Going Deeper

Call me crazy, but I absolutely love fishing sinking lines. The weight of the line loads the rod, making it easy to cast and shoot line, particularly in the wind. However, what I enjoy most is the control of the line through your hand, and the tension and pull when a trout takes! It reminds me of my childhood fishing for flathead and other species with a hand line and feeling the bite in your hand!

Sinking lines can appear confusing at first, with different sink rates, names and numbers but they’re much simpler than they first appear. Once you understand what each line is designed to do, and when to use it, choosing the right line becomes surprisingly straightforward.

WHY FISH A SINKING LINE?

A sinking line is simply a fly line designed to present flies beneath the surface. While sinking lines can be used on both rivers and lakes, they come into their own on stillwaters, where controlling the depth of your flies is often the key to consistent success.

Trout spend much of their time feeding below the surface, often at different depths according to water temperature, light, wind, food availability and the position of weed beds or drop-offs. Being able to consistently present your flies at the level where the trout are feeding is one of the greatest advantages a sinking line offers.

The biggest shift in thinking for anglers new to lake fishing is this: it’s the fly line—not the fly—that usually determines the fishing depth.

A sinking line carries lightly weighted, or completely unweighted, flies to the required depth and keeps them there during the retrieve. You are using the line to control the depth of the presentation rather than relying on a heavily weighted fly.

It is possible to fish below the surface with a floating line, a long leader and a weighted fly, but the arrangement is often less manageable. The weighted fly can make casting unpleasant, particularly in the wind, and you may need to wait some time for it to sink. Once you begin retrieving, the floating line also starts drawing the leader and fly upwards through the water column.

With a range of sinking lines, you can select a sink rate to suit the depth and conditions, fish a shorter and more manageable leader, and use lightly weighted or unweighted flies that are easier to cast. Because the line itself continues to sink, it also helps the flies remain at depth rather than being steadily lifted towards the surface during the retrieve.

Understanding that it’s the line, not the fly, that controls the depth is the key. From there, the next step is learning how different sinking lines achieve that depth—and that’s where sink rates come in.

UNDERSTANDING SINK RATES

The defining characteristic of any sinking line is its sink rate. Put simply, this describes how quickly the line sinks through the water, allowing anglers to match their line to the depth they want to fish.

Sinking lines are rated according to how many inches they sink per second (IPS). This information is usually printed on the packaging. Generally speaking, lines that sink up to around 2.5 inches per second fall into the intermediate family, while faster sinking lines are usually named according to their sink rate.

Sink rates are a useful guide rather than an absolute measure. Wind, retrieve speed, fly size and even water density can all influence how a line behaves in practice. Understanding sink rates makes the different line styles much easier to understand because each is simply designed to solve a different fishing problem.

SINKING LINE TYPES

While there are many sinking lines available, most lake anglers only need to understand a handful of broad styles. Each is designed to solve a different fishing problem, whether that’s keeping flies just below the surface, covering shallow weed beds or reaching fish holding in deeper water.

No single sinking line covers every situation. As water depth, wind, retrieve speed and fish behaviour change throughout the day, changing lines is often the simplest and most effective way to keep your flies fishing where the trout are feeding.

Sink Tips

Sink tips combine a floating running line with a sinking front section. The sinking tip can vary in both length and sink rate, giving anglers a range of options for different situations. I don’t use these lines particularly often, but when I do it’s for very specific applications.

I use sink tips mainly when fishing from the bank, where a short sink tip helps keep my flies at a consistent depth during a slow retrieve. I also like a long intermediate sink tip when wading lake margins. It fishes much like an intermediate line, but as I retrieve, the floating section gathers on the surface beside me rather than sinking to the bottom, making recasting and shooting line much easier.

For these specialised situations, a sink tip is hard to beat.

Hover

Hover lines are the slowest sinking members of the intermediate family. Designed to break the surface tension and fish just below the surface, they’re ideal when trout are feeding high in the water column but conditions make a floating line difficult to control.

I use a hover line a lot with nymphs and small wet flies. By cutting beneath the surface chop while keeping my flies high in the water column, it gives me a much straighter connection and excellent take detection. In windy conditions, this is my first choice.

Intermediates

Intermediates are full sinking lines that sink at a slow to medium rate. Depending on the brand and sink rate, they can be clear or solid in colour. Intermediates are among the most commonly used sinking lines and are a pleasure to cast. Their moderate sink rate makes them extremely versatile, allowing anglers to fish high in the water column or gain moderate depth when required. For anyone starting lake fishing, an intermediate would be the first sinking line I’d recommend after a floating line.

