you are going for a record it works fine.

[fez]

had a funny conversation with another guy at my favorite fishing hole
i was pulling in large trout after large trout on dry flies.
he was getting skunked.
first he asked me what fly i was using, i told him.

then he says "are you using 7x or 8x?"
i said "uh, 2x actually"
him "oh, really? maybe i should change"

he did eventually catch a fish though. i was throwing size 10 X caddis to imitate spruce moths or hoppers. both things that hit the water hard, plus the fish i was catching were 16 to 20" cuts and i didnt want to break them off. no need for delicate presentations.

[steved]

...way of sounding important..!??%*$(

........first he asked me what fly i was using, i told him.
then he says "are you using 7x or 8x?"
i said "uh, 2x actually"
him "oh, really? maybe i should change".......

...ROTFL!!

MyBad,
Added $.01 is to lengthen the section previous to the tippet a little = adds a little more stretch-ability in the lightest part of your leader....won't break off as much/many. *Of course with the latest & greatest material...might not need to do this, but it helps anywhere.