Wes
----------- Shawn Kennedy wrote:
Probably a stupid question but what is a shock tippet for?
It's a piece of stretchy material used to protect fine, delicate tippets from being broken on hard strikes, fish jumps and runs and the like.
One material, called shock gum, is a clear rubbery material that is usually installed between the flyline and the butt section of the leader. A 10" section will easily give you about 4" of stretch, dampening the effects of shocks to the tippet.
Frog Hair tippet material is also popular. It is a state-of-the-art monofilament formulation that supposedly has a built in stretch factor of as much as 35%. I haven't used this yet.
Whether you need it, or whether it will help you depends on a lot of factors...in some cases, the shock tippet will actually interfere with a good hookset. Other factors are how large the fish are you are stalking, how "ham-handed" you are in playing your fish, expense and trouble.
Wes Wada Bend, Oregon
"Even if you are on the right track, you will get run over if you just sit there."
-Will Rogers
