Georgia Fly Fishing Blog

Posted By Kent Klewein on February 14, 2009

Demystifying Sinking Lines for Trout

Part 1: River Fishing

By:  James Buice

Sinking fly lines are a valuable tool in trout fisherman’s arsenal, however many anglers do not fully understand the various designs and corresponding uses for these specialty lines.  To effectively fish a sinking fly line, you must first understand how a particular line’s design benefits a given fishing situation.  Numerous manufactures offer sinking lines in varying lengths, weights, and designs, giving the angler innumerable options from which to choose.  In order to understand the bountiful selection put forth by the flyline manufactures, let’s begin by wading in and translating the catalog tech-speak into plain fish talk.

Sinking fly lines can be broken down into two broad categories; full sinking lines and sinking-tip, or integrated shooting head, lines.  Full sink lines do just what the name implies, the entire line sinks.  Sinking tip lines utilize a tip, usually a 7 to 30′ section of sinking line which is attached to a segment of floating or intermediate line.  full sinking lines are quite useful in still-water situations, however I believe they lack the versatility of the sinking tip versions for scenarios in moving water and can be much tougher for wading anglers to manage.  while full-sink lines are oftentimes preferred for still-water trout fishing applications, modern day sinking tip lines are easier to cast and manage while fishing rivers than their full sink counterparts.  That said, let’s take a look at the various sinking tip lines available and how to make the most of them on the river.

The vast majority of sinking tip lines come in either short head or long head configurations.  Shorter heads have a short, heavy section at the tip and are best used for dredging or chuck and duck fishing situations.  these lines have heads between 7 and 10 feet in length connected to a fat floating line section to aid in suspending the heavy sinking tip.  Longer head lines are better suited for stripping or swinging flies in larger bodies of water and utilize heads between 24′ and 32′ joined to a much thinner floating or intermediate line.

Sinking-tips are rated by either the overall weight of the sinking head-measured in grains, or by how quickly they line is designed to sink, the rate of descent represented by a numerical typing system.  Lines that are measured by tip weight can range from 50 grains up to 750 grains, however, 100-300 grains will cover most non-anadromous trout fishing situations on the rivers.  The weight of the sinking head will determine how fast the line sinks and what weight of fly rod you should use when casting the line.  For instance, a 150 grain line would be best suited for a 5-7 weight fly rod and sink at a rate of 5-6 inches per second, whereas a 300 grain line would be better suited for a 7-9 weight fly rod with an approximate 7-8 inches per second rate of descent.

Lines using the numerical typing system are intended for use with a particular rod weight and come in various sinking rates, usually three to eight inches per second depending on the “type”.  The rating system begins with a Type 2 sink rate, which is the lightest rating and has a corresponding sinking rate of 1.5-2″ per second.  The higher the “type” number, the faster the sinking rate (i.e. Type III lines sink at 2-3.5″ per second, Type IV lines sink around 4-5″ per second, and so on).

The line you choose should match the type of water and the method of fishing you plan to do.  For deep, faster water where stripping or swinging streamer patterns is the norm, a long head sinking line in the 6-8 inch per second category would be a solid choice.  For slower water, a lighter head will do as it is free to sink without the hindrance of heavy currents washing the line downstream before it can break through the surface current.  it would be impossible to illustrate every river angling scenario where sinking lines can be employed, but there are some basic techniques that will prove useful in most angling situations.

Part 2:  Techniques and Scenarios for Sinking Lines, By:  James Buice

This will be posted down the road.  For now, just let this sink in   I know it’s a lot to digest, but it’s critical for fly anglers looking at diversifying there game.

Categories: Fly Fishing, Gear Reviews
Tags: Demystifying Sinking Lines, Fly Fishing with Sinking Lines, James Buice, Sink-Tip Fly Lines, Sinking Fly Lines, Understanding Sinking Fly Lines