Sinking Spey Lines by EF

The early and latter part of the season is dominated by two important factors that the angler must consider when selecting which fly line to use; high water levels and low water temperatures.  The overriding factor in my preceding articles has been the use of sinking tips of various densities to present the fly to the required depth.  The versatility this concept offers is ease of use, a variety of depth options and by using one reel, one line and a selection of attachable tips of various densities, minimal tackle.   For the last in my series on fly lines, I’d like to discuss the merits of using sinking spey lines during the colder months of the year.   Although these types of lines are more labour intensive than the floating line/sinking tip profiles, sinking spey lines do offer the late season, early spring salmon angler the opportunity to enhance their effective fly presentation.

What is a sinking spey line?

A sinking spey line is a dual density spey taper line.  Like the floating versions, the line profile incorporates a head section which collectively refers to the long front taper, main belly and short back taper.  The head supplies the casting weight to load the rod during the casting cycle and is seamlessly attached to thin running line.  The floating thin running line creates minimal friction on the forward cast, allowing energy efficient forward casts.  Unlike last month’s featured line the multi tip spey, a sinking spey line’s entire head section sinks to present the fly at the desired depth.  The lines are available in a large selection of different head densities ranging from 1IPS right down through the scale to 4IPS and below.  Depending on brand, the lines are also available in a selection of head lengths.  The choice of which head length to buy should reflect casting ability, but as a general guide, heads of between 50ft to 65ft allow novice through to advance casters the opportunity for effective water coverage.  Using any longer a head length and you enters the realms of the expert casting.  This is due to the level of skill required to control not only the length of the spey head, but also the sinking density.  The vast majority of sinking spey lines benefit from twin coloured production technology which allows the head to be one colour and the running line another.  Due to the nature of sinking heads working at a range of different depths, the deeper the sink rate the darker the colour tends to be.  The head is also density compensated to allow the entire length of the sinking head to sink at a set uniform rate and not quicker at its thickest diameter. In regards to the floating running line colour, popular choices by manufacturers are white, yellow and orange.  Such a pronounced colour change between the head and running line allows easy identification of the casting/sinking head, which very accurately allows the angler to retrieve the same length of line each new cast.

The Advantages

The two main advantage of this type of spey line is quite simply depth control and fly presentation.  In the cold and high water conditions of late autumn, having the ability to present the fly deep through a pool is a distinct advantage. As the salmon’s metabolism is slowed down by the cold water temperatures of November, the fish become more reluctant to travel high in the water column to intercept flies.  That’s not to say that salmon will never take flies close to the surface in such conditions, but in general, late season anglers will enjoy the best of the sport by presenting the fly within a few feet of the fish’s taking window.   Depending on the depth of the pool and the flow of the current there is a large choice of heads with various sink rates to use for any given day.  The standard sink rates for this month would be between 1 to 1.5 IPS (classes as an intermediate sinking head), 2 to 3 IPS (classes as medium sinking head) and 4 to 5 IPS (classes as fast sinking head).  Deep water fly presentation is also enhanced with this type of line.  In the last few articles I have focused on the concept of using interchangeable tips to achieve various levels of depth.  This is an extremely versatile and effective method of depth management, but can find limitations in deep, cold water due to the angle the fly is presented.  With the changeable fast sink tips tips being normally around 15ft in length, the fly tends to swing through the pool nose-high due to the relative shortness of the tip. With a sinking spey line there is much more density compensated sinking line taking the fly to its fishable depth and as a result, fishes on a more even keel.  Additional depth control can be achieved by using various styles of fly.  Copper or brass tubes of various sizes from ½” through 2”can be used to gain extra depth.  When fishing any form of sinking lines, be conscious of the length of the leader used to connect the fly to the fly line.   Avoid using a long leader if you want the fly to swim the same level as the sinking line.  The longer the leader, the higher the fly may well swim above the fly line. At this time of year a leader of between 4ft to 8ft length is good, with 6ft being a good standard leader.

The downsides

The downside of using this type of spey line is in most cases the fly line has to be brought to the surface with a preliminary cast before the main cast.  This may not be required with intermediate rated lines, but when using heads longer than 55ft with sink rates of 2” IPS, the surface cast is almost a pre-requisite.  Unlike older sinking lines where the complete line sunk, thankfully the running line is floating, with just the head sinking at various rates. Compared to older sinking lines, this is certainly an advantage when it comes to mending the line and controlling the speed at which it swings through the current.  Once the fly has swung on to the dangle, the front taper of the sinking head could well be between 6ft to 12ft under the surface of the river.  Under such conditions, the angler has to bring the line and most likely a brass or copper tube fly, close to the surface and also execute a cast.  Even the strongest of modern day fly rods and the best of fly casters can seriously struggle to complete both tasks in one casting cycle.  With this in mind, let’s look at how best to fish a sinking line.

How to fish a sinking spey line

The standard technique for fishing fast sinking lines is basically to have two casts.  The first cast’s job is simply to get the fly up onto the surface.  The second cast is the main cast that redirects the fly line out across the stream.  When fishing a sinking head, the most effective cast for bringing a line onto the surface is a roll cast.  Once the fly line has fished through the stream and is suspended directly below your position on the dangle, begin the roll cast sequence by stripping in the fly line until the sinking head is within the tip ring of the rod (depending on the sink rate and head length, you may have to retrieve the head well down the rod).  The rod is then lifted diagonally upwards to bring the sinking head close to the surface to form the ‘D’ loop.  Once the uppermost hand is about head height and the rod tip is at about a 45 degree angle, a shallow ‘D’ loop has formed (due to the fact that the sunk line cannot be jumped into position with this initial cast, the ‘D’ loop will always be relatively small).  As soon as the rod is in this position with a reasonable amount of line suspended in the ‘D’ loop and the remaining line close to the surface, you must begin the forward cast to benefit from absolute energy transfer.  If there is any pause the loop will quickly reduce in size as the line in the water begins to re-sink.  The line should be cast straight back on to the dangle and not out across the stream to avoid unsettling the pool.  Depending on the sink rate of the head and weight of fly, this process may have to be performed more than once to bring the line to the surface.  As soon as the line is on the surface, the main spey cast must be performed immediately before the line begins to re-sink.  The choice of main speycast to use to redirect the line and the fly should depend on wind direction and fishing location.  Although this can be a more labour intensive way to cover a pool than fishing a floating line with an attachable tip, one other benefit of fishing sinking spey lines is they can be effective for casting distance.  Fast sinking heads have a thinner diameter than floating heads and as a result offer greater line speed and less wind resistance as the loop unfolds on the forward cast.  Once you master the concept of bringing the head to the surface and then perform the main cast, these spey lines can cut through the air like a hot knife through butter!