Leader manufacturer

[13Fisher1]

Having been experimenting now for two or three seasons and purchasing lots of different Tippett manufacturers can anyone recommend a good performing Tippett maknufacturer? I have spent lots of time ( and ££s) trying to find one that is resistant to kinks, tangles, wind knots, yet fine enough for trout fishing. Having tried many different types including expensive hi end fluorocarbons I am back thinking that my good old fasioned original drennan double strength may be as good as any!

[Traditionalist]

Having tried many different types including expensive hi end fluorocarbons I am back thinking that my good old fasioned original drennan double strength may be as good as any!

It most likely is for most things. The cheapest coarse fishing nylon in the appropriate sizes works as well as anything. There are some differences, some is a little stiffer, some a little softer.  I use this

http://www.mullarkeys.co.uk/fishing/lines/Monofilament/1/

( The Maxima Chameleon).

I have never found any advantage at all in various fluorocarbons etc etc.

TL
MC

[Wildfisher]

I am back thinking that my good old fasioned original drennan double strength may be as good as any!

Depends what you are looking for I suppose. I still think green or clear Maxima is hard to beat for wet fly fishing and fine co-polymers like Rio good for dry fly. After recommendations from a few members I am trying making  my own dry fly tapered leaders now and will be using  Maxima  for the butt section and tapers and Rio for the tippets. This is all on hold until my broken hand is better.

[Otter Spotter]

Stroft ABR (6lb BS) - Expensive (Dry fly fishing)
Drennan Sub Surface (Various Breaking strains but generally 4lb is good for most of the fishing I do, being a bandymeister) - Cheap (Non Dry fly fishing)

Tried the maxima but didnt get on with it at all.

[Fishtales]

Maxima Chameleon. Been using it for forty odd years. I've used other makes and never found anything that came near to making me change. Not even the Green or clear

[haresear]

For me it depends where I am fishing and what method I'm using.

Mostly I fish rivers and find Rio Powerflex (coplymer) serves me well for mainly dry flies and nymphs. It isn't cheap. Usually I stick with 5x (5lb), but will go lower if I have to.

I tried a thinner brand earlier this year and lost some big fish to breakages that I felt the Rio might have withstood. I had run out of the Rio at the time, but am now back on it and have landed a run of big fish on it, so that's what I'm sticking with. Tried and tested.

On the other hand, if I was fishing mainly wets, on a loch (which I rarely do) I would probably be using a standard nylon like Shakespeare Aerial, Maxima etc., with Fulling Mill fluorocarbon  as a change in some circumstances.

Alex

[Highlander]

Like a few others use

The Maxima Chameleon

for most of my loch fishing & all off all be it limited Salmon & Sea Trout. It has high strength & good abrasion resistance. Have done for many years, have tried other brands & whilst most are suitable still favour Maxima. It's colour blends in well with our dark & sometime peaty waters. For river fishing & lowland clearer waters I now use Fulling Mill Sub Surface. It is a perfectly good nylon & does not let me down.
Now having said that I have been tinkering for a couple of seasons with Leeda leaders Profil & Selectacast.
One thing I will never used & I see one person mentioning it is Drennan Double Strength. Over the years I have seen countless fish lost due to breakages & knot failure. I remember Stan The Man bemoaning in a magazine some years back that he had "lost" nine fish & he was using Drennan . What I could not understand is why he did not stop using it in the first place but carried on. Simply would never contemplate using it & any similar types. Fluorocarbon I too have never liked & like a previous poster don't think that any advantage is to me gained by doing so.
Others mileage may vary & as it should be.

Tight Lines

[Wildfisher]

I find  all the co-polymer / double strength stuff utterly useless for pulling wet flies on lochs. There are  pre-streched  to get the diameter down,  have next to no elasticity  and thus break far too easily with shock if a fish happens to take as you are pulling. This is even worse with modern stiff rods. A disaster in fact.

For pulling wets loch-style  5 or 6lb Maxima is hard to beat.  I don't like the brown stuff as it is very visible and I think it spooks fish  in gin clear water. I use clear or green.  Drennen sub surface green is good too. The thing that pisses me off most about Maxima is why on earth does  it have to come on these massive spools?

[east wind]

I've been using powerflex for about four seasons. Recommended by a mate when I'd had enough of fluro its been fine, more so since I changed the knot I use with it.

Bought a few spools of this stuff

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Preston-Innovations-Reflo-Powerline-ALL-SIZES-AVAILABLE-/290504243591

Appears its impregnated with some glue resin or something and is very hard to break pulling with your hands, very hard. I've used it a few times and it held up nicely, problem was it seemed, in my hands anyway, not too clever at turning over a fly.

Funny how my notions change on what is best from season to season on the little details. Couple of seasons ago it was how small a diameter i could get away with, now its how large. After a storming start i went on a horrendous run of losing good fish to the extend I'm again undecided on what is best when playing them. Lost three that I thought were beat as I got them to the bank and then they shot into the undercut. 12 inches of taught line, no cushion, saw saw and their gone.

With that in mind I've been trying this stuff in 6.1lb.

http://www.rioproducts.com/tippet/freshwater/suppleflex/

I bought it on impulse in a wee shop now closed and I'm happy with it, and the troot don't seem to mind.

I have spent lots of time ( and ££s) trying to find one that is resistant to kinks, tangles, wind knots

Good luck with that one Fisher, let me know if you find something for wind knots, would save me a lot of grief fumbling about changing tippets during a rise 

Mac

[Malcolm]

I use 2. For my salmon and sea trout fishing i use Steve Parton's Silver Creek 8lb or 10lb bs, it's made by Bayer and is probably the same as a dozen other brands manufactured by Bayer. I switched to this about 5 years ago and have never broken off in a salmon. I have had well over 100 salmon in the past 5 years so it has had a good test.

For trout fishing I have been using Hardy Copolymer since the late 90s and had one breakoff in all that time (sunk line on Loch Leven). It breaks above it's stated strain when wet and knotted unlike most other copolymers.