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Best Sinking Fly Lines for Quicker Submersion In The River

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Watching fish rise for a dry fly is exhilarating, but the truth is that fish don’t feed nearly as much on the surface as they do beneath the surface.

Sinking lines are very effective in presenting flies subsurface to cruising fish. And the surprise from a violent yank on the line provides a distinct thrill that is entirely unique to subsurface fly fishing with a sinking fly line.

There is a great variety of applications for sinking fly line. But the real question is: which type of sinking fly line will perform the best for your needs?

Best Sinking Fly Lines on The Market

Scientific Anglers Wetcel Sinking Lines

Scientific Anglers Wetcel Sinking Lines
  • Excellent turnover due to short, powerful head
  • Slow sink rate gets flies just below the surface
  • For temperate climates

The Scientific Anglers Wetcel Sinking Line is an extremely versatile line that provides you with a forward weighting that works for a range of applications.

This is a basic, no frills line that gets the job done. It is ideal for fishing in streams, river, and lakes, allowing you to hook in trout, bass and panfish, to name just a few.

It is built around a braided monofilament core. This is an 80 inch line, with a 5 inch front taper, 20 inch belly, 3 inch rear and the resting being running line.

Line weights range from WF-5-S to WF-8-S, with grain weights for the first 30 feet from 9.1g to 13.6g.

It is ideally suited for cold to medium water conditions. It is best suited to work with nymphs and streamers.

RIO Products Fly Line Intouch

RIO Products Fly Line Intouch
  • The Rio gold has a Special taper design that gives...
  • Lack of stretch also means enhanced detection of subtle...
  • All fly lines are made with pride in our Idaho Fall facility

The Rio Products Mainstream fly line is a general purpose line for the fisherman who will be encountering a range of fish species.

Slightly heavier than you might be used to, this line is designed to help you get the maximum efficiency from your fishing rod. In addition to the heavier weight, you’ll also notice a shorter head length on this line.

It is an 80 foot fly line. The overall length of the head is 30 inches, which includes a 7 inch front taper. The body of the fly line is 25 inches in length and you get a 42 inch running line.

This is a clear running line which makes it invisible to the fish in the water. The sink rate of the Rio Products fly line is 1-5-2.0 inches per second. It has a 30 foot head weight of 8.6 gm.

RIO Mainstream Sinking Fly Line

RIO Mainstream Sinking Fly Line
  • MAINSTREAM TROUT SINK: RIO's Mainstream series of fly lines...
  • QUALITY DESIGN: Slightly heavier, easy casting lines for a...
  • TYPE 6 FULL SINKING FLY LINE: When you need your fly to...

The Rio Mainstream Type 6 Full Sinking Fly Line is designed to cater to the average fisherman who is overwhelmed by the confusing number of fly line choices and simply wants something that will be general purpose.

This line provides you with a short, powerful front taper to provide ease of casting no matter what environment you find yourself in. It has a fast sink rate of 3-4 inches per second.

The line is brown colored. This is an 80 foot line, with a head length of 38 feet nd a head weight of 8.6 gm. The front taper is 4.6 inches, with 32.6 inch body, 3 inch back taper and 40 inch running line.

RIO InTouch Deep Type 5 Fishing Line

RIO InTouch Deep Type 5 Fishing Line
  • Rio's deep 5 is a medium speed sinking line developed for...
  • This line sinks about 5-6 inches per second, which is ideal...
  • All fly lines are made with pride in our Idaho Fall facility

The Rio ‘In Touch’ series of fly lines brings the latest in advanced sinking line technology to still water anglers. The series makes use of two exciting new technologies.

This produces a non-stretch line that hugely enhances the feel that the angler has on the line. This is critical when fishing deep as the feel on the line lets you know what is happening down below.

With an InTouch line, your feeling and perception with be heightened to allow you to keep on top of the action. The other innovative technology is the distinctive hang marker which is built into the fly line.

This is located some 13 feet from the front end of the line. This clearly identifiable marker lets you know when the sinking line is approaching the end of its retrieve. As a result, you will never again strip your sinking line in too close to the cast.

It also provides you with welded loops on the front end of the line. This makes it a piece of cake to rig the line and change leaders fast. This unique range of lines also provides you with a new taper design to give you a more powerful head.

When to Use Sinking Fly Lines

A full sink fly line is a line that is designed to sink down into the water that you are fishing in. It is used to fish for nymphs and streamers.

Trout feed mainly below the surface of the water, so a full sink line makes a lot of sense when going for them. A full sink line is infused with tungsten powder.

This makes it heavier than a conventional fly line causing it to sink more rapidly. Full sink lines vary in their sink rate depending on the amount of tungsten that is infused into the line.

There are a number of sink fly lines that perform somewhat differently to one another. A sink tip fly line is around 90 feet long. The first third of this line is the sinking portion. The rest of the line will float on the surface of the water.

A mini sink tip line is between ten and fifteen feet long. It is added to the end of a floating line. Just this end portion will go under the water. In contrast, a full sink line will completely submerge itself under the water. A full sink line is more difficult to cast than the other types of lines.

An intermediate sink line will maintain a level just below the surface of the water. This is ideal when you are working in a body of water that is full of weeds. You can also get full sink fly lines that are slow, fast and very fast sinking.

FAQs

How to fish with a full sink fly line?

It can be challenging to cast a full sink fly line. To make it easier, you should strip the line and fly in more than you normally would when using a floating line.

You should also make a slight adjustment to your casting stroke. In addition, opening up the casting range of motion will also help. Try to make just a single back cast.

Is the sinking fly line best for trout?

It is a good choice when you are fishing for trout because it allows you to get your fly as close as possible to the mouth of your fish. It allows you to get the fly directly down to where the fish is located, which is something that a floating line simply cannot do.

A trout is likely to lurk on the bottom of the water and then rise to go after the fly. When the fly is at the end of a full sink line, you are able to put the temptation directly in front of the trout. As a result, the fish doesn’t have to travel as far to take the fatal bite.

Wrap-Up

Sinking fly lines are made to sink at a specific rate that is given in inches per second, and is abbreviated ips. Obviously you don’t want to fish a fast sinking line in the water that is too shallow, because you’ll snag the bottom.

But the most important deciding factor in selecting a full sink fly line is at what depth you expect to find the fish feeding. Casting fast sinking line in relatively shallow water will require a faster retrieve.

But if a fast retrieve is what you are after, then a fast sinking line might be the answer. For top performance and the best chance of success, it is super important that you use sinking fly line for the correct application.