Understanding Tippet Diameters

Been meaning to do this short explanation for a while. It's very common for customers to come into the shop and purchase 5X and 6X tippet like crazy. If it's appropriate, we will often ask where they are using these fine tippets and almost always the answer is "for regular stuff" size 6-16 flies, dries and nymphs. These same customers often complain of losing quite a number of flies during the course of fishing.

Perhaps these few points of information might be helpful (most of you will know this stuff but there are tons who don't, so bear with us).

- Leaders are designated by length, mainly 7.5', 9', and 12' and then by the diameter of the tippet. This is about the last 2' on a 9' leader.

- Tippets are also available on spools, primarily so an angler can tie on replacement tippet as it's used up so as not to cut the leader back in to the larger taper which will result in the leader not performing properly.

- Tippet diameters are based on a standardized "X" system, available in 0X to 8X. The larger the number, the smaller the diameter. You don't have to know that 4X is .007" diameter or 2X is .009" diameter. You just have to know what we refer to as the rule of 4. For proper knot strength/integrity, you divide the fly size by 4. This gives you the optimum tippet diameter for that fly. The reason for this is that, just like tippet, the wire diameter decreases on a hook as the size gets smaller.
The best knot is going to be one where the tippet diameter and hook wire size are almost identical in size. If the hook wire size is much larger than the tippet diameter, the knot will likely fail.
For instance, using 6X with a size 10 Green Drake....great for fly sales because you will lose a bunch.

Some examples, if you are using a size 12 fly, the perfect tippet diameter is 3X. If you are using a size 6 Stonefly nymph, you can use either 1X or 2X.

For those buying up all the 6X out there, it is actually appropriate for flies in the size 22-26 range. Are you actually fishing flies this small? Likely not.

For most of us in this part of the world, we're mostly fishing flies in the size 2-20 range, with 12-16 being the most common.

You can simplify your life a bunch. For leaders, if you have some 
9' 0X, 9' 3X leaders, and then some 0X, 2X, 3X, 4X, and 5X tippet you can do most anything around here.

The 9' 0X leaders will work just perfect for big streamers like you would use for Bull Trout. If you tag on a short piece of 2X this leader will then work for all your Stonefly nymphs, Stonefly dries, and Hopper patterns.

The 9" 3X leaders work great for a lot of the stuff we fish around here, sizes 10-14. And then, say you're fishing size 16 Caddis, you can add a short piece of 4X and you're set.
That same leader, with a little 5X added, will work just fine for Tricos and small BWO's.

Makes things easy and simple...and will likely lead to less flies bust off.