Understand the Importance of Tippets When Fly Fishing

Video Transcript

"Hi! I’m Jim Dowdy with Zoar Outdoor. I’m here on behalf of expertvillage.com to talk with you about fly casting and fly fishing. Over the course of your fishing and casting, you will begin to use the end of your leader and cut it back as you change flies as it gets worn and it will be necessary to replace that end. The replacement that you put on is called a tippet. So at offset when you are beginning to fly fish, it is a good idea to start with a 7 ½ foot leader going to a 3X end. Buy a spool of 3X tippet which is the same size as the end of your leader; and in a little while we will show you a knot that will use to make connection between the two. In addition, buy 1 more size of tippet which is a little bit smaller by 2/1000. It’s called a 5X. Generally speaking the larger the fly you use, the heaver the tippet should be. If you are in a situation for example where trout are reading a certain kind of May fly, and you can match it with a size 12 fly, you can determine the tippet size by determining the fly size dividing it by 4 and adding 1. So 12 divided by 4 is 3, add 1 and a 4X tippet would be about right for a size 12. On the other hand if you are fishing a big streamer, the heaver tippet would work. Say a size 4 divide by 4, you got 1, add 1, a 2X tippet would work fine. So that is a good guideline. Out the outset though, just get a couple of spools of tippet. First one the same size as the end of your leader, and the next one 2/1000 smaller, and that would serve you very well. "