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Sink Tip Lines


asherman

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Are any of you guys using sink tip lines for smallie fishing? I've had a Teeny Mini Sink tip line for several years, but until my last few times out, I really haven't used it all that much. Now that I've used it, I really like the way that it performs. It turns over bulky flies well, casts great in windy conditions, and most important, it really helps to keep the fly close to the bottom with most presenations. I get snagged on the bottom more often, but if I'm ticking the bottom, I have the fly where I want it. It is much more enjoyable to cast than a a floating line with a sinking leader.

 

The only downside to using this line is that I have to switch spools if I decide to fish topwater flies. What are your experiences with sink tip lines?

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Are any of you guys using sink tip lines for smallie fishing? I've had a Teeny Mini Sink tip line for several years, but until my last few times out, I really haven't used it all that much. Now that I've used it, I really like the way that it performs. It turns over bulky flies well, casts great in windy conditions, and most important, it really helps to keep the fly close to the bottom with most presenations. I get snagged on the bottom more often, but if I'm ticking the bottom, I have the fly where I want it. It is much more enjoyable to cast than a a floating line with a sinking leader.

 

The only downside to using this line is that I have to switch spools if I decide to fish topwater flies. What are your experiences with sink tip lines?

 

I regularly use a Rio line with a 15' sink tip built in. As you say, it keeps the fly close to the bottom and allows you to control the fly really well.

 

To solve you problem of changing spools to go to topwater, try a shooting head instead of a built in sink tip and you can swap it out fast and when you need to.

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If I need to get deeper than I can with a floating line, I use a full sinking shooting head. I usually only use it when the water is unusually high or fast. I've caught fish on the Fox when it was almost unsafe to wade because the water was so high and fast. I don't think I would have caught anything without the full sinking line. It casts a mile too.

 

I've never tried a regular sink tip line. What depths are you fishing with it?

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If I'm fishing around here with the sink tip, I fishing from 1 to 6 feet in depth. I've found very few places in the rivers around here where the water gets much deeper than than that. The 5 foot sink tip on the Teeny line that I have is made for fishing relatively shallow water and I can use it effectively in a foot of water depending upon the weight of the fly that I am using. If I wanted to fish deeper than five or six feet, I would need a longer sink tip or something like a shooting head.

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I have been using a five foot sink tip line for years. It's very effective in getting and keeping a fly near the bottom. Yes it hangs up once in awhile but if you didn't, you're not deep enough. The heavier the current, the more I like sinking lines. It's also easier to cast than more lead. As for a floating line too...bring another rod. With one rod changing lines is just one of the downfalls of fly fishing, like fly line hanging up on everything. All you can do and I really hate to say this, is "deal with it".

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Guest Mark P

It is rather easy to make shooting heads in various lengths.

 

Purchase some "Deep Water Express" or other "heavier" full sinking line and cut it in various lengths. Apply loop connections to each end and your ready for any depth and flow. Hinging at the connections is only a minor issue.

 

I probably have made 20 tips over the years for my steelhead fishing and swinging trout streamers on bigger water and they work great.

 

Mark

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I use a slow sinking rate 3M line. If the need reqires I'll add a splitshot or wrap the line with a piece of thin lead tape.

 

A good source for a thin lead tape is the lead covers from dental X-ray films. Ask you dentist for his. I a week or two you'll have enough for a small anchoe.

 

Oh! They are great for building up weighted nymph and streamer bodies, too!

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