Never fly fished in my life.
Regarding fly fishing for 1 to 5 lb trout
Would like to learn some, but every time I watch a video, I get confused about minor things I see.


#1 What is the difference between a “Tippet” and a leader ?
#2 I keep seeing people retrieving line and fighting fish just pulling the line back by hand, letting it fall, do you really just drop that (expensive) line on the ground and deal with it later ?

the tippet is the final end of the tapered leader that the fly is tied to. if you are not going to play every fish from the reel, which is not always needed, then you let it collect on the ground or in the water. the other option is to wear a stripping basket.

Typically small fish can just be played by hand but larger fish such as a 5 lb trout will require a combination of hand and reel. For instance the setting of the hook and initial run will be played by hand to keep a taut line until you can take up the slack onto the reel then play the fish from the reel. It takes a bit of practice but not really to difficult to learn. Also leaving the line at your feet or in a stripping basket (any small plastic tub tied to tour waist) means that you do not have to strip all that line from your reel to cast again.

Since we deal with mostly bigger fish than most I insist that anyone using my gear put every fish on the reel every time. Usually, big fish put themselves on the reel with the first run. Most folks are more than happy to get them on the reel after the first good line burn!

No better way to ruin a pricey line than to leave it on the rocks to get stepped on with heavy boots. When guiding it was my gear more often than not and damaged lines were far too common. A damaged line is a more expensive replacement than a broken high end fly rod repair. Some of my favorite rods use lines in the $150 and up range.

What everyone else has said so far is correct. I will expand on this a little more for you and go into a little more detail. As was stated, the final end of a leader, the end to which the fly is tied, is called the tippet. Generally speaking, leaders are tapered, starting larger in diameter where connected to the fly line and then gradually getting smaller until the very end portion, the narrowest in diameter portion, called the tippet. The tippet is, once again, the portion of the leader to which a fly is tied. You will also read/hear of people adding tippet. They are referring to tippet material which comes on a spool and is tied to the tippet end of the leader to either a) lengthen the leader; or, b) to replace tippet material that has been removed through cutting off flies and replacing them with other flies. The article at this link will provide a good explanation for you: https://www.hatchmag.com/articles/understanding-leaders-and-tippets/7711248

The main reason for stripping line in with a fly rod is to control the fish with tension on the line. Fly reels are a direct 1:1 reel where a spinning rod will have 4:1 ratio to bring line in much quicker. Keeping tension on the line keeps the fish on the hook. It takes practice to control a fish and keep your line from getting snarled up while coiled up on the ground or water. Getting the line on the reel once you have tension on the fish is another act of timing and coordination. Once you fish long enough and lose enough fish, you will get the hang of it...

Yes. With smaller fish where I'm wading or can stay in place, I just handle line. Saves time in that one does not have to strip everything out to start fishing again. With larger fish I may have to follow, or when I'm on the bank where line might tangle with vegetation etc, I try to get to the reel ASAP.

Tippets, again just the final length on ones leader. Some fish might be leader shy, and one goes as fine as possible while keeping in mind the size and strength of the target.

Youtube, Mad River Outfitters has some good videos on how to pick leader size, length, based on the flies you are throwing. They have a lot of good videos from useful knots, fly tying, and Casting basics.

If you are just starting out best thing you can do is take some casting lessons. It will save years of frustration and bad habits.

If possible I try to play all of my fish with the reel. I hate having a big pile of line on the ground or in the water in front of me if I’m wading.

I’d suggest if you have the opportunity to fish with a good guide a few times that will help you out quite a bit.

Even though I’ve been fly fishing for years, I try to fish with a good guide at least once a year.

These folks in Colorado are outstanding!

https://duranglers.com/