Tippet

Shock tippets attached to tarpon flies are stretched on this board so that they’re ready for instant, and natural-looking, use.

The terminal section of a fly fishing leader that is tied to the fly. Generally made of nylon monofilament like the leader, a tippet may be heavier and stiffer than the remainder of the leader, in which case it is called a shock tippet, or lighter and softer, which is necessary for most fly fishing presentations.

A tippet is a standard and especially important component of a tapered leader, which is used in most fly fishing. It may be the final link in a personally constructed knotted compound tapered leader, or a section that is added to a commercially manufactured knotless tapered leader. For most freshwater fishing, and especially when angling for trout, a tippet is the lightest and thinnest in dia-meter portion of a fly fishing leader, and thus the weakest link in the chain from fly line to fly, as well as the section most easily cut or broken. For most freshwater fly fishing, especially for trout and salmon, it is important to match the size of the tippet to the hook size of the fly.

The normal length is about 15 inches for most fishing, but may be several feet long, especially when a supple tippet is necessary to make a delicate presentation, to turn the entire leader and fly over properly, and to enhance the drag-free float of the fly. Less delicate and shorter tippets, however, are more useful where large flies (and poppers or bugs) are fished. A fly fishing tippet is frequently replaced as the length diminishes due to breakoffs and shortening from replacing and retying flies.

The strength of the tippet or tip section of a leader is characterized in a system that derived from European watchmakers hundreds of years ago and was used to draw silkworm gut for nineteenth- century leader construction. Thus, gradations are based on sizes that each vary by .001-inch starting at size 1/5, which is equivalent to a diameter of .021-inch, down to 10/5, which is .012-inch, and continuing from 0X, which is .011-inch, down to 7X, which is .004-inch. These categorizations identify the diameter, not the strength. Strength is somewhat related to diameter, but different products with different tensile strengths make for varying strengths in products of identical diameter (see: line). Line spools and packaging, however, denote size, strength, and diameter. When in doubt, you can determine the classification in lighter tippet categories if you know the diameter; to do this, subtract the diameter from 11; for example, .004 subtracted from 11 is 4X, .011 subtracted from 11 is 0X, and .021 subtracted from 11 is (minus) 10, which translates into the 10/5 designation.

In some circumstances it is necessary to protect the end of the leader from being cut by the teeth, jaws, or gill covers of a fish. This is when a shock tippet, which is a short length of heavy monofilament or wire, is added to the end of the fly fishing leader. The breaking strength and diameter of the shock tippet exceed the breaking strength of the rest of the leader, sometimes by a great deal (often being from 30- to 100-pound strength). Shock tippets are generally no more than 12 inches long, especially to conform to world record specifications.

A tippet might also be identified as a class tippet. This is of primary concern to anglers trying to establish world records on flycasting tackle. According to International Game Fish Association (see) regulations, a class tippet must be made of nonmetallic material and either attached directly to the fly or to the shock tippet, and at least 15 inches long. The 15-inch shock tippet, whether part of a knotted tapered leader or the last 15 inches of a knotless tapered leader, must conform to exact breaking strength specifications (the “class”), and it is this portion that is tested and judged according to the tippet-strength categories of records that exist.

See: Leader; Line.