Heavy sinking lines

[sbeausol]

I have found that my 15' sinktip fly line is not very suitable for dredging some of the deeper holes many of our larger rivers contain. For example, if I want to try to fish deep, I find myself waiting 30-45s + prior to stripping the line back in. In that time my fly rarely ends up were I am intending, and my drift is less than good....

Anyone have any suggestions for a good sinking setup to use on rivers for fishing deep holes 8'+ with a 5 wt? I am not worried about casting far, but rather getting down to where some of the bigger fish typically feed. I have heard the the lightest orvis depth charge would work, but haven't tried it.

Any thoughts?

[fessiewig]

I've come to believe a very long leader is the best way to get you fly down on the bottom FAST. 15 to 20 foot leaders on a floating line will take care of most "deep" spots in our rivers and for those occasions where they won't, just add some tippit. That's my take.

[sbeausol]

that is a good point - I've never tried it. Would you go so far to say that a setup like that is equal or better than a sinking tip style?

[fessiewig]

Nymph fishing has evolved to that set-up for a lot of very good nymph fishers. Lot of advantages . . . only one fly line to worry about . . . because you're using a dry line you have better control of it . . . . . the currents in the river have less effect on a leader than they do on a sink-tip line.

[RichShady603]

15-20 ft leader good idea I never thought about that...
Last year I bought about a dozen 18ft 5x leaders at the orvis outlet in N. Conway.. they had them marked down to 1.00 from 6.95. At the time I wasn't sure why I was buying them. Thanx

[Steve H.]

I have a spare spool for my Ross Cimmeron 2 (5-6 wt.) rigged with Teeny T200 (200 grain sink-tip). This stuff is absolutely fantastic when you need to get deep with nymphs or streamers, such as on the Androscoggin, Connecticut, or even pond/lake fishing. Works great for trolling too. I think it's got 30' of an extremely fast-sinking head seamlessly joined to a floating running line. I also have my striper reel rigged with T350, which is basically all I use for striper fishing, unless they're busting on top.

[sbeausol]

The Teeny T200/130 looks like it might be what I am looking for. How well can you manage when fishing rivers? Also, how difficult it is to hit those deep drifts as planned?

This may be the way to go. Any thoughts on 130 vs 200 grain... I am going to use it on my 5 wt

[Steve H.]

According to Jim Teeny's website (DON"T go to www.teeny.com if you're looking for fly lines!!), the specs for these two lines are as follows:

T130 - 130gr. - 4"/sec. sink rate - 4-6 wt. line - slow-medium flow
T200 - 200gr. - 5.5"/sec. sink rate - 5-8 wt. line - medium-fast flow

I primarily fish with a G. Loomis IMX 8 1/2' 5 wt. and I have T200 spooled on a Ross Cimmeron 2. I definitely have no problem fishing the T200 with this setup, but this may be because the IMX is such a fast-action rod. (I actually upline this rod to a floating DT6 for most of my fishing.) If your fishing with a similarly fast rod, I'd say go with the T200. If you're using a slower-action rod, you might want to stick with the T130.

[BugChucka]

I have the Teeny for my Striper setup....AWSOME line!!!! I use a Rio type 6 fully sinking line for freshwater applications. You can comfortably fish splitshot and weighted nymphs on a leader and get down a good 10ft. If it's deeper than that I whip out the "dredge line" I love this line for pond fishing and it shoots excellent.

[sbeausol]

thanks for the response...

I am thinking I will go with the t200.... hopefully I will be posting some pics of some large trout I was able to dredge up this year....

[fessiewig]

sbeausol,

Before you go out and buy that $55 Teeny line take a look at Cabela's sink tip. Teeny's line has a sink rate of 5.5 ips . . . Cabela's has a sink rate of 6.5 - 7 ips.

Here's the link:

click here (http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/product/horizontal-item.jhtml?id=0000905313318a&navAction=push&navCount=2&indexId=cat20493&podId=0000905&catalogCode=IF&parentId=cat20493&parentType=index&rid=&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fcatalog%2Fitem-link.jhtml_A&_DAV=MainCatcat20431&hasJS=true)

[sbeausol]

That is also an option... the biggest difference I see is that the cabela's line has a 10' sink tip, while the t200 has a 24' sinking tip...

If I want to hit 10'+ holes wouldn't the 24' accomplish that easier (I don't know)? However the cabela's line would would be perfect for shallower runs....

maybe I'll have to get both...

[Steve H.]

I agree. A 10' sink-tip is a great tool for certain applications and I'm sure the Cabelas line is just fine. However the T200, with it's 24' head, is a different tool for different applications - no better or worse than a 10', just different. It's all about the length of the head and the weight (in grains), that's all. I just recommend Jim Teeny's product 'cause I've used it extensively and couldn't be more satisfied - fresh water or salt. If you need to get down real deep in slow/still water or moderately deep in heavy water, and are fishing with a 5 wt. rod, I don't think you can do much better than this.