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buckybrews

using a sinking line

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I'm curious if it's necessary to use sinking line for fishing a 5 acre urban pond thats stocked with trout for the winter. I have a couple 5 wts rods, but only floating line. Any help would be great.

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I am often using sinking line, first of all on the days when there is no action at the surface. When fish is not active (it happens in winter rather often) it is a good idea to fish a small Wooly Bugger deep, along the bottom.

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Since you don't mention where this "urban pond" is ... it's hard to answer your question.

Here, in Central Florida ... one uses the same type lures all year long.

In the slightly more northern States, you might have to go deep, but will find many fish suspended. A floating line works fine, but you might need to lengthen the leader to allow the fly to sink deeper. This works well, since the fly line itself acts as your bobber ... strike indicator.

In the frozen North ... a sinking line will work well, if it punches through the ice on the forward cast.

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From what I've gathered from videos and this site ... Trout like colder temperatures, they'll be more likely to feed long after bass and sunfish have hunkered down. You might not need to do anything special.

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In the frozen North ... a sinking line will work well, if it punches through the ice on the forward cast.

 

I have yet to see that happen smile.png

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In the frozen North ... a sinking line will work well, if it punches through the ice on the forward cast.

 

I have yet to see that happen smile.png

 

That was meant to be a joke Frenchy. ;0

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I'd probably go with midge pupa and larvae under an indicator. If you can, fish 2 flies about 12 inches apart. Blood worm a few inches from the bottom (any red midge really), and whatever you like above that, zebra midge, copper tiger, etc. Olive and gray seem to work especially well at times too.

 

Don't forget to twitch it either. Not constantly, but one a minute or so.

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Heavynets, would I want to strip with the midges or just keep them in suspension with a little tug every now and again

Lake midges tend to be a little larger than stream midges, so hopefully you are matching the hatch and casting to rising fish. I would use a #7 tippet and at least 9' leader that lightly lets the gnat sit down. Then just let it be, they see it.

 

If they are not rising then I would tend to go with a streamer rather than fishing blind. You can cover more area quickly that way.

 

If they have recently been stocked, a pellet fly might be the trick!

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In the frozen North ... a sinking line will work well, if it punches through the ice on the forward cast.

 

I have yet to see that happen smile.png

 

That was meant to be a joke Frenchy. ;0

 

What he said !!!

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You don't need a sinking line. As mentioned before midges under an indicator will work during cold weather. Wooly buggers and other small streamer type flies like hornberg (some will frown on it but I use splitshot to get a hornberg down deep), muddler minnow, ect.... Use a leader at least as long as the depth of the water and let it sink down to the bottom (fish tend to hang out near the bottom in cold weather as it is warmer there than higher in the water column) retrieve it nice and slow be patient. Everything aquatic moves slower in cold weather.

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Municipal ponds are usually not that deep, so either nymphs or a weighted fly should get down deep enough, as mentioned (be sure to try the San Juan worm). The nice aspect of a full sink line is that it will keep a fly at a constant depth longer, which sometimes has its advantages but for an urban environment, you would not need more than an intermediate line.

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