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dafack01

Sink tips in saltwater?

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Does anyone around here use sink tips in saltwater? I live around Savannah, Georgia and sometimes I'll be fishing 5' -10' deep for Reds and Trout (depending on the tides, of course) and I'm wondering if sink tips might be more effective than floating lines and weighted flies.

 

Also, how hard would fishing a sink tip be out of a kayak?

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Cant answer on the specific kayak front but I use a form of sinking line for all my salt work. Either from rocks into deep water where I need depth for longer and across all retrieve, or an intermediate for shore work to stop the fly lifting up too high in the tide pull.

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I'm used to fishing jigs on the bottom, so that's what has me wondering about sink tips. Use a sink tip for when the tide is up and switch to a floater in skinny water. Just don't know how worth it it would be.

 

It would help me consolidate how many flies I need, preventing me from having to tie clousers with huge dumbbell eyes to get down. Might even give my flies better action.

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Lots of folks use sink tips.... but I much prefer an intermediate instead when it's time to work down on the bottom in ten feet (or more) of water.

 

The problem with a sink tip is that the moment you start stripping... your line, and the fly along with it... begin to rise and are no longer where you want them... With an intermediate you make your cast then count down the line and the fly -when it's in the desired zone you begin stripping and the line will simply stay deep all the way home. Intermediates need to be stripped back in before you can clear them (use a roll cast to clear -then make your cast. If you choose to start strpping the moment the fly hits the water your line will be just under the surface (or at any depth you choose. I find intermediates so useful that all of my heavier rods (10wt on up...) are set up with them with rare exceptions. Chumming up big sharks to get a big fly bitten in relatively shallow waters I'll use a floating line. Working migrating giant tarpon down the in Keys (or other super clear waters with tarpon in less than seven feet of water -I'll use a floater for that quick second cast (with the big fish coming at you or passing nearby a second cast is very important and intermediates don't do that well at all). If we're working giant tarpon in rivers or laid up in shallow bays where they're holding in one area then the intermediate shines... Intermediates also really shine in the surf where they sink under the waves so the line never gets "pushed around" the way a floating line does as each wave works its way up onto the beach....

 

There are few other little items about intermediates but most will learn as they go. If you have questions or need addtional info -give me a call (before 9:30pm Eastern, since I'm up many days before 4am when I'm working charters....).

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I bought a sink tip many years ago for my 6 wt, and it became one of the least used lines I owned. I also generally fish in water 10' or less and unless there's any appreciable current, usually go with a floating line & weighted flies. I agree with Capt Bob too about intermediate lines being a far better choice beyond 10'. I have a couple of them with different sink rates I use primarily in the Chesapeake Bay or larger rivers for Striper fishing, choosing a sink rate based on the depth & current speed. With the sinking lines I go to a short leader, and as Capt Bob said, let the line take the fly to the desired depth. I'll use unweighted or lightly weighted flies with these lines unless the current is very strong, then I may also use more heavily weighted flies. I have sinking lines for my 8, 9 & 10 wt rods, and wouldn't even consider buying another sink tip for any of them.

 

One of the things I didn't like about the sink tip was I would lose perspective on how much of the tip was below the surface when drifting a fly, which meant I had a harder time staying in contact with the fly. With the floating line, the leader, tippet & fly is below, while I can still see the end on the line so there's a point of reference. With a full sinking line, it's all below the surface, like fishing with spinning or baitcasting gear except I can see the line better. wink.png

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I won't be able to see my line anyways if/when using a sinking line. The water in the marshes here in SE Georgia is too muddy. Even in winter when the water is clear you can really only see down to 5 feet or so.

 

How deep do you all fish a floating line? Am I just making much ado about nothing?

 

If I end up getting a sinking line of some sort, the thing that will be driving my decision is that many times I don't have the luxury of being able to wait for the fly to sink. In a kayak you just can't control your boat and fish at the same time so I'll need to get my fly to depth quicker than an inch or two per second. If I ever get around to trying to catch a Striper around here I'll definitely need a decently quick sinking line to get my fly down around some of the bridges they like to hang around.

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Well, I fish from my Gheenoe sometimes & it's difficult to control when there's some wind. IMO, you need to control your yak first, anchor if need be & then deal with your casting & line situation. That's been how I deal with the Gheenoe and I mounted anchors front & back that can be released quietly from my seat.

 

I'll fish in water up to about 10' with a floating line. However, most of the places I fish are less than 5' anyway, so a floating line works fine. With the floating line I use a leader & tippet of about the rod length, somewhere in the 8' to 9' length range which will allow the fly to sink to the bottom. But, I'm also often using weighted flies.

