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sinking tips--how do you break off?

2K views 8 replies 7 participants last post by  Speyoholic 
#1 ·
If you're fishing deep and happen to get a sinking tip wrapped around a rock or under a submerged log, how do you break free? Do you risk losing your whole head?

I've always fished floaters or slow sinking tips for steelhead and I have no experience with these new-fangled T-8 's or T-11's. Aren't they pretty much the same test strength as the tip of a tapered fly line? Will the loop-to-loop break? At what point?
 
#2 ·
Hi,

I read this prior to posting, although it seems a bit convoluted it should all make sense.

Like you I have not ever used the T materials for sinking my fly. I did use the regular sink tips that were supplied with a multi tip line for a few seasons. 2 years ago I managed to get snagged in a spot where going to retrieve the stuck fly was not possible so I pulled. The result was that the leader butt cut the loop of my 160 grain fast sink tip clean. I lost the leader & fly but worse yet had to go sit in the boat and make a nail knot so I could connect a new butt to the tip. This got me thinking and when I did that I realized that I never liked fishing the heavy tips. I knew also that any of my other tips would probably go the same way if I didn't figure out a better way to fish.

At that time I had a pretty long history of trout fishing with leaders I had made that had a mid section of what I knew only as 'braided lead head' line. My thinking session left me asking myself, why don't I use the same system with a Spey rod when fishing for salmon and other species'? So I bought another floating line, one that did not have multi tips and I made a leader for it. After only one days use and a couple fish I realized that I still need to address the problem of the leader loop cutting the vinyl loop of the line.

The thread you can read here> http://speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=50647 shows you how I solved the threat of having the loop cut on my fly lines. If you scroll all the way down through the step by step pictures you will find a description of the leaders I make to sink flies. Since posting the thread I have not lost a leader or had any damage to my loop on the lines.

The leader works swell and by selecting the length of braided section to place into the middle of you own leader you can pretty well fine tune the sinking of a fly. I think it is important to point out that I am controlling the depth and speed of my 'sinking action' by increasing or decreasing the length of my butt section and not by adding more braided material.

This all may seem (at first) just as confusing as other methods but actually it is quite simple. The 2 most important things are: make sure the leader strength is stepped up from tip to the loop connector; instead of adding more weighted material to reach deeper, consider adding 2-3 more feet of the butt section.

I hope you can use some part of this attempt to provide an answer to your question and information on how I deal with getting flies down. I use the leader systems described whether I am fishing with a 15' rod & 875 grain line with a 65' belly or my 7' 9" 5 weight in small water.

Ard
 
#4 ·
Why

If you are getting hung up that bad then you are really fishing too deep. Refer to Dec's chapter 'How deep is deep enough?'

Always the closer you get to the problem the better rather than just pulling from 100 feet away
 
#6 ·
" Always the closer you get to the problem the better rather than just pulling from 100 feet away"

Absolutely correct.
Besides: Most hang-ups occur when the line is well below your position, close to shore so that you can walk down and pick-up as much line as possible with out drawing it too tight. If you can get all your running line back in, without wading too deep, make a roll-cast in the opposite direction from where the line is hung-up. It may take a few tries in different directions away from the hang-up, but 90% of the time the force of the cast and weight of the line is enough to dislodge it.
 
#5 ·
Keith,

I hope I am remembering names correctly with that :confused: one of these little braided loop connectors may save that from happening ever again. The connector may create a problem if you are looking to shoot line and the connector were to be in the guides though..........



I don't use the short heads and so am not connected to running line until I have 150 foot of line out the guides. You can make them in various strengths related to the braided mono weight.

Ard
 
#8 ·
You got the name right Ard.

When I lost the Skagit head the factory loop just failed as I was backing up to pull the hang-up free. I thought I was simply snagged (by the hook) on the bottom.

It was a weird run to do it too. Too deep for me to chase it really (probably 6ft, or so), and I hooked up completely on the hangdown. I've hooked fish right there before as I "work" the fly a bit. Anyway, any previous problems I had there were simply ones corrected by backing up and snapping the leader.

I was quite surprised when the whole head separated and floated away from me. I have no idea hwat happened. I'm stillnot sure that

I went back in lower water looking for the head, but never found it.

When I lost the T-11 tip last winter it was operator error. I was fishing a funny little run where I quarter my cast downstream and try to have it land right above a submerged rock, so it swings the lie right below it. Got the cast too far upstream and the tip kind of rolled down the rock and under it.

Stuff happens.
 
#9 ·
This is what I do to keep from breaking off.

This was in another thread a short while ago:
http://speypages.com/speyclave/showthread.php?t=57207&page=2

What I do is take a 20oz soda bottle (with the cap on) and wrap 0X tippet around the bottle and tie it tight, leaving a hanging tag of 12” to 18”. On the end of the tag a have a large (I don’t know what size as I know nothing about spin gear) snap swivel. When my flies get snagged and I can’t free them with a roll cast, I pull the bottle out of my pack snap the swivel on my running line and watch the bottle float away keeping the line kind of tight. When the bottle stops going down river you are over the snag I then let out 20’ to 30’ more feet of running line/ backing, this puts the bottle 10’ to 15’ downstream of the snag. Now (with my tip low) I pull hard and the drag of the 20’ to 30’ loop of head plus the weight of the bottle almost always frees the fly. I have gotten funny looks doing this but I am not wading around where the fish are holding and it works!! :D
 
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