Fishing Techniques:

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Why Sinking Lines?

Practically any angler, regardless of the tackle setup they’re using, will agree that for high drama it’s difficult to beat the experience of a surface strike where a highly aroused predator is bent on devouring your offering. Whether it’s a calico bass or a striped marlin, the sensation of a fish crashing the surface in pursuit of a top water meal is an adrenaline-pumping scenario.

In the salt-water realm, those fly fishers who have connected with their first yellowfin tuna are not likely to forget the experience, and my mine is especially memorable because I caught it on a popper. It was on one of my innumerable long- range trips aboard the Royal Polaris. This was so long ago that Tommy Rothery, who currently skippers the Polaris Supreme, was still in his deckhand days. He was chumming from atop the aft bait tank and had a school of yellowfin in an absolute feeding frenzy.

Some of the passengers finally let me slide into the stern corner, where I made a roll cast to the blitzing tuna. In a shower of froth, the popper was taken almost as soon as it hit the surface. It’s an experience I’ve been fortunate to repeat many times over.

However, exciting as this is, my most consistent action on yellowfin, and most other species for that matter, takes place well below the surface. Given this reality, sinking lines are an indispensable component in the saltwater fly fisher’s tackle repertoire, particularly if fishing Southern California and Baja waters.

This is not to imply that floating lines do not have their place. For most shallow water flats fishing, this line is probably your best choice. And in California waters when the predators start feeding on top, the floating line is ideal for getting you into the action. It’s also the line I recommend for beginning casters, particularly when trying to master the techniques of loop formation and line control. But if you want to open an incredible window of opportunity for saltwater species on the fly, you’ll have to learn how to present your offerings with sinking lines.

When I began my fly fishing career, the only lines you could buy were of the floating variety. I had to rely on the inventiveness of pioneers like the late Myron Gregory and Harry Kime to get my hands on lines that would plumb the depths. Myron introduced me to lead-core shooting heads, and Harry showed me how to make a sinking line out of a floater. Harry would sand down the finish of a floating line and coat it with a lead mixture that he concocted. It was a messy job, but the lines produced, especially on the yellowtail in Baja that were one of Harry’s favorite targets.

Even in fairly shallow water, sinking lines can prove invaluable. Any time you’re confronted with the prospect of strong tidal currents, getting a fly down, even in less than six feet of water, can be a problem if you are not using a sinking line. Fishing barred perch in the surf is a good example. The perch may only be in a few feet of water, but most of the sand crabs they are searching for are on or near the bottom. It stands to reason then that to draw strikes with any consistency, you’ll have to get the fly very close to where their prey is. In this case, even though the water may be fairly shallow, the surf is a turbulent environment so even heavily weighted patterns like a Clouser or a Jiggy are not going to reach bottom with a floating line. To get into the strike zone in circumstances like these, you’ll need a sinking line.

Another application for sinking lines in shallow water is when you want to fish a floating pattern like Popovics’ Cotton Candy or Joe Blados’s Crease Fly subsurface. Flies like these take on whole new dimensions when fished on sinking lines. When you start the retrieve, they’ll slip below the surface and swim like a diving plug. Calico bass, yellowtail, Dorado, and yellowfin tuna are some of the species that have fallen for this type of presentation.

If you venture offshore with only a floating line you are severely handicapping yourself. But the same cannot be said where sinking lines are concerned. Even when fish are feeding on top, this often resembles the proverbial tip of the iceberg in the sense that most of the action is actually happening well below the surface. This is especially the case with offshore predators like yellow fin. You will pick up a lot more fish by getting your fly down.

The other thing to bear in mind is that even fly lines designated as fast sinking don’t go down anywhere near as fast as something like a lead sinker or heavy metal jig. What this means is that you can cast into breaking fish with a sinking line and still be right in the in the strike zone. All you have to do is start stripping line the instant the fly hits the water. Since some of the fastest fly line sink rates are in the range of 7 to 9.5 inches per second, by commencing the retrieve early, the fly is still going to be relatively close to the surface.

The point to all this is that sinking lines can significantly increase your catch ratio. When you learn to use these lines, new windows of opportunity will develop. However, despite their proven effectiveness, there are many fly-fishers who would rather not use them. Their reluctance is largely due to the problems they have casting this type of line. But it’s a problem that is easily overcome. You simply have to realize that these lines require a slightly different casting technique than that ordinarily used with floating lines.