using a sinking line

[JSzymczyk 0]

there is no correct answer. Last weekend I was catching trout from my kayak in a lake not too far from home, water temp was 39 degrees in the main part, and there was ice in the upper end. I ended up finding the fish right on the surface over the deepest part of the lake, 25 to 33 feet of water and was catching them just subsurface, within a foot. There was NO insect activity that I could find.

[tidewaterfly 0]

I agree with Joel. There is no right or wrong answer. Whether or not a sinking line would be better than a floating could depend on many factors. I fish primarily in tidal rivers & creeks & use both floating & sinking lines. These are shallow waters, generally less than 10 ft, and most places less than 5 ft. However, there can be strong currents so a sinking line works better than the floating much of the time when there is current. (Tidal current strengths vary as the tide changes.) Most of the time the floating line is fine for me.

 

You may not have current to contend with, or you may. In that case, a sinking line could be useful. If the waters are relatively shallow, such as 10' or less, you could likely be OK with the floating line. In colder water, even fishing for trout you should be fishing slow, so you'll have to wait on the flies to sink, particularly with the floating line. Trout may be active, but what they might be feeding on may be moving slower & closer to the bottom. So, again the sinking line might be warranted to get the fly down faster, and especially if the fish may be found closer to the bottom.

 

There are also sinking lines of various sink rates. What you might want would depend again on the situation. In very deep water, a faster sinking line might be better than one that sinks slower.

 

There's a lot to consider here. IMO, & for the fishing I do most, I like having both floating & sinking lines as it provides more options, and do have a couple of sinking lines with different sink rates. That may not be the case for everyone or necessary for your specific situation.

 

Of course too, conditions may change so that one day the sinking line is what you need, while another day the floater will be a better choice.

 

I remember a buddy & I fishing a small state owned pond here in MD one winter for bass & panfish, where the weather warmed up greatly that day & we caught fish on surface flies later in the day. It was February! We started out with sinking lines, but ended up switching as we noticed surface activity. It's nice to have the options when you need them!

[Istripbuggers 0]

I fish lakes a lot, especially in the winter for trout. Having a sinking line or tip will most likely help depending on what your throwing. I prefer a tip so I can change out to a dry without switching spools. And full sink lines suck to cast, but there's a place and a time for those, too. My catch rate improved dramatically when I started using a sinking tip on the end of my floating line, For many reasons. One big one is less time waiting for your fly to sink where you want it which means more time fishing. Another is when stripping back wolly buggers (my favorite fly for general trout fishing in lakes) it keeps the bugger at a greater depth, keeping the fly in the trouts face longer. That and the obvious reason of getting down deeper should be enough to spend $10.00 on a rio 7 ft 3.5 ips (inches per second) sink tip...

 

-Miles