Fly Fishing - "Switch" Fly Fishing Rods

steelhd32

Rio introduced a new braided tippet material this year that seems to be just the thing for big, selective fish. http://www.rioproducts.com/product.php?fmCategory=5 Its super strong (5x is 10 lb, and 4x is 15 lb), which makes me think it could be perfect for Steelheads. I was forced to go to 4x to get any takes recently, but high water made them nearly impossible to land. So the Extreme Tippet material caught my eye. It's Black instead of clear, though, and I saw a reviewer that claimed that knot strenght wasn't up to snuff. Has anyone had any experience with it?

Thanks,

Jim Ray

kory_k · Location: New York, NY

Jim,
I have a spool of the 4X extreme tippet that I received as a sample and have played around with a little but not extensively. I haven't actually fished with it yet, but will try it soon and report back. This is just based on me tying a few knots with it and checking out its consistency.
The material is very strong for its diameter 4X is rated at 15 lb. But, the material is completely different than monofilament or fluorocarbon. 1st of all it is black as you said, so in situations where selective fish are involved I don't think it has as much of a role. That said, in deeper water, lower light conditions or faster water I think that the fish probably wouldn't notice as much. How many of us have actually tried a black colored tippet? Maybe as it gets into deeper water it actually blends in. I know as depth increases, the color spectrum decreases...hmmm
Another consideration is the consistency. The extreme tippet is a braid and is very close to the same thing as gel spun backing (it may actually be the same material, not sure). It is very soft and supple as opposed to mono or fluoro that is much stiffer (sure there are softer and stiffer versions of these, but this stuff is like thread; almost no stiffness whatsoever). You probably couldn't use a very long piece of it because of this, it also would probably not turn over a fly nearly as well. In addition, it may tangle a little easier as it could wrap around itself.
Finally because of its consistency, the knots need to be tied with extra wraps. In fact I plan to try some different knots on the material to see what holds best. Like gel spun, if you don't use enough wraps the knot can actually slip until it completely unties. If you get the knot right however it is almost impossible to break and very difficult to even cut with nippers or scissors.

Bottom line, I think it has applications in certain scenarios (streamers, big dries or other scenarios where tippet visibility is not as important) but not necessarily as a substitute for the same diameter mono or fluoro.

I will be on the Salmon for the next 3 days and am going to try it out. I will let you know how it goes.
-Kory

steelhd32 · Posted: Sun 11/30/08 7:12 pm Post subject: Gone Extreme Tippet testing

Kory:

I'm headed to the river myself Tuesday to Friday to do some testing. I'll post a report on its application to Steelhead fishing and its knot strength on big fish - I hope.

Jim

steelhd32 · Posted: Mon 12/08/08 7:43 pm Post subject: Rio Extreme Tippet Tested

Well, I took a quick trip to the Salmon last week and tested Rio's new Extreme tippet. In a nutshell, I like it... so far.

First, it has a very slick finish to it - like gelspun, which is what it is made from, I believe. Second, it has virtually no "body" or stiffness. This makes tieing knots more difficult for me because it is more difficult to get a tag end to go where you want it to, but I think the suppleness is probably is an asset in the water as it allows a more natural drift. Third, it is black in color. I don't know whether this hurts or helps performance. When I dropped the fly in the water the tippet virtually disappeared. I tried the same test with Fluoro, and had essentially the same result. I'd guess that things like split shot (does anyone know the trick to getting tin shot to oxidize? Muriatic acid maybe?) and swivels are more noticeable from the fishe's perspective, but I could be wrong. Fourth, Rio suggests using a non-slip mono loop, which I used successfully, but I also tried an Orvis tippet knot, which also worked. I did land a nice hot, 29" hen, so the knot strength was adequate, or I was lucky. Overall, I like the product, and will probabply do some off-stream testing to determine which knots work best for me. Hope to do some more on stream testing soon as well!

Jim Ray