Most sinking fly lines we see today are known as uniform sink lines. What that means is after your cast is made the line belly and the line tip sink at the same rate and the same depth. Uniform lines are wonderful tools for stillwater fly anglers, especially when casting into shoals and stripping your flies away from the shore line. As your line sinks it leaves your fly following the contour of the lake bottom and keeps your fly in the strike zone longer during your retrieve. There are many techniques one can use when fishing with a uniform line and in most cases, these lines surpass the benefits of traditional sink lines.
The traditional sink line, also known as a standard sink line, forms a belly in the line as it sinks leaving the thinner tip section of line higher up in the water column. These older style lines have, for the most part, been replaced with uniform lines but can still be found and still perform extremely well in certain situations. I have to admit, when I reach for a sinking line, I’ll put on a uniform line 90% of time but there are still situations when the traditional sink line is exactly what is needed.
Fishing the shoal
Working The Shoal
Casting into the shallows and stripping your presentation into deeper water is a technique used by pretty much every stillwater fly angler. Trout like to sit at the drop-off of a shoal waiting for aquatic life to move beyond the drop-off where they’ll take advantage. There are times however where success can be found casting into deeper water and retrieving your presentation up into the shoal. The dragonfly nymph migration is just one of these situations. The drop-off provides a deep water shelter and cooler temperatures during the summer months as well as convenience to quick shopping trips as trout can easily move up the drop-off, feed and then drop back down again. Crawling along the bottom, dragonfly nymphs will migrate towards shore, crawl out of the water and find a place where they can split their shuck and emerge into their adult stage. During this migration trout have the opportunity to feed either in their holding water at the drop-off or will move up the drop-off and forage for these migrating nymphs. This is when I’ll reach for my tradition sink lines. These lines offer the angler the ability to closely follow the contour of the lake bottom by letting the belly of the line sink. The fly will follow the “U” shape of your line as the line is retrieved. Experimenting with leader length and using the count down method will be key to keeping your fly from picking up debris from the bottom.
The Boatman Fall
Working A Buoyant Boatman
Another situation where traditional lines work extremely well is the boatman fall. In autumn, when the boatman make their migration from one water body to another, they fall from the sky and head down into the water column looking for bottom. Because boatman are air breathing insects, they must continually surface to trap an air bubble so they can breath. This repetitive task has the boatman constantly moving in a “U” shape and a traditional sink line can take full advantage of this behaviour. Although weighted and un-weighted patterns both work with this method, a buoyant pattern with a long leader works incredibly well. By simply casting out your boatman fly, let your tradition fly line sink forming it’s belly while the buoyant patter remains on top of the surface. The long leader will ensure your line sinks to a decent depth before you start your retrieve. Once your fly has been pulled under the surface, it will follow the “U” shape of your line when being retrieved. Using an erratic retrieve will simulate the natural struggle of the boatman as it fights the air bubble while swimming down to find bottom. Your buoyant pattern will want to rise up during your pause on the retrieve while the pattern dives down with every strip of the line. Hits can come at any time but from my experience, most action will be seen while the fly is traveling from the bottom to the surface.
These are just two of my favorite techniques to use with a traditional sink line but there are many more situations where a traditional line can be a useful tool for the stillwater fly angler. Fishing weed beds like Chara while using a booby fly and the appropriate length of leader to keep your presentation just above the top of the weeds while your traditional line is being dragged through the vegetation is just one other scenario. Regardless of what situations you use a traditional sink line, it can be just what’s needed on that certain day and worth having in your arsenal.
Mike (Doc) Monteith is the owner/guide of AlbertaStillwaters.Com specializing in one-on-one introduction to stillwater fly fishing clinics.
