Fly tippets as leader material for casting reels?

[Joshua Vandamm]

Is there any concern about using fly tippet material as your leader in front of braid on spinning or bait casting gear?

 

I'm considering using the 4X (6.4LB) RIO Powerflex on my ML spinning setup for various applications (weightless worms, small poppers etc...maybe dropshot?). It seems better than regular line. People say its the same as any mono or flouro but really its a hybrid.

 I have some of the Powerflex, and its mono with a teflon based flouro coating.  Extremely strong for its size, yet abrasion resistant and good knot strength as well as suppleness.  I'm impressed with it tbh (just by examining it. haven't used on the water yet).

 

Thanks!

[TylerT123]

Your wallet might become as thin as the tippet 

 

I think that’s giving the fish too much credit, they don’t care what line you use.

[Joshua Vandamm]

56 minutes ago, TylerT123 said:

Your wallet might become as thin as the tippet 

 

I think that’s giving the fish too much credit, they don’t care what line you use.

lol. I have it for my new fly rod but really if you buy leader line, its cheaper than most high end stuff. 

[TylerT123]

14 minutes ago, Joshua Vandamm said:

lol. I have it for my new fly rod but really if you buy leader line, its cheaper than most high end stuff. 

The only thing I’d worry about is the strength of it.

[fishnkamp]

A spool of Stren mono or P Line CXX costs less than 3 cents a yard. Both the CXX and Stren in a 6,8 or 10 pound class make fine leader.  Keep your quality fly leader material for its intended use.  You will be better off.

[Joshua Vandamm]

3 hours ago, TylerT123 said:

The only thing I’d worry about is the strength of it.

I tested it dry...its strong. Maybe stronger than any 6lb (monofilament) line Ive ever used. and only 0.007". Abrasion resistance I'm not confident about.

[TylerT123]

1 hour ago, fishnkamp said:

A spool of Stren mono or P Line CXX costs less than 3 cents a yard. Both the CXX and Stren in a 6,8 or 10 pound class make fine leader.  Keep your quality fly leader material for its intended use.  You will be better off.

 

1 minute ago, Joshua Vandamm said:

I tested it dry...its strong. Maybe stronger than any 6lb line Ive ever used. and only 0.007". Abrasion resistance I'm not confident about.

I agree with him.

[Further North]

I fly fish a fair amount and, other than trout fishing for pressured fish, seldom use tippet even on my fly rods.

 

That said, it will be fine.

[Turkey sandwich]

Yeah, it'll work, but it's stupid expensive to not be used for it's intended purpose.  I'll even use spools of Maxima to build my own leaders down to about 3x equivalent for the fly rod, and generally use 12lb - 0X for streamer fishing.  That 30yd spool will last forever as fly tippet.  It would last me a few months as leader material for spinning gear. 

[bagofdonuts]

it'll work. but your paying close to .50 per yard for rio floro. the most expensive line i buy on a regular basis is sunline sniper floro about $30 for 200yds or .15 per yard.

im with turkey sandwich. i fly fish quite a bit and have gone to building my own leaders with maxima, which out perform the knotless ones, and use regular line for tippets.

[J Francho]

I use Seaguar Blue Label leader material when I do use a leader.

[Joshua Vandamm]

2 hours ago, bagofdonuts said:

it'll work. but your paying close to .50 per yard for rio floro. the most expensive line i buy on a regular basis is sunline sniper floro about $30 for 200yds or .15 per yard.

im with turkey sandwich. i fly fish quite a bit and have gone to building my own leaders with maxima, which out perform the knotless ones, and use regular line for tippets.

I hear that. But it’s nylon copoly. It floats. and you can’t beat that diameter with any other mono. 

 

 

[Further North]

7 hours ago, J Francho said:

I use Seaguar Blue Label leader material when I do use a leader.

That's good stuff.

 

I have spools of Seaguar's Salmon/Trout Leader material for my heavy fly rigs (8 wt. and above) often to a hunk of tieable wire.

 

http://www.seaguar.com/about-seaguar/press-releases/42-seaguar-launches-sts-fluorocarbon-leader-material-for-salmon-trout-and-steelhead.html

 

If I feel th eneed to "taper" the leader, I'll go 50# - 40# - 30#...about 18" - 24"...or sometimes, with a fly that's particulary resistant to turning over...30# - 40# - 50#.  That'll make sense to some of the fly guys, everyone else will be scratching their head.

 

I have to replace it so seldom that I haven't had a need to buy any Blue Label, but I did use it on a guided musky trip once - impressive!

 

************************************

 

A thought on tippet material as leader: We can buy this stuff for pennies on the dollar places like Sierra Trading Post, and stored correctly, it'll last forever.

 

That drives the $/inch cost down significantly.

[Joshua Vandamm]

1 hour ago, Further North said:

That's good stuff.

 

I have spools of Seaguar's Salmon/Trout Leader material for my heavy fly rigs (8 wt. and above) often to a hunk of tieable wire.

 

http://www.seaguar.com/about-seaguar/press-releases/42-seaguar-launches-sts-fluorocarbon-leader-material-for-salmon-trout-and-steelhead.html

 

If I feel th eneed to "taper" the leader, I'll go 50# - 40# - 30#...about 18" - 24"...or sometimes, with a fly that's particulary resistant to turning over...30# - 40# - 50#.  That'll make sense to some of the fly guys, everyone else will be scratching their head.

 

I have to replace it so seldom that I haven't had a need to buy any Blue Label, but I did use it on a guided musky trip once - impressive!

 

************************************

 

A thought on tippet material as leader: We can buy this stuff for pennies on the dollar places like Sierra Trading Post, and stored correctly, it'll last forever.

 

That drives the $/inch cost down significantly.

I like blue label a lot. I use YoZuri HD at the moment, but seaguar is better. 

Rio powerflex double nylon really isn’t that expensive for a leader. Like $6 for 30ft at Dicks I think. So thats

20Cents per foot. Not cheap certainly. But how often do we want a light mono leader? Only for small poppers really. As a specialty item it’s totally worth it for the diameter imo. It’s significantly thiner than Flourocarbon.