Nymphing with Sinking Lines?

[randyflycaster]

I just finished reading Trout Tactics. In the book Joe Humphreys writes that, if an angler uses sinking lines for nymphing, the line will bow underwater and cause drag.
This makes sense to me. However, Charles Brooks and other anglers of his generation often nymphed with sinking lines. So my question is: How did they avoid drag?

Do any of you folks nymph with sinking lines or sinking polyleaders?

Thanks,

Randy

[appalachian angler]

Brooks and the other advocates of nymphing with sinking lines were probably fishing very short leaders in BIG, swift rivers ?

aa

[Rocketfish]

You can't avoid drag on that way. Simple. I think that they just had some short section without drag and then just a nymph going like a streamer. Fish will take it anyway but that's a different story.
We know that you need a sensitive connection if you go nymphing on the natural style. And there's the floating line.
Regards
R.

[NJTroutbum]

I learned to tight-line nymph with sinking and sink tip lines. Using a 4' leader of Maxima Chameleon and splitshot, I fished the same as if I had a spinning rod with bait. Short & tight line, tapping the splitshot along the bottom keeping constant contact....or control and drag the nymph through the lies....alla'euro-nymphing. Seldom ever having more than a rods-length of line out. I learned in the NE on trout waters in that manner....and it worked like a charm on NW steelies and cuts as well.

Also....I have never found dead-drifting to be necessary when nymphing with splitshot or sinking line. I put the fly where I want it to go.

[Buddy Sanders]

For small streams I prefer a sinking line, heavily weighted fly (or shot), and short leader.

I have a 3 wt. line that has a ten foot fast sink head. I can hold about eight feet of it out the tip, use four or five feet of flouro leader, and put a nymph exactly where I want it. Total control of the drift and position of the fly.

If I get stuck with a floating line and come across a nymphing situation, I'll go with a long leader so the fly line never touches the water.

There's more than one way to do just about anything in fly fishing. I think Joe assumed you'd have to be 'casting' that sinking line, and that 'drag' was the main enemy to success (neither of which is true, of course)....I've noticed quite a bit of that in his writings. Not uncommon, folks tend to assume that everyone fishes/casts/approaches a fishing situation the same way they do....

Buddy