just a quick question,
whats the best tippet for cystal clear stillwater?
I've been fishing a few times at the same water and only caught 3 fish, the water is as clear as can be, spring fed?
a guy who fishes there often says i'm not catching because of me tippet, they see my fly and turn away when they see my tippet, can this be true?
mainly fishing dries but have tried buzzers and lures, caught all my fish on the lures.
any help would be grateful.

Whats your current tippet set up, and what size dry's are you using. What size fish are there where you are fishing, whats the biggest.

It is claimed that flurocarbon is invisible in water due to the refractive index (whatever that means) being the same, so theoretically that would be the best tippet, certainly for wets, nymphs and lures. As it sinks it may not be so good on dry flies as it would tend to drag them under, co polymer would be a better bet for dries.

That is the theory anyway being the old cynic that I am, I am yet to be convinced.

In Gin clear waters I use Frog Hair or Seaguar Fluorocarbon 5x to 7x for wets. All of the guides and regular anglers on those waters use the same. Not sure if it is hype or reality but I go along with it...

unless you grease it up to within a couple of feet or so from the fly ......

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Stick say... copolymer and fluorocarbon in a clear glass, if you can see them, so can the trout! They both have there place! You need to use all leader materials to suit your circumstances. The most important benefit of fluorocarbon is its rapid sink rate, this is also a major hinderance if you are trying to keep some nymphs at the surface where fish are feeding. Its all about using lines and leaders be it mono, co-polymer or fluoro to keep your flies in the layer where the trout are, even if this means applying grease to your leader so your flies are just below the surface on the droppers. The fluorocarbon is advantageous but can't be used for every fishing situation.

Best bit of advise yet, use the right tool for the job! Simples... just have to learn how the tools work best!

What size tippet are you fishing now? In my semi limited experience dealing with British anglers around here, I find most of the guys I meet on the lake are fishing too heavy a tippet. I see a lot of guys fishing 2X and 3X on the small local stillwater and not catching anything. If you're fishing active lures then you can get away with a little heavier since you're fishing for active fish and getting them excited to eat your lure. If you're fishing dries or small nymphs (14's and under) then the flies fish a lot better with lighter tippet.

I keep 6X and 7X in the front of my vest at all times. I could fish an entire day with just them. This morning I fished 7X on my nymphs and caught a few when no one else was catching. On known tough waters I'll start with 6X and maybe drop to 7 if the conditions are bad. On normal waters or particularly snaggy ones I'll start with 5 and go from there.

I fish Fluoro, but mono would do just fine most of the time as well.

Thanks,
Rick

The problem may be as much to do with diameter as material and the guys who are giving advice on the basis of diameter are spot on.

You might be using a No.14 nymph but if the tippet is too thick it won't behave naturally and will look wooden. With the lighter tippet the fly moves more naturally and the fish will take it rather than turning away. Using fluoro will help as the material is less visible than mono and in crystal clear water this might make a difference however given the choice of fluoro that is too thick or mono of the right diameter I'd go with the mono.

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“There is no more lovely country than Monmouthshire in early spring. Nowhere do the larks sing quite so passionately, as if somehow inspired by the Welsh themselves. There is a blackbird on every thorn and a cock chaffinch, a twink as they call him there, on every bush...... It moved me profoundly. I had been spared to see another spring, and I thank God for it.”

Oliver Kite
“A Spring Day on the Usk”
A Fisherman’s Diary

I fish a stillwater with very clear water and it also has catch and release so the fish have wised up. I once fished all morning using 6lb fulling mill and didn't get an offer. I suspected it was the tippet so changed to 6lb Stroft which is thinner and the difference was proved instantly from the first cast onwards. Stroft is very supple though and I did find I was struggling with knots etc especially if trying to fish it with long leaders. If you are going down to thinner diameter tippets (I suggest around 0.16 dia.) then make sure your gear is balanced. Ideally a rod rated for #5 would be better than one rated for #7 in my experience. Something I have found that doesn't work where I fish is greasing flourocarbon to within a couple of feet of the fly. If the fish see any leader in the surface film they will ignore the fly regardless of the last two feet being sunk. I now tend to use 6lb Rio Coploymer and keep degreasing regularly. However there are days when for some reason it just won't sink. I will then use fluoro and fish a very bouyant fly sometimes with a very small nymph below it which can be deadly or alternatively use copoly and use a small nymph on a dropper to help pull the tippet under.

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