What leader & tippet should you be fishing? Many Fly Fishermen only trust Rio Leaders & Tippet to land their big fish. That’s what I use and many of my fishing buddies use. Rio has many different options to choose from when it comes to buying your leaders & Tippet from Freshwater to Saltwater and everything inbetween. For the sake of this blog I am only going to speak about the three most popular fresh water options.
We will start with Leaders first off Rio offers Rio Powerflex Trout leader these are the best selling leader on the market. They are effective in wind penetration, casting streamers easily, great for indicator rigs and have great knot strength. They also come in 1 or 3 packs. Next we have the Rio Fluoroflex Leader, they have all of the same characteristic of the Powerflex. But with the added benifit of being made out of Fluorocarbon. Fluorocarbon becomes nearly invisible when in the water making it impossible for the fish to see. Pair the Rio Fluoroflex Leader with the Rio Fluoroflex tippet and you will become deadly on the water. Rio also sells The Suppleflex Leader meant for more dryfly and nymph fishing and Indicator Leader for those who primarily fish indicator rigs.
Now Tippet, Rio has several different choices here also. What tippet you use can really depend on how much you want to spend and if you believe that Fluorocarbon makes a difference. I do think Fluorocarbon matters, it holds up better to abrasions, has a higher tensile strength and much harder for fish to see. . What many Fly fishers do is use Powerflex Leader and pair it with Rio Fluroflex Tippet or Fluoroflex Plus. The Regular Fluoroflex is stiffer tippet so it will be better suited for larger flies big dries and streamers. Fluoroflex Pus is ultra strong and supple and will present those trout flies beautifully. Rio also makes the PowerFlex Tippet , this is made of nylon and has good knot strength and cast well also. So whatever your need are Rio makes a Leader & Tippet for you.
