In the simplest terms, the leader is the main clear material that is connected to the end of your fly line. Stefan Woodruff, Ellensburg Angler (Ellensburg, Washington): When I’m fishing streamers or wet flies, the decision whether to use a sinking-tip line or a floating line with split shot on the leader depends on the type of water I’m fishing. Because a large portion of the line sinks, it keeps my flies “in the zone” and in front of the fish much longer. Ways to Use Sinking Lines. If needed, I will add a small split shot to help fly get to to the right depth. Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email. Sink tips and full sinking lines are used for other species, not just while trout fishing. And to that end, I will also adjust the weight of the sink tip to accommodate the current speed–obviously using a heavier grain for faster current and bigger water. Thank you so much to all of you who took the time to answer, and especially ‘Ask the Experts’ for setting this up. When swinging wet flies, I prefer to use one bigger/heavier fly and a dropper that is smaller and softer. These fish catch the majority of their food well below the surface of the water, so the sinking fly line is ideal to entice them to bite. I use sinking lines when my plan is to solely throw streamers in deeper water for the whole day. The physics of this are not hard to imagine. I fish the exact match to your river, only mine is up in Canada. The heavy fly is my edible weight, and the dropper is my fly du jour or hatch-matcher. I use various sinking rate lines, I never use a sink tip, always full sinking lines. Thanks again. There are times of high water with extra swift currents when I’ll add some sink putty to the leader instead of shot. Unlike Joe, I like to use a sinking-tip line or a separate sinking tip that attaches to a floating line with a loop-to-loop connection. Tim Linehan, Linehan Outfitting Company (Troy, Montana): When fishing streamers and wet flies, I let the situation, mostly water depth and current speed, dictate whether I use a floating or sinking line. (Any Battenkill regulars know that this is unusually fast action.) The lead / tungsten core of a sinking line dampens the sensitivity. Low water is the only time I fish this particular set-up; for most of the season, I prefer a sinking PolyLeader and a three-foot section of level 2X or 3X. Patrick Fulkrod, The South Holston River Company (Bristol, Virginia): I love swinging soft hackles. When you want your flies to slowly move through the current at a relatively consistent depth. InTouch 15ft Sink Tip Fly Line (RIO) Some say that Rio’s InTouch fly line is the best sink tip fly line on the market today. That’s not lunchtime. Either way, the Bank Shot line is made to order for this. The diagram below shows the 4 various tips. While sink tips can get a fly down, sometimes you’ll need more umpf! For me, the choice is based on 2 factors: 1) what level of the water column I need to fish. The floating portion is simply going for a ride with the sink tip in front, just like a shooting or running line setup. Full sink fly lines. Your email address will not be published. Sometimes, it's better to just use a floating line and a weighted fly when fishing slow in … Great information, and a special thank you to Jeff Davis. They cast much easier than full-sinking lines and thus, they are more forgiving to novice anglers. If you find yourself in shallow water, a floating line with no split shot will work well if the fish are hitting your streamer or wet fly. For example, if I’m fishing still water, I almost always reach for a full-sinking line, as the depth is usually greater than a river or stream. Wow! Mending is the key when swinging wets and a floating line mends easier and keeps me in contact with my flies better. The floating portion is bright in color and the sinking portion dark as with the regular sinking lines. With an integrated sinking tip or full-sinking line, you need to continue to strip the line all the way in before you can recast. Most streamer-caught fish will hold tight to the structure on the bottom and then rise to chase the fly. Jenny Mayrell-Woodruff, Woodruff, Flyfish Beaver’s Bend (Broken Bow, Oklahoma): I use a floating line with split shot more often because I am constantly changing locations on the river. To sum it up it’s all about depth and current speed. If you're fishing structure that's 5-10 feet deep, an intermediate fly line may be the best line for the job. Maggie Mae Stone, The Tackle Shop Outfitters (Ennis, Montana): When using wet flies and streamers, I always think about the depth of water I may be fishing and the speed of the current. Tim Linehan nailed it. Sink-tips are an excellent tool for consistently getting a fly deep, while keeping most of your line on the surface where it’s easy to cast and mend. In this case, the sinktip helps keep the upwelling of the moving current from bringing the fly to the surface. Sinking tips come into play for me when the water is too deep to effectively get to fish level, but even then, a change of angle with a floating line and proper mending should get me where I want to be most often. Chuck Hawkins, Hawkins Outfitters (Traverse City, Michigan): I always use sinking tips when streamer fishing. If I really want to get down and penetrate the lower half of the run, whether it be four feet or ten feet, I generally use a sinking tip. Post was not sent - check your email addresses! The floating line will give me the ultimate in sensitivity to ensure I can detect the lightest of strikes. If we’re really going deep, we slip a worm weight (that’s right, like bass fisherman use) on the leader before we tie on the bug. When To Use a Sinking Polyleader vs. a Sink-Tip If you're fishing a 20-foot drop-off, a full sinking line may be a better bet. When using a fly that I will strip or retrieve, I always prefer a sinking