Using a sinking tip line

[bio-smear]

Gonna try my hand at going deep for Steelhead and possibly salmon if we can find them tomorrow on the Wilson river, which is not far inland(20-30 miles) from the ocean.

I've got a 8wt fast sinking tip line, and a 4' 12lb sinking leader. The sinking portion of the line is like 15', which seems pretty long. Should I trim this thing back? That's like 19' + tippet of sinking line. I doubt I'm going to be in any holes that deep.

Never having fished sinking tip lines, I'm wondering if its SOP to trim them back for freshwater. With this much sinkable, I'm gonna be dragging bottom with a Type V (5-6" ips) not to mention the weirdness in casting.

Thoughts?

[schwerty]

I wouldn't trim the line. At least not more than 6" or so. You'll start loosing performance. I wouldn't worry so much about the length of the sinking tip anyway. Worry more about how long your letting it sink before you start a retrieve or it starts a swing.

If you're not used to the sink tip it will take some practice. So, don't hit the juiciest hole first! It surely ain't rocket science but start your casts slow and steady --- get the tip close to the top of the water before you start putting a lot of muscle into the backcast - spey - etc.... Another tip, (this one is prolly even more obvious or will become obvious), open up your casts if you don't want a weighted something or other smashing you in the dome! Not much different in that sense than when casting bigger flies with a floating line. Just a little more pronounced.

Take some photos please.

[ak_powder_monkey]

you want the heaviest line possible... type V worthless because it essentially floats... I reccomend bringing lots of split shot.

[yonskion]

leave those spawned out Old Slamon alone on the Wilson to finish their business go to the Deschutes, John Day or East...
Maybe in a few weeks you'll get a better shot at a fresh crome when the new batch come in please wait for the rains or go down low in the tide water. The fish you'll find up in the river will be on the "Red Beds" all nasty turning white and molting let them do their thing.

[bio-smear]

It has rained here, more this weekend. Perhaps they'll get moving.

Won't the spawners just ignore what you throw? I was hoping more for the Steelhead, although it is rather early in the season yet.

[yonskion]

Fish egg patern below spawners. DntFck with the big spawners we need them now more than ever! peace and quiet. Learn to watch them rather than "foul hook"...anyway you never know what type of trout or sea-run Rascal will take an egg below the beds. leave your rod a home and go for a hike with good pair shades you might learn alot.... while you wait for the rain. If you think this weekends little sprinkle counts as rain. Welcome to Oregon.
pray4pow

[bio-smear]

If you think this weekends little sprinkle counts as rain. Welcome to Oregon.

34 yr native.
That doesn't mean I necessarily know how much precip it takes to get them moving.

[yonskion]

Yeah Sorry. Usually when it turns unfishable. You know when you see trees floating by in chocolate milk. The Trask and Miami most times fish better but, mad red neck spoon chuckers. When the weather is so nasty you don't want to go out is when it seems to be best. Call a shop at the beach find out which rivers are rolling. Salmon are funny hard to figure out sometimes and when you do the word gets out and the kooks decend....Don't be that guy. seriously right now drive to the Klicitat, Yakima, The D, John Day, Grand Rhone. The Sandy is the best steelhead river in the State. The Clackamas, Eagle creek..... Jeebus endless

[bio-smear]

I rode with some spoon chuckers today over to the Trask...man what a freakshow. $5 to fish "Hospital Hole" with about 50 other hopefuls operating out of the back of their rigs, tending campfires. The viz is crap and these guys are tossing 5 oz sinkers with shark hooks over drift boats motoring by. Watched 3 guys foul hook some dark old dinosaurs. Not exactly my idea of a good day fishing.

I did eyeball some good water on the Wilson on the drive over, but sadly trout season ended friday for streams. Gonna have to find some beta on the Sandy steelhead.

[Hugh Conway]

Anybody cut the fin of a natural to make it a stocker? Then you've got the true Orygun experience

[fez]

dont know shit about steelhead, but i fish sinking lines a lot.
i dont like sink tips because i find the floating part of the line ruins the drift and strip i'm aiming for. i usually use either a fast sinking head with intermediate body or a slow sink depending on lake vs river or how deep i want to be.

this article really changed the way i fish streamers (and dramatically increased the size and number of caught fish)
http://www.flyfisherman.com/skills/jsgalloup/

[Andy_B]

^^ Look on Midcurrent.com too.

There is a podcast interview with Kelly Galloup floating around too where he goes in to detail about his set-ups and why he fishes the way he does.

I fish a type VI (SR 6 ips) on my 6wt for bass and steelies while streamer fishing. Short leader set-up 18" of Maxium (ultra green or chameleon) 20lb test and 24" of Maxium (ultra green) 10 or 12 lb test.

[72Twenty]

I gots me a ghost tip in a 6wt. It is very sneaky. Shhhh.......

[topwater]

dont know shit about steelhead, but i fish sinking lines a lot.
i dont like sink tips because i find the floating part of the line ruins the drift and strip i'm aiming for. i usually use either a fast sinking head with intermediate body or a slow sink depending on lake vs river or how deep i want to be.

this article really changed the way i fish streamers (and dramatically increased the size and number of caught fish)
http://www.flyfisherman.com/skills/jsgalloup/

sink-tips for steelhead is totally different than fishing streamers for trout. the sink tips benefit is the ability to mend the floating portion and position the sink tip to.... slow the swing down, especially in colder water temps common in winter steelhead fishing.

february cannot come soon enough.

[72Twenty]

this article really changed the way i fish streamers (and dramatically increased the size and number of caught fish)
http://www.flyfisherman.com/skills/jsgalloup/

Thank you for that.

[Lumpy]

Go get a spool of 800-grain Depth Charge and some welded loops and start making your own super short ultra-heavy tips in different lengths. I gave all my Jim Teeney and pre-fab 15-24 foot sink tips away. Short, fat, and sink like a rock. Its lob-shot casting, but withtthe right rod (If you are fishing steelhead and salmon the Cabelas 8 wt. 11 foot LST is a perfect rod for this, relatively cheap switch rod that rolls the ugly lines very well...I used it heavily for all my fishing on the coast in the summer and winter when I lived there). Other than that, just use a floater, a big Frog-Hair indicator, buy a bunch of 1/16 inch marabou jigs and float fish it. Or tie up a bunch of dowturned eye, 1/16 oz, barbell eyed gaudy flies and fish them under an indicator...will kick ass on swinging sunk flies in MOST conditions...not all (and if you go totally Orygun, slap on a dyed prawn tail)

[cascade pinner]

A shootin' head works well in coastal oregon. Some don't like the way they cast....but now that I have gotten used to them, I like to be able to lay out 85 feet of line into a headwind! All it takes is a good double haul. A narrow diameter running line allows for deep swinging drifts without much drag. I carry a small sleeve of heads that range from intermediate (1-1.5 ips) to dredgers (8+ ips).....and everything in between......in order to match river flow and depth conditions.

And....they work.....this is from last week in coastal oregon: