At times, when you are fly fishing for big fish with large flies, Orvis Fluorocarbon Big Game Tippet Material is a great choice for making your own leaders, or adding tippet to extruded tapered leaders.

Nylon monofilament and fluorocarbon are the two most popular materials used to make fly fishing leaders. They have distinctive characteristics and both are useful for different fly fishing applications.

Fluorocarbon is dense. It is more abrasion resistant. That alone is a very compelling argument for using fluorocarbon leaders and tippet.

Fluorocarbon has close to the same reflective value as water. It is not easily seen by fish.

Fluorocarbon does not absorb water. Monofilament does over time. That characteristic give anglers better know strength.

Due to Orvis’ Fluorocarbon’s density, its specific gravity is 1.76 compared to water. Fluorocarbon sinks faster than monofilament. This works well for angler using nymphs and wet flies. It is a disadvantage to those using dry flies or poppers.

Fluorocarbon does not deteriorate over time like monofilament. If you buy spools, they will be usable for many years.

A notable disadvantage of fluorocarbon material is the cost. It is much more expensive than nylon monofilament material.

Orvis’ brand is pure. Their material is 100% fluorocarbon. Some companies use a mixture of fluorocarbon and nylon.

I make my own big game leaders using this material. I use Lefty’s 60-20-20 method. My finished leaders have a 60% butt section, 20% mid section and 20% tippet. So, to make a 10 foot leaders, use 6 feet of heavy butt sections material, 2 feet of something in between, and 2 feet of a size suitable for the tippet.

Always use a double surgeon’s knot. You can tie large diameter material to smaller material and the knot will hold the two pieces securely. Wet the material before tightening the knot.

This is an example of a leader I use often for big game fish. This leader has a 12 pound tippet. I start with 6 feet of 40 pound material for the butt section. The mid section is 20 to 25 pound material. Then I tie the 12 pound tippet to the mid section. You can shorten the butt section some, maybe a foot or two. You can change the material sizes up or down depending on what size tippet you want to use.

Byron Begley

Prices:

6 Pound through 20 Pound $14.95
25 Pound through 35 Pound $24.95

40 Pound through 60 Pound $34.95

30 Meter Spool

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Little River Outfitters is a fly shop and mail order company located in Townsend, Tennessee, a gateway to Great Smoky Mountains National Park. We have been family owned since 1994.