sinking floating line --Help

[Eric-WD]

At the fish-in my "floating line" was sinking for the first few feet, pulling my fly under my alternitives were to use large (size eight) poly cadis or switch to wets. I cleaned the line when I got home and there was little dirt on it. Was this due to a dirty line or is there somthing I can put on to add floating ability.

Any help greatly appreciated.

Eric

[Jed]

Clean the line with an approprite method (somewhat ine specific) or minimally with warm water and a little soap.

Let it dry and then apply line dressing or some floatant to the offending section of line.

jed

[Bamboozle]

Eric:

Dirt will do it every time! Unfortuantely a heavy application of floatant can actually attract MORE dirt. Getting into the habit of cleaning your line after each use will pay the most dividends.

Contact the line manufacturer or check their website and do what THEY recommend maintenance wise.

For example, I prefer Rio lines and they suggest cleaning after each use with soap & water only, no detergents, and treating with a LIGHT application of a pure silicone product like Poo Goo.

So I clean them with Ivory Soap & water after each use and do the Poo Goo thing and they float like a cork and a few of them are more than a few seasons old.

BTW, the whole cleaning, Poo Goo process takes me less than 10 minutes. It is well worth the effort and time invested.

Another possible cause of a sinking line tip is water wicking into the end of the line. As a precaution I seal the end of my fly lines with a dab of Loon UV Knot Sense.

[J Castwell]

The 'currents and seams' were nasty and tried to drag everyones line under. Mending was very important to get any drift. Perhaps some dirt was a problem, but I will blame it on the very tricky water surface.

[Eric-WD]

Thanks for the help everyone.

I didn't have this problem untill the last day when I was fishing faster water.

From Now on I will clean my line daily and learn to mend.

Eric

[Ron Eagle Elk]

Eric,

Good seeing you in Lowell. I had a similar problem with a fairly new line, cleaned and maintained according to the manufacturer. The line felt rough when I was casting so I checked carefully and there were cracks in the line's coating.

If the lines are clean and your mending properly, check the coating for cracks.

REE

[danbob]

I had the same problem mostly in the fast water on the Lochsa last week too, Eric -- just like JC mentioned. I did clean my line a couple times during the fish-in, but I also noticed-- those #$*&^#$^ cutthroat in Lowell were so adept at diving into the rocks after I hooked them, the front 3-4 feet of my line is full of nicks where the line abraded on the rocks. It's definitely absorbing water, I'll probably end up replacing it. It was worth it, what a great Fish-in, great folks, and and lots of great fish!
DANBOB

[MarkKillam]

Yep...sounds familiar to me as well. The currents can play a part so being able to mend makes a difference. I had a few instances where I was trying to work a fish that was a ways out and had to work across four or five different current lines. I frequently got a very short drift, so instead I would try to line the fly up so that right as the line started to sink, I would swing the fly in front of the fish, or as soon as the fly started to sink I would give a couple of quick strips and they would hit the fly then. I caught probably as many fish this way as I did on a dead drift (especially while working across the river and with multiple currents). I just used the sinking fly/line to my advantage instead of trying to fight it. I found an Elk Hair Caddis swung across the river just slightly submerged would catch fish just as easily as if it was skated across the surface or while on a dead drift.

In my case it didnt help that my fly line was already pretty much trashed. I knew heading out to ID that I was in need of a new line. I tried cleaning mine but it really didnt make a difference for me. I trashed my leaders as well, completely shredded a leader in one day up on the Selway from cutts dragging the leader against every rock in the river. I am sure it didnt help my fly libe either. So if your leader is feeling a bit rough, then the same thing is happening to your fly line as well (in my case it probably made my worn out fly line even worse than it already was.)
If you clean your line regularly it will help you some but if your line is cracked then it is a bit more difficult.

Anyways, its little things like these where you learn something at a Fish-In that add to an already great experience.

[TomTrout]

Eric,
I have a question have you ever cut the tip of your line? If you have, the core may be soaking up water causing the tip to sink.You need to reseal the tip with goop to reseal the core.

Tom

[Eric-WD]

have you ever cut the tip of your line?

No, I have never cut off the tip. But thanks for the suggestion.
I was out at my local pond yesterday and noticed that my clean line was sinking at the tip, just not as bad as when I had been fishing the river, I will be in the market for a new line and keep this one for casting practice.

Eric