When the Trouthunter tippets and leaders arrived at Grand River Outfitting & Fly Shop, I have to admit that I was pretty excited. After all, I am a gear weenie, and I love new product. I did however cringe when I saw the price tag of $28.00 CDN for a spool of fluorocarbon.

Trout Hunter Tippet and Leader available at Grand River Outfitting & Fly shop

After a few choice words, I let Rob settle me down and give me the sales pitch. Somehow, even Rob Heal couldn’t convince me and I left the store with my usual tippets. Next day at the shop, Rob and Scott insisted I take a spool down to North Carolina with me the following week to try out on the trout down there. I am now sold, and will never look back. Here’s what I figured out:

Price

This is a total non-issue. The Trouthunter tippet comes in a 50m spool, and when compared against the other leading fluoro brands, it comes out exactly the same, at $0.56/m.

Techy Stuff

I will say that I am a total snob when it comes to tippet, and when dealing with trout, only the best will do for me. I used the 4.5x down in North Carolina exclusively for my tandem nymph setups, and netted upwards of 100 fish using this stuff. This tippet is supple yet turns over, is extremely abrasion resistant, and has an unbelievable knot strength. The 4.5x seemed to nicely fill the gap that I have always had between tippet that is big enough to spook fish and tippet that is  too weak to be able to manage fish efficiently. I will say that I fished the 4.5x in very clear water, and the fish didn’t care. I was a happy camper.

Confidence

As with any fishing situation, I personally think that confidence can go farther in contributing to success on the water than many other things. What the 0.5x did for me is to allow me to fish more confidently. Basically I fished the entire days down there with a lot less concern for snags, and much more confidence putting the gears to fish when needed. That is because the tippet gave me a sense of security that 5x doesn’t do on bigger water, especially when nymphing.

Cons

There is only one con with this stuff, and that is the non-standard inside diameter of the spools. I assume that this is done to suck you into buying a specific tippet post. Not to worry, all you need to do is wedge the trouthunter between to normal spools that you will never use again anyways and you are good to go!

Overall

Overall, I would say that everyone needs to give a damn about half of an x. Or at least give it a shot! It has definitely proven its application for me on the water, and you won’t see me without a spool of 4.5 and 5.5x Trouthunter on our home water this season!