 

IMO, you are overthinking this! rolleyes.gif

 

As I said before, I use the sinking line when I'm fishing in places with 10' or deeper water or if there's a strong current. Even if the waters only 5' deep & there's a strong current a faster sinking line gets the fly down much better than a heavily weighted fly alone.

 

I have fished in shallow marsh creeks in NC, SC & up here in MD and IMO a sinking line is not needed usually. But, I have also fished near some inlets with strong currents & a floating line just didn't cut it, so I guess it depends on exactly where you're fishing. I like having the option IF I need it. wink.png

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I've fished water as deep as 10 feet or so with a floating line. I'll tie on a piece of Mono about 12 feet long (two arm pulls from the spool) to get the fly down as deep as it will fall. I am a firm believer that many fish (freshwater) will rise a few feet to take prey ... so it's rarely necessary to get the fly ON the bottom, just near it.

Of course, salt water fish might be different.

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so it's rarely necessary to get the fly ON the bottom, just near it.

 

Mike, for water of 10' or less that's been my experience with saltwater fish as well.

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IMO, you are overthinking this! rolleyes.gif

 

 

I tend to do that! (Insert smiley here but I'm on an iPhone and can't figure out how to insert)

 

I'll just leave well enough alone and save the sink tip for if/when I ever decide to fish some bridges in current for Stripers.

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Here's a pic or two of the actual fly we're fishing deep in river currents for big tarpon (as big as they get...) as well as grouper and big snook at times. These bugs are tied up on heavy 4/0 hooks with large bead chain eyes so they sink at just about the same rate as an intermediate line. Weedguards are always in place as well since downed trees and a rocky bottom in all the rivers that drain the 'glades would claim every fly being dredged deep... These are all feather patterns roughly six to seven inches long and everything is done by feel with your rod tip actually in the water pointing at the fly from the moment you start a long, slow strip. I think the fish's window is pretty small in these dark stained waters but they still manage to eat a lot of flies....

post-30940-0-97358500-1437482233_thumb.jpg

post-30940-0-43475900-1437482254_thumb.jpg

post-30940-0-40736900-1437482306_thumb.jpg

post-30940-0-21119700-1437482325_thumb.jpg

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8 and 9 wt lines in salt water pretty much all I use is intermediate line. As mentioned above , if you want the fly near the surface, just start stipping right after everything lays on the water. Let it sink six inches if you want or six ft.. What's nice about intermediate line is it stays put at the level you sunk it too as you strip. And it sinks slowly so you can hesitate and pretty much suspend a fly mid current for multi seconds at a time. Stripers can't stand that and attack on the next move of the fly ! Often stripers are there, present, and no sign of them but this produces a strike from unseen fish. I fish in some areas where the fish get spooked easy and find that this action going on sub surface gets fish that top water won't. Clousers sink fast, you stop them mid strip they are going down, strip, they are going up, not suspending and stationary. Yet, You got to move them to maintain a level. With intermediate line, you can stop and suspend with an unweighted fly, especially in slightly moving estuary water like I fish in just as slack tide is approaching and leaving..

 

I haven't used floating line in salt water in 20 years. I fish at low tide where some water might be only 3 ft deep or high where some pools might be 15 ft. I've had way more luck fishing sub surface than on top with streamers. On top actually I'd just as soon use poppers and spinning gear. Along our canal out here you pretty much have to actually, because backcasting would snatch some walker by ( busy bike trail/walking trail and Army Corp of Engineers maintenance road is access to the canal). The canal is 500 ft wide anyway and 35 ft deep, the fish often like mid channel, be that on top or otherwise. And they run on the tide, so best to chase them down on a bicycle. You got 7 miles of chances to get one ! Grab your rod and chuck a lure out 175ft. Crude fishing but the fish might be 35 lb. Honestly, give me the choice ? I'll go Land Locked Salmon fishing any day over striper fishing. It's better, it's not a tough on the fisherman or the gear, it's clean clear water, beautiful. And the fish fight all the way in, the striper has a major run and that's that , drag in the sack of potatoes.

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Dafack, the pics shown are all Tarpon Snakes (one of my signature royalty patterns with Umpqua Feather Merchants these past 15 years or so.. the color is always basic black for the Tarpon Snake). They look like Seaducers but the tail is done in the same manner as a Deceiver -not splayed (and it's a bit heavier since it's done with eight large webby saddles - 4 on a side). The body is done with those same wide webby saddles.... I wrote an article on this pattern for the old Flyfishing in Saltwaters magazine and they carried a step-by-step on their site long after the magazine went under - but the last time I checked its no longer there... This bug and one called the Pike Snake are available to shops world wide from Umpqua (and the small royalty check I just deposited is always welcome..). The Umpqua model doesn't get a weedguard.... mine always have one.

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What kind of saddles do you use? That looks like it would be a good inshore redfish fly if tied 4-5" long. Does it ride hook point down?

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