Super Strong Plus Tippet by Orvis - Features

Nylon freshwater tippet material.

Perfectly-balanced blend of elasticity, knot strength, and suppleness.

Highest knotted strength of any nylon material on the market.

In clear.

Super Strong Plus Leaders

Nylon is pressure and heat tempered through a proprietary manufacturing process of elastic deformation to create higher tensile strength. This removes stresses induced during the extrusion process of drawing and cooling, and it reduces water absorption for high wet tensile and knot strength. And unlike many materials on the market that measure anywhere from a half to a full X size higher than what is stated on the spool, SuperStrong Plus is true to X size standards.

Why did we change SuperStrong?

Although SuperStrong has been a highly successful and reliable tippet material for us and thousands of customers, we recently found a material that is better in a number of aspects. The main improvements are that it has higher knot strength and more abrasion resistance, which will benefit fly anglers in any situation, from trout to steelhead to bonefish.

What is different?

SuperStrong + is an entirely new material, from a different manufacturer than SuperStrong. It has higher dry break strength, higher knot strength both wet and dry, and higher abrasion resistance than Super Strong. Super Strong was tinted a pale green; this material is clear. (We don’t see any practical advantage or disadvantage to either)

How does SuperStrong + work when tied to fluorocarbon?

Many anglers fish nylon leaders with fluorocarbon tippets. As with using straight fluorocarbon, knots are more difficult because the fluorocarbon is stiffer and does not draw tight as easily as nylon. Still, Super Strong + works just fine with fluorocarbon if knots are carefully tied, wetted, drawn tight quickly, and tested—just as you would with any knots.

What about leaders?

Our leaders are now made from the same superior material. The tapers are better than our preceding SuperStrong leaders, the main difference being a more gradual taper in the mid-section, which gives you better turnover.

Is diameter important?

You would not think the difference of .001” would matter in fishing, but it does in trout fishing, where you try to make your fly look unconnected and natural. We have all seen instances where 6X worked far better than 5X, even with the same fly, and it has everything to do with the smaller diameter having less influence on the drift of the fly as opposed to visibility. Additionally, a finer diameter tippet has more air resistance and lands with less disturbance on the water. This is not as important in streamer fishing for trout, bass, pike, and saltwater fishing—where the fly is pulled through the water by the angler and a smaller diameter offers only minimal advantages. But in these situations, Super Strong’s strength and abrasion resistance make it superior.

*The accepted industry standard for diameters is +- .0005”, and in 5X material these day most manufacturers are at .0065”, which technically if you rounded off would be 4X, but since it has become standard across the board we have elected to go this route as well. If we went to a diameter of .0055”, we would technically be 5X but when we were compared in the marketplace to other 5X materials we would be slightly finer in diameter and thus would look weaker than we actually are. ** We used the improved clinch knot, probably the most common knot used in fly fishing and thus a real-world test. The knots were all tied by the same experienced knot tier and soaked overnight. This test is a lot more valid than simple dry break strength.