Careful with Tippet

by Sean W
(Rochester)

I was browsing J Stockard fly shop online for some fly tying supplies, and out of curiousity looked at the Rio tippets they had.

I saw one specifically, Powerflex Plus, advertised to be 20% stronger for the diameter. 6x was 4lb, 5x was 6lb!!!!

Needless to say, where this might be an obvious advantage for other fishermen, its probably not a simple advantage for the keiryu and tenkara rods. 4lb line on a rod rated for 6x is more likely to break a rod if too big a fish gets on.

The advantage I see for this line would be to use a smaller diameter line and have the better strength, but still sneaking in under the rod's rating. For example, using a 6x 4lb line on a 5x rated rod. Not quite as strong as 5x, but pretty good!

Additionally, thinner line on the main part of a keiryu line means less wind resistance.

“The bitterness of poor quality remains long after the sweetness of low price is forgotten” - Benjamin Franklin

"Be sure in casting, that your fly fall first into the water, for if the line fall first, it scares or frightens the fish..." -
Col. Robert Venables 1662

As age slows my pace, I will become more like the heron.