A clear intermediate is the line I use most on our lakes (I prefer the ‘camo’ versions). Sinking at around 2.2 inches per second, it’s perfect for targeting the edges of lakes, which are often the most productive areas. It’s ideal for fishing teams of streamers or wet flies in search of actively feeding trout. In water between 0 and 3 metres deep, this line is hard to beat. Many of Australia’s best trout lakes are relatively shallow and weedy, meaning that even when fishing well away from the shore, an intermediate is often the perfect choice.

Straight Sinking Lines

Straight sinking lines are the classic fast sinking lines, with the most common being the Sink 3, Sink 5 and Sink 7. As their name suggests, these lines sink evenly throughout their length and, when retrieved, fish directly back towards the angler from depth.

These are valuable lines in my boat bag because they get my flies to the required depth quickly. I don’t want to spend time waiting for a line to sink before I can start fishing. The sooner my flies are working, the more water I cover and the more likely I am to encounter actively feeding trout. Straight sinking lines excel when fishing from a drifting boat in windy conditions, where I can cast and begin retrieving immediately, knowing the line will continue to sink throughout the retrieve. I also rely on them when fishing from dam walls or deep points and ledges, particularly during the colder months when trout are often holding deeper in the water column.

Sweep Lines

Sweep, or parabolic, lines are weighted more heavily through the middle of the line, giving them a very different action in the water. A typical 3-5-3 or Sweep 5 has a Sink 3 head, a Sink 5 belly and a Sink 3 running line. During the retrieve, the heavier belly pulls the flies deeper before they gradually sweep back up through the water column towards the angler.

These are probably my favourite fast sinking lines because of their versatility. From a drifting boat, I can fish short and work the line higher in the water column much like a Sink 3, or cast longer and use the heavier belly to gain depth quickly. The sweeping action also creates a deep hang before I recast, which can be a real trigger for following trout. I find lightly weighted flies produce the best sweep because they follow the path of the line rather than trying to straighten it during the retrieve.

LEADERS & RIGGING

Stillwater leaders don’t need to be complicated. My setup is about as simple as it gets. For almost all my lake fishing I use a straight-through fluorocarbon leader rather than a tapered leader. The shorter leader lets the sinking line do the work, while the fluorocarbon gives me a direct connection to my flies and turns over well.

My standard rig is a point fly with a single dropper tied from a simple triple surgeon’s knot in the main leader. I position my first fly around 6 feet from the fly line—the deeper I want to fish the shorter this first section gets. The point fly is another 5 to 6 feet beyond the dropper. That gives each fly room to work independently and spreads the presentation through the retrieve. If the flies are too close together they tend to fish as one, tangle more often and don’t cover as much water.

For streamers I generally fish 2X fluorocarbon, while for wet flies and nymphs I usually step down to 3X or 4X respectively—the smaller the fly the thinner the tippet. I don’t find trout are put off by the heavier tippet when chasing streamers, so I’d much rather have the extra strength when a good fish eats.

Fly choice also influences how your rig fishes. An unweighted team of nymphs or wet flies will generally follow the path of the fly line very closely, making this the simplest and most versatile place to start. Add weight with tungsten beads and they’ll fish deeper, particularly on slower retrieves. At the other end of the spectrum, buoyant flies such as Boobies or FABs lift away from the line and can completely change how the rig fishes, making them more specialised presentations rather than everyday starting points.

If you’re new to sinking lines, don’t overthink it. This leader setup, a single dropper, lightly weighted or unweighted flies and the appropriate sinking line will cover the vast majority of Australian stillwater situations. From there, you can experiment with different fly weights, buoyant flies and more specialised rigs.

FISHING SINKING LINES

Regardless of the sinking line you’re fishing, maintaining contact with your flies is always the key to good take detection. During the retrieve, much of your control and take detection comes through your stripping hand. To maximise this, the rod tip needs to be pointed down the line towards your flies.

Your rod position will change depending on the line you’re fishing and the depth of your flies. With an intermediate line, I like my rod tip just above the water, pointing towards my flies. When fishing faster sinking lines, I gradually lower the rod tip throughout the retrieve as the line and flies sink deeper, maintaining that direct connection.

On a slow retrieve with an intermediate line, you can often detect a take by watching the small loop of line between the rod tip and the water straighten. With faster sinking lines, and in most other situations, it’s the tightening of the line in your stripping hand that tells you a trout has taken.

When that happens, continue stripping firmly into the trout rather than lifting the rod. This gives you a much better hook set and, if you don’t hook up, you can simply continue the retrieve. Quite often the trout will turn and take the fly again.

The world of sinking lines can seem daunting at first, but the principles are actually quite simple. With a handful of well-chosen lines, you’ll be equipped to cover almost any stillwater situation with confidence.

Give sinking lines a go and experience one of the greatest thrills in stillwater fly fishing. The unmistakable tightening of the line in your stripping hand as a trout inhales your fly and turns away is a thrill you’ll keep returning to your favourite lake for again and again.