MidCurrent Tested and Trusted: Rio Intouch Level T Tips

I often hear salmon and steelhead anglers complain about the challenges of catching fish. They grumble about rough weather, endless hours on the water, and sparse fish returns, but I disagree with them every time. As an avid salmon and steelhead angler myself, the toughest part about catching anadromous fish is finding the right leader for the job.

The variety of leaders is overwhelming, with different sink rates and lengths designed for specific situations. Sometimes it’s enough to make you abandon salmon and steelhead fishing altogether for something simpler, like trout. Over the years, I’ve run through the complete leader gauntlet—from cheap polyleaders that fish well but last about as long as a teenage attention span, to expensive rubber-coated sink tips that are tough as a warthog’s hide but fish like you’ve got an old man’s cane attached to your line. I had resigned myself to keeping dozens of leader varieties in my sling pack until I discovered Rio Intouch Level T Tips and ditched everything else.

Taking Out The Guesswork

The first and best feature of Rio Intouch Level T Tips is their simplicity. The “T” system indicates weight per foot: T-8 weighs around 8 grains per foot, T-14 is 14 grains per foot, and so on. These tips are also color-coded for easy identification—T-8 is dark red, T-11 dark green, T-14 dark blue, T-17 dark gray, and T-20 black. No more keeping leaders in waterlogged packages to read their sink rates, or randomly selecting two leaders and holding them like a bearded Lady Justice trying to feel which is heavier.

The Rio Intouch Tips packages display corresponding sink rates and leader strengths which, once memorized, eliminate all guesswork. All styles come in either 30-foot lengths or bulk 500-foot spools that you can trim to match your casting abilities and fishing needs. After trimming a leader to your required length, you can attach a welded loop using Rio’s Level T welding tubing or a simple Perfection Loop Knot if you prefer to skip the extra accessory (though it’s worth it).

Getting On Your Level

Beyond their simplicity, what truly sets Intouch Tips apart is their durability and fishability. Made with Rio’s ultra-low stretch Connect Core and coated in a tungsten compound, these leaders are virtually indestructible. You could hook a monstrous chinook salmon and let it drag the leader over a riverbed of sharp gravel, and it would still fish perfectly afterward. This durability means you won’t need new leaders every season—Intouch Tips will last several years.

Despite their toughness, Intouch Tips maintain exceptional fishability. They resist kinking and tangling in micro-currents, and they remain extremely supple. They strike the perfect balance, sensitive enough to detect soft tugs from sluggish winter steelhead while maintaining the integrity to set the hook into the hardest-grabbing salmon.

A Leader to Rule Them All

Yes, Rio Intouch T Series tips are pricey—a 30-foot length costs around $50.00, meaning you’ll invest about $250.00 for all the different sink rates. However, for dedicated salmon and steelhead anglers, it’s worth every penny. Once you have the complete set of Rio Intouch Level T tips, you can stop squinting at sink-rate packages and weighing polyleaders with your hands. You’ll simply go fishing, confident you have the right leader for anything the river or fish throw at you.