In the past 100 years of our sport, fly fishing, there have been so many new innovations that it can make your head spin. From Bamboo rods, dry fly fishing, reels that just hold your line to graphite rods, smooth silky reel drag, euro nymphing, and a myriad of super fly lines, fly fishing has truly changed throughout the years.  Techniques and types of gear have also changed, and I like to keep up to date.  One area that doesn’t get much press is tippet and the use of tippet rings.

Recently I have discovered a great way to build my mono leader, so it lasts longer and allows you fast changing of your fly.  I now purchase 7 ½ foot 3x or 4x leaders. My favorite is the RIO Powerflex or Fluoroflex leader package from Woolybugger Fly Co.  I add a 2mm tippet ring to the end with a double Davy knot and now have the option to add whatever tippet to the ring and then to my fly.  When adding tippet to leader you should not add tippet to tippet that is greater than two sizes, i.e. 3x to 6x. It has a tendency not to hold the knot well because of the two dissimilar diameters. But by using a tippet ring you can add any size tippet to it.

So, my set up now looks like this.  If fishing a size 18 soft hackle, then I tie about 2-3 feet of RIO Fluoroflex Plus 6x tippet to my ring and I’m ready to fish.  When the fishing changes and I need to toss a size 10 Mohair leech, I can now quickly change my leader by cutting off my 6x tippet and adding 3x or 4x tippet.  So, using a tippet ring my leader never gets short and never has to be changed. I can use the same leader for many fishing days. Plus, if you get your fly stuck in a tree (I never do) and must pull it out, if it doesn’t break at the fly it will most likely break at the tippet ring. This will allow you to easily re-tie on new tippet and you are ready to go.  Check out this video for more details!