I'm Back! And I have a question re:sinking lines/ips

FAOL Community Fly Anglers Online
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Hello, again, FAOLers!

It’s been quite a while since my last attempts, but I’m back to trying the fly thing. I wasn’t overly active on the board last time 'round, but hopefully I’ll get to know some of ya’ll a little better, this time. And, who knows - maybe I’ll learn to catch this time ‘round, and I’ll just keep fishin’ instead of getting frustrated and abandoning it for several months (again).

The Question

I decided to try a sinking line, and, after talking to the sales guy for far too long, I managed to wade through his heavy saltwater bias and select a line to try. Scientific Angler’s Mastery Series Saltwater - Striped Bass. The box says the sink rate is 1.25-1.75 ips.

My question is: since this is a line designed for saltwater, does the sink rate of 1.25-1.75ips mean “in saltwater,” which would yield a faster sink rate in freshwater, or are sink rates maybe standardized as freshwater, yielding a slower-than-advertised sink rate in the salt?

I’m pulling for 1.25-1.75ips in saltwater, faster in fresh, but it doesn’t really matter. Mostly I’m just wanting to know, and the sales guy couldn’t tell me. I have no doubt, though, that more than a couple of you FOALers will know. :wink:

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Saltwater is more dense than freshwater. The line will sink slightly faster in freshwater as you noted, but not significantly so.

I fish saltwater and freshwater frequently and use sinking lines most of the time. I do not try to compensate by using slower sinking lines in freshwater because the difference is not that great - at least I have never noticed.

It is more of an issue for some floating lines. SW floating lines are often a bit more dense than FW floating lines, so SW floaters do not float has high, or may even sink very slowly in freshwater. In the waters of Southern California I pretty much use freshwater and saltwater lines interchangeably.

Whether line makers standardize for fresh vs saltwater, I don’t know. Many lines are advertised for fresh an saltwater.

This would be a good question for Bruce Richards at Scientific Anglers. He can be reached at bwrichards@mmm.com (this is the addr he has posted online)