Last year I started using sinking fly lines in the saltless water and now actually prefer using them. They seem to shoot better and get the fly to where the fish can see it. I have a 9 wt that I have been using for the salt with a floating line. My luck did not seem to be so great last year. I am pondering dropping a buck twenty for a new spool and sinking line for the salt.
My question is what do most of you guys use for the salt, particuarly for stripers? I figure that the almighty D. Micus, king of the salty kayak should have some input. I just purchased myself a kayak and really hope to hit the salt hard this year, too many brakers for the open top canoe in previous attempts. Thanks
Who has time for stress when there are fish to catch.
Nick
[This message has been edited by Micropteris (edited 26 April 2005).]
Hi,
I’ve been using a clear intermediate sinking with pretty good luck the past few years.
Having said that, my son bought me the Orvis Wonderline that happens to be a floater soooo. I’m going to give it a try and I’ll let you know how I make out.
Intermediate if fishing from shore, a fast-sink shooting head or sinktip if fishing from a boat.
Since this is largely a distance game, undelining by one line weight might help you cast a bit further. Works for me.
I use an intermediate line for top water and shallow water, a sinking line for anything that is deeper than say 8 feet. I use floating if I forget my other spools or on occaision where I am going after Bluefish and they are all on the top water. Makes for a quicker and easier pickup.
The almighty d. micus only give input when paid…but i’ll make an exception. i fish a clear intermediate about 95% of the time, espeically from the kayak. I’ll fish a floater from shore now and again if i’m using the two handed rod or if i want to fish a gurgler. I love the air flo clear intermediate–i fish mine hard, it’s 3 or 4 years old, and still in great shape. have fun with the yak!
I fish both intermediates and floaters, but in the surf, deep water, and very windy conditions I like a full sink.
The full sink cuts through the wind like a hot knife through butter.
Deep rips… the only way to go.
And in the high surf, my favorite, a full sink will get your fly down below the wild water fast.
Some will say that a full sink makes for tough line control…hogwash.
Like to pose another question regarding stripers…I’d like to fish from a boat drifting and need to get the line down. Keep in mind I said drifting…average depth to the bottom 30’ …sink tip or full sinking line??
Out here on the west coast, where most striper fishing is done from boat, a typical set up is a 9wt rod with a shooting head made from 27-30 feet of Cortland LC-13 leadcore flyline or Rio T-14 paired with either an intermediate shooting line or Amnesia mono for a shooting line. You can effectively fish water from about 5ft to 30feet with this setup.
Smernsky: I prefer a full sinking line, I use both a density compensated Rio sinking line, and cortland QD series lines. Both work well to get flies deep.
I plan to experiment with sink tips this year, and thus cannot comment on them in the salt.
Tailingloop that lead core setup sounds pretty interesting. Being able to make up a custom flyline instead of buying a prefab one seems like it would be easy to modify for varying conditions. Do you fuse, glue, ect the two lines together? Any knots 30 ft into the flyline seem like they would be a problem for shooting. What is amnesia mono I have never heard of it? Is it just a memory free mono and what size would make a good flyline and how expensive is it?
Who has time for stress when there are fish to catch.
Nick
Micropteris,
Tailing Loop is right on the money with the shooting head/Amnesia system. A good friend of mine from the left coast set me up with a couple of shooting head systems that I used on my SW safari. It is the best! (Many thanks, Dave E.!) You simply install braided loops on each end of your shooting head for a smooth transition that causes little problem in casting. I have heads in all weights from 8 to 13 and from floating to LC, including many in-between sink rate heads. What is so good about this system is that you can carry several different sink rate heads with you to cover many different water depths, without having to change spools or full-length lines. There are several websites that will instruct you on constructing the braided loop system for shooting heads. Give them a whirl!