Stroft Tippet Material

[haresear]

More food for thought, not only on Stroft....,.#

3 Materials and a very quick two tests on each against a digital scale, pulling as slowly as possible.

Stroft ABR 0.14mm 2.3kg (5lbish) - Test 1 broke at 3.3lbs Test 2 broke at 4.6lbs

Powerflex 0.152mm 2.3kg (5lbish) - Test 1 broke at 4.0lbs Test 2 broke at 3.4lbs

Drennan Floatfish (fairly standard mono) 0.18mm 2.0kg (4.4lbs) Test 1 broke at 4.4lbs. Test 2 broke at 4.4lbs also (i.e. the stated breaking strain).

The moral of that admittedly very short test appears to be that you can't have your cake and eat it If you want consistently good breaking strains, you won't get it by using very fine diameter stuff. I'm away for a lie down

Alex

[Bobfly]

Another factor to bring into consideration can be the gauge of the hook eye wire. When you use a thin mono with a larger hook wire thickness there are tighter angles at the eye and then a knot slippage at a lower strain.
I think some seasonal nips are required to calm the nerves.

[sagecirca]

When do you want the Stroft? Free gratis by the way :lol:



Alex

Catch up over a coffee?  That's me off work until the 27th....

[haresear]

Another factor to bring into consideration can be the gauge of the hook eye wire. When you use a thin mono with a larger hook wire thickness there are tighter angles at the eye and then a knot slippage at a lower strain.
I think some seasonal nips are required to calm the nerves.

That is certainly true of the half blood Vaughan, but not of the uni knot which is essentially  a slip knot and can be used as a reel arbour knot for backing. I have taken your advice on the seasonal nips though

[haresear]

Catch up over a coffere?  That's me off work until the 27th....

Not sure I can manage before then David. Plus I have a funeral to go to on 29th.. Should manage something after that if it suits,

Alex

[sagecirca]

Not sure I can manage before then David. Plus I have a funeral to go to on 29th.. Should manage something after that if it suits,

Alex

Yeh no worries...drop me a text and I'll see how I'm fixed.

[arawa]

haresear
Without your precision, before the start of last season I tested my large collection of exotic tippet material (no Stroft) and, with 2 exceptions, all seemed "rotten" in places – not everywhere - and snapped easily when pulled. The exceptions were Rio Powerflex tapered leaders and both types of Riverge. The level Rio Powerflex broke easily. Five spools of my then favourite tippet, Frogs Hair, were in really bad condition.
Despite its longevity and consistency, I am not a fan of Riverge in the finer sizes as, perhaps because of my casting style, I find it kinks and tangles easily. This season I used Rio tapers and Maxima (some spools of which are several years old but still perfect).
The odd thing is that despite finding so many problems with my tippet material at the end of 2016 I had no breakages or knot failures at all during the season. :? :?

[past caring]

Couple of quick things;

Davy knot - probably fair to say that I have had more break offs with it. But I am certain it is down to poor or rushed tying. A few of things that remedy this: 1 - you must make sure that the end of the tippet (the bit that will end up being the tag-end of your knot) sits in line with the shank of the hook as you tighten 2 - it is dead easy to get careless - remember that the first pass of the tag-end over the standing line goes in front (i.e. your side) not behind 3 - if there is any kind of 'mis-match' between tippet and hook size - or if you just think there might be big fish about, use the double Davy.

Stroft - I use the ABR almost exclusively now when I'm river fishing - usually the 0.10 mm/1.4kg/3.1lb but will drop down to 0.06mm (1.43lb) for really spooky fish or go up to 0.14 mm (5.1lb) if dredging the bottom with heavy nymphs. All personal preference of course, but I think the lower diameter and increased suppleness gives better presentation and if nymphing it helps the nymph get down quicker.

That said, I will use fluoro when very long line (and long tippet) nymphing 'Bosnian style' (don't ask!) but that's more because it's less visible in the very clear water I would use that method and also because you're not fishing at depth.