Tippet and Surgeons knot question

[comeonavs]

How do all of you guys / gals know when your tippet is bad. The reason I ask is I did a 3hr drive to my favorite fishing hole this Saturday. We go there every year on this day and usually catch 25+ fish. Well we each only caught 1 each , mind you these arent monsters 10-15" range

Here is why I ask. I used to tie double surgeons loops to attache tippet to leader. I have in the last month started tying them as a triple not a double. I busted several fish off on a hook set ( not a bassmaster hook set). This tippet is maybe two years old and sits in my fly vest pocket. So I tied on a triple loop with 1 year old tippet...bam broke right at the knot again. So I grabbed a fresh new roll of tippet, thank god I carry a ton......bam broke at the knot.

Is it the tippet or my knot. When I tie these surgeons loops I am very careful that both the leader tag and tippet loop through each time, I wet the not as I cinch it and then I pull the leader tippet and both tags tight at the same time and am very careful when trimming it up ??? And also 6x leader to 6x tippet.

 

[texastroutbum]

Hey, I am happy to hear that you are fishing somewhere. Well after several heart aches of losing fish I begin to have a habit where I test the strength of tippet at home. I tied a double sergent knot like you mention up there and I pull the new extended leader as hard as possible. If I see the line pops, then I add wet more ( it sounds really gross) and try to avoid abrasion of the tippet as much as possible. And if I pull the section where the new knot was form and find the leader pops again, I usually throw the roll of tippet away. I sometimes try to buy a different company's tippet.

Another thing can be your rod. From what I experience 15 inch trout can fight. And if your rod tip is stiff or fast action, it can cause your tearing of the knot. I used to use 6x tippet a lot with a budget fast action rod, ended up breaking the leader. I know that it could be my handling of the rod when caught the fish. But after consistently losing so many fish due to the breaks of the tippet, I decided to go for a slow action rod with a supple tip. The result is that I have lost less fish than before.

That's my two cents and have a wonderful fishing.

Tight lines

 

[comeonavs]

Well either I am doing something wrong on every spool of tippet I own is bunk. I just tried this with Rio Flouro , Rio Mono, Frog Hair floro and mono and they all popped.

I had to pull quite firmly to get them to pop. With 6x tippet how hard would you have to pull to break it, after all it is only 3lb test ?


:shocking: I am confused

 

[jpbfly]

Agree wit TTB about the rod...the problem may come from the fact you tie a fluoro tippet to a mono leader(use a micro ring or a loop to loop in that case) what about the drag of your reel?

 

[comeonavs]

The rod is a z-axis so yes it is fast action, the reel drag was not to tight. Also to add to the mix of confusion the guy I went with had the same problem on a winston biix.

 

[texastroutbum]

the problem may come from the fact you tie a fluoro tippet to a mono leader

Check if you are mixing a fluoro tippet and other regular tippet. If you did, that could be the culprit of popping the tippet.

Seems to me that the rods that you are using should not contribute to the tearing of the tippet. Other solution is go for 5x.

Or invite me over to your water. It will be a good excuse to drive 16 hours from Texas to go there.

 

[fyshstykr]

I'm curious as to whether you had this problem with the Double Surgeons Loop? If not...Why go to a triple? It seems to me that even though your wetting it the chances of friction and overheating with a triple would increase.

Myself, I would simply go back to using the Double Surgeons.

 

[Rip Tide]

I'm curious as to whether you had this problem with the Double Surgeons Loop? If not...Why go to a triple? It seems to me that even though your wetting it the chances of friction and overheating with a triple would increase.
Myself, I would simply go back to using the Double Surgeons.

A triple surgeons knot will not "sit" as easily as a double and this could easily be the problem.
Knots that are not drawn completely tight will slip and break.
This is far more likely to happen with a triple knot than a double

 

[comeonavs]

So I am sitting here on conference calls with tons of time to tie knots (I work from home)

Now tying doubles or triples they arent breaking as easily if I really really wet them. Which is odd since I always wet them a little and never had the problem. Even tied mono to flouro with a triple and got it really wet and it held. The tippet broke before the knot did.

This is really baffling because I hate knowing a fish swam away with a fly in its mouth. I dont want to have a fish die because of me using bad gear.


As to why I use triples , another member in another thread suggested them and I went to it with much better success than doubles.....until this weekend.

 

[seajay]

Just read this post. The issue may be that you are connecting Fluoro to mono. Fluoro is harder than mono causing it to cut the Mono. As JP stated try a tippet ring or try a Seguar knot. Hope this helps.

 

[sweetandsalt]

Though I sometimes tie flouor tippets to mono leaders, this would only involve heavy saltwater diameters and not with a surgeon knot. I only use mono for trout fishing. Your problem sounds like knot tying as your tippet repeatedly breaks at the knot. If you had rotten mono it would break anywhere. Rather than loop-to-loop for your tippet why not use a classic 6 turn blood knot? Cleaner, stronger, straighter and more elegant. Z-Axis generates high line speed but features a soft-touch tip...a great rod that is unlikely to be the problem.

I have been experimenting with a knot I read about on Midcurrent.com. Art Sheck tested a bunch of knots and decided the "Ligiture" knot was strongest. I am only using it for the tippet and use bloods on the rest of my leader sections and my preliminary experience with it is posative. Couple that with a Trileen Knot at the fly and you are connected! Just make sure you seat the knots tightly and test them by attempting to break them by your own hands rather than have the fish test them for you.

 

[wt bash]

I second the blood knot, never had any issues, even with mono to flouro.

 

[beagle]

For early and everyday fishing I use a double surgeon knot, if I am expecting encounter with some better fish I use Maxima tippit and a blood knot.

 

[Guest1]

. I used to tie double surgeons loops to attache tippet to leader. ...bam broke right at the knot again. So I grabbed a fresh new roll of tippet, thank god I carry a ton......bam broke at the knot.

Is it the tippet or my knot. .

Probably a mixture of mixing lines and the knot. Surgeons knots are nowhere 100% knots. I hate them, don't use them. I use a blood knot only.