55 Yards - Bozeman FlyWorks Fluorocarbon Tippet (5X)

I fish a lot — 80+ days per year — and I go through miles of tippet. Fluoro took a huge jump in price in the past few years, and at the rate I use it, it became painful. I made the switch from TroutHunter and Orvis to Bozeman because of the cost, and I've been very happy. I've been using this tippet for over a year now and it officially my go-to tippet material.At first, I didn't like the feel of the material, it's not as silky smooth feeling as TroutHunter or Orvis, it feels slightly grainy. It's also not zero-stretch, there is some stretch to it. If I only euro nymphed, I probably wouldn’t like this material.But I’m an all-rounder and I like to be fast and flexible. One minute I’m dry fly fishing 22’s, then I'll swing some wets or high stick, next I’m chucking big meat flies. For me, Bozeman performs just fine, better than my mending skills at any rate!It lays on the water well without curlies when floating dries (I use fluoro for dry fly fishing), and it's good under water too. The thicker weights, like 3x & 4x, have a slight bit of stiffness to them which I like as I build wet fly rigs, or use heavy streamers. The thinner weights feel lighter, 5x feels like 6 and the 6x feels like 7, which I also like. I typically would use 7x for fussy slurping fish, but with Bozeman, I haven’t had to go below 6x.I love the larger capacity spools and having so much more material, its nice to not run out right in the middle of a hatch.But what sealed the deal for me is the abrasion resistance. I've been able to pull sizeable trout out of their hidey holes, or around blowdowns where other inexpensive tippet materials would fray and break. I’m more likely to rescue my files from a tree, the grass behind me, or from under a rock without breaking off.I also like that the material and knots don't get brittle with use. I can use the same rig over a few days. Other cheaper fluoros I found would get brittle after a day, or if I had a couple of hard pullers or got snagged a few times. With Bozeman I can get hung in a tree a few times, land a few fish, get caught on a rock, and keep fishing.A couple of months ago, I went to repurchase this product for a last minute trip. It wasn’t available prime at that moment, and the shipping schedule wouldn’t have been in time for my trip, so I bought a cheaper competitor and I regretted it. I lost fish, I lost flies.I’ll keep the cheaper stuff for lenders for friends or knot tying classes for beginners.While I don't feel that Bozeman is the same quality as Trout Hunter or Orvis, the tradeoffs are well worth the cost-savings. It's a far superior product than its low price tag would let you think.I am a Bozeman convert.

This is my second review on this product. I ordered the 3 through 5 X tipper last spring and fished it all summer. As far as I can tell it is as good as the Rio product I had been using. The biggest negative still remains the spool and the keeper band around the line. It is beyond annoying when the line slips under the narrow elastic band and you have to take time to find the end and get it back to normal. When I got the new 6x the other day the first thing I noticed was a wider spool. Hooray! I thought they finally got it right. Upon further inspection, the elastic holder around the line Did Not have a hole in it for the line to feed through like all the other manufacturers. Are you kidding me? So close to a perfect product. Plus, the new spool of course doesn't "mate up" with the other ones so it has to find a pocket of its own. Caught a couple nice fish on a 22 midge connected to the 6x so the quality seems good. Keep up with the improvements and I'll keep buying it. Great value.

This is very good leader. It does a good job of laying down at the end of a cast. It becomes pretty invisible when it is in the water. Try it. I think you will like it.

Took a shot on Bozeman and really can’t see the difference between them and more established brands. Needs a grommet hole in the elastic band on the spool to allow for easy tippet removal. Would’ve given 5 stars but that’s a pain and I replaced the band from one of the other more established brand that I used all the tippet on.

Very very nice to see they finally changed their spools !!Product still seems to be great value for great tippet. Measure the diames of 4x and 6x, and it’s just a tad on the thick side. I’m talking .0075” for 4x when ideally should be .007”. Not a deal breaker by any means.There will be a lot of happy folks the learn about the new spool design. Great job Bozeman Fly works ! Keep on supplying the angler with great quality material, for less money, it’s very much appreciated.

I'm only giving it 4 stars because I've yet to use any of it but at almost twice as much and quite a bit cheaper than most fluorocarbon tippet on the market I was willing to give it a try. I often opt for Vanish as my go-to "tippet" but the spools are cumbersome. So here's to hoping this unicorn hair works out!

Received my package of 5x and promptly took it out for a several days of fishing. Fished it against Rio 5x flouro and noticed no difference. Many brook trout and ll salmon landed on this tippet. The amount you recieve for the $ is just awesome.P.S. the plastic spool is fine, but I like the Rio spools better (small hole in elastic through which you can pull line) so I spooled this around one of my old Rio spools when I received it. Relabeled the spool with a perm mark. Sorry Bozeman, would love to advertise this great product, but need that type of line dispenser.

I purchased this for my next trip but I like what I see so far. I know it sounds funny but I really like the spool! It fits other high end line spools like Rio and makes it easier to manage. The value is excellent and I have confidence in this line.