tip or sinking line. Last week, we introduced a new weekly “Ask the Experts” Column and asked you to pose some questions for our panel of experts. Problem is, you need to get your flies in and out of the water quickly. The biggest factor when picking your sink tip line is the sink-rate. This line is ideal for use with streamers in medium/hot weather conditions. I will add some split shot, and then adjust accordingly. I really really appreciate the response to my question. If I am fishing faster-paced pocket-water, where I need to get my flies sunk fast but don’t fish them for a very long time before picking up and making another cast, a long tapered fluorocarbon leader off a floating line is my best friend. If it is a large bucket or run, a sinking-tip line is my go-to choice. If I’m dragging bottom and getting hung up, I will take some off. That’s said, there’s a lot of good advice here. John Herzer, Blackfoot River Outfitters (Missoula, Montana): Around Missoula, we primarily fish from boats, so we rarely use full-sinking lines or even sinking tips longer than ten feet when fishing streamers. The sink-tip lines with longer tips can also be used in lakes for trolling or fishing along the edges of shoals. This heaviness causes the line to sink. Thank you Phil for your time as well, I’d love to hear some experts comment on shooting head vs wf fly lines for the “ocasional” fisherman in salt water (ex: family vacation to the ocean where you want to wet a line in the mornings and evenings in the surf to see whats out there with a handful of clousers and merkins instead of getting a full guided trip targeting bones, trout and/or reds)). ST8S type 4 (or 5 depending on manufacturer.) The part of the fly line that sinks is coated with powdered tungsten. When the fly lands on the surface it floats while the sink tip line begins to sink. Close to the fly? One will note that the heaviest tip (type 8) is thinner than the lightest tip … By dividing the river into three sections—upper, mid, and deep—we can create the best set up to address all the above factors and ever-changing conditions that we encounter on any given day on the river. But that’s all they do. We will concentrate on depths between 12 and 36 inches, working the fly fast, then medium speed, and finally with a slow retrieval rate. There are also occasions when the water isn’t that high, but for softness of presentation I want a unweighted fly. Sometimes in a pinch we will add split shot but find that the patterns work best without using split shot. Very well presented info. When it comes to the river, if you’re fishing deeper buckets and faster currents, the weight of the sinking line will allow your wet flies to remain deeper and not float to the top as quickly as floating line would. Depending on water conditions, I use 200- to 350-grain sinking tips in my everyday trout, steelhead, salmon, and smallmouth fishing. We let the following factors determine our set-ups: water temperature, time of year, time of day,  water clarity, and water flow (CFS). When to use a Sink Tip: Sink tips are perfect for swinging flies. The steelhead and brown trout I’m targeting aren’t typically suspended in the water column so getting the fly down deep is critical. Jeff Davis, All Water Guides (Austin, Texas): This is a great question and one that comes up often. Sometimes, it all comes down to the kind of fishing you want to do, but sometimes, it’s just a question of preference. However, you will need a really buoyant point fly to keep everything on top, as smaller patterns can be dragged under. While I paddle, I am shaking more line out of the rod tip until I have the full line out. Again, a sink-tip line can alleviate some of this headache since most of the line floats allowing for improved line management. Fly line … Required fields are marked *. Available lines weights for the Scientific Angler Sonar Sink 30 Clear Tip Fly range from 200 to 400 GR, with grins rates for the first 30 feet of from 13.0g to 25.9g. And with the fly line submerged, the fly will stay down and retrieve more in a straight line rather than upward toward the surface. Since 1856. Casting Speed: When you need to get the fly down but also need to be quick with your presentations, a sink-tip line (especially with a short sinking portion) is a great choice. The denser the line, the quicker it goes down. If you are familiar with conventional fishing methods, the leader is pretty much the same as the fishing monofilament used on … This will be a material that is usually a fairly heavy weight where it attaches to your fly line (the butt section) and will taper down in weight/thickness to the point where the tippet attaches. With a full sinking line, the density is the same or very similar in the entire line. If you find yourself without a sinking line and you know those fish are hanging out in deeper buckets (they’re not coming to the surface), then split shot works to get your floating line down quicker. A bit deeper and you'll fish 5' sinking combined with 5' floating. A sinking fly line is used to fish nymphs and streamers. Essential Equipment to Get Started Fly Fishing – Fly Fishing Basics, Fly Fishing Leader and Tippet: What, Why and How, Video Tip: Two Fly Fishing Knots To Know To Get Started, 10 Things I Wish I Knew When Learning to Fly Fish, The Three Main Types of Flies to Fly Fish for Trout - Fly Fishing Basics, Taking Up Fly Fishing – 5 Basic Tips for Fly Fishing Beginners, Disclosure for The Fly Fishing Basics.com. Then a sink-tip or sinking line can get your fly right down to where the fish will be. You are actually casting the whole line. This is when a sinking line makes most sense. Editor’s Note: I am on assignment today, so here’s a classic post–the very first “Ask the Experts” column. The poly-leader act somewhat like a light weight mini-sink tip. 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