Sink Tip
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Doing a fly line over haul this winter. Looking for recommendations. Here’s the application: Drift boat, big water, banging the bank, casting double bunnies and sex dungeons all day using z axis 6 weight.
Interested in ideas for the best sink tip for this application. The Rio Steamer Tip – Clear 210 grain is out in front so far – can I do better?
Thanks in advance.
KbThe Rio is a good choice but are the flies weighted? How deep is the water in the strike zone along the bank. If the flies are weighted and the water is no more than 3 feet deep at near end of the strike zone, I generally just go with a floating line. My expierence is that the better fish will hit within the 1st 3 or 4 strips. Why beat yourself up when you do not need to.
Actually, a well matched rod and shooting head is much easier to cast then a floating line with a big streamer on the end. If I’m throwing anything larger then a 12, I’ll be throwing a shooting taper line of some sort.
KB, my favorite Trout/Streamer setup is an Xi3 6wt with a 250 grain head of some sort. The head should be 25′ to 30′ for my liking. The Streamer Express clear tip would be a great choice or Rio Streamer tip in a comparable grain wt.
Lately I’ve started using suffix 30 pound mono for backing and shooting line. You can make all kinds of heads for it but you’ll have to play around to get them just right. It shoots and lays in the boat floor better then any of the integrated lines IMO. It’s thin dia allows your head to sink faster but it is more challenging when you get a large fish on. I’ve managed to get used to it and have landed some nice very Striper using it over the last couple of years.
SE Long all the way. Click Here
Adjust your flies to match your situation. If you’re fishing shallow banks, use unweighted flies. If you are fishing deeper water, throw flies with big heavy eyes.
I tend to stick with a 200 gr shooting head on a 6wt (or integrated shooting head like the SE Long). Casts nicer and jumping up to a 250 gives you an insignificant increase in sink rate. Remember, a 6 wt is a 160 grains – adding another 40 isnt a big deal but adding another 90 can make things get wobbly. Just for some perspective, a 9wt is 240 grains…
Of course, some people get away with 250, especially with a super stiff rod like Mike’s throwing.
It depends on where you are fishing. In tailwaters – the Delaware, Missouri – that don’t have a lot of underwater debris I use an SA 15′ sink tip. (I’m sure brand is irrelevant.) I think it gets the big Gallup flies down faster and helps them track along the bottom for the first few strips. For most Western rivers I use a floating line to save those $5 streamers from the underwater forest if it’s like the Bitterroot, but go back to the sink tip for deep holes. I think its just like nymphing – you must get the fly down in front of big fish.
Of course, some people get away with 250, especially with a super stiff rod like Mike’s throwing.
I can’t imagine a much sweeter casting set up then the one I mentioned above. Admittedly I am bad at overlining my sink tips in order to let the rod do more of the work. Another favorite of mine is the 350 on an Xi3 or CPX 9’wt.
My first sink tip was a 350 that I fished on a fast 7wt that I built. I did that for years because it caught fish. I still do it from time to time. It’s easy to dampen the back cast by releasing some line on the back cast, then feathering the forward haul initially. In a tailwater with lots of CFS and blue skies the extra weight getting down and “staying down” can make the difference. Some days it doesn’t matter.I guess my point in all this is that grain wt guides are just that, guides. Sometimes the situation calls for a heavier line and unless you want to Trout fish with a 10wt,,, you adapt.
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