I was wondering how good the airflow poly leaders are?Would it be a good system to have several of these in various sink rates as well as a floating line or would a factory multi-tip system be better?Are the factory systems heavy enough for the big waters of the Thompson or will I end up having to add a couple of heavier heads anyway?Thanks.
factory multi-tip or poly leaders?
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Tony,
I have both Airflo polyleaders as well as the "traditional" 15'-30' sink-tips of various grains and sink rates in my leader wallet.
I found the Airflo leaders to be convenient as I can cast them off the tip of a regular floating line. The super fast sink one gets down quick but the relatively short length (10') makes it tricky for me to keep it down under certain conditions especially when the flow and presentation requires lots of mending.
For proper sink tips I loop them onto the belly of a floating line with the front taper chopped off. I found the longer length (15'-30') makes it easier for me to keep the fly in the strike zone during the swing.
There was a post from the old MSN ISC board talking about some inexpensive lines from John Norris of Penrith. If you wouldn't mind making and attaching your own braided loops that would be a relatively inexpensive way of building up a collection of sink tips of various grains and sink rates. They even carry some relatively inexpensive clear intermediate lines that I wouldn't mind cutting up to make intermediate tips.
Cheers,
Andy
I have both Airflo polyleaders as well as the "traditional" 15'-30' sink-tips of various grains and sink rates in my leader wallet.
I found the Airflo leaders to be convenient as I can cast them off the tip of a regular floating line. The super fast sink one gets down quick but the relatively short length (10') makes it tricky for me to keep it down under certain conditions especially when the flow and presentation requires lots of mending.
For proper sink tips I loop them onto the belly of a floating line with the front taper chopped off. I found the longer length (15'-30') makes it easier for me to keep the fly in the strike zone during the swing.
There was a post from the old MSN ISC board talking about some inexpensive lines from John Norris of Penrith. If you wouldn't mind making and attaching your own braided loops that would be a relatively inexpensive way of building up a collection of sink tips of various grains and sink rates. They even carry some relatively inexpensive clear intermediate lines that I wouldn't mind cutting up to make intermediate tips.
Cheers,
Andy
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378 Posts
Tony, I agree the airflow leaders are handy but limited by their short length for deep fishing. You may also want to check out the aftermarket sink tips avaliable from rio. These are avaliable in longer lengths and various line weights and sink rates. As for your line you can buy a factory sink tip set up with loops attached for close to double the regular line price. If you don't mind the work, another option is to install the loops yourself. In the same manner it is relatively easy to make sink tips. Some of the best casting tips I have were made out of #6 and #7 full sinking line out of the clearance bin. As for the Thompson, unless you're fishing for springs in the summer, I don't think you'll want too much of a fast sink tip. I fish a floater through December, and most tip anglers are using type 3. Brian
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5,375 Posts
Hi Tony!
Polyleaders will do the trick for you on the Thompson. Like Whistler I mostly fish floating line on the BIG T but sometimes I'll use a 9ft Loop fast sink polyleader (Type III) or 10ft Airflo slow sink (type II) or fast sink (type III) polyleader. Since I got my hands on these things a few years ago I haven't used conventional sink tips much, although I would still use a 15ft section of type VI in serious winter conditions.
Polyleaders will do the trick for you on the Thompson. Like Whistler I mostly fish floating line on the BIG T but sometimes I'll use a 9ft Loop fast sink polyleader (Type III) or 10ft Airflo slow sink (type II) or fast sink (type III) polyleader. Since I got my hands on these things a few years ago I haven't used conventional sink tips much, although I would still use a 15ft section of type VI in serious winter conditions.
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114 Posts
After Dana`s and Per`s comments on short heads I descided to try going to the extreme. I loaded up a centerpin reel with PowerPro running line and attached a 15 foot head consisting of 10feet of 550 grain deepwater express plus a 5 ft Airflo exrta fast sink salmon leader. Attached a mono tippet and an orange zonker fly with a black spey hackle collar.
My rod was a 10' Lamiglass 8 wt . I tried a single handed strip cast and got about 80 feet.With a double haul this went up to about 100 feet.
The dead drift from the centerpin was flawless and a retieve using rod tip action together with reel retrieving gave the fly excellent action.
There was only one problem steelhead fishing is over untill April in the Thompson.
The good news is that this rig should work.
My rod was a 10' Lamiglass 8 wt . I tried a single handed strip cast and got about 80 feet.With a double haul this went up to about 100 feet.
The dead drift from the centerpin was flawless and a retieve using rod tip action together with reel retrieving gave the fly excellent action.
There was only one problem steelhead fishing is over untill April in the Thompson.
The good news is that this rig should work.
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114 Posts
Hi Kush: Ha Ha yourself been there tried that.Actually a sage 3 113 mbr isent such a hot flyline caster.The 10'6" 2 lbr is much better .Its softer and a slower modulus. it fishes well with an 8/9 and fires 12wt heads it even spey casts a 9/10/11 windcutter quite well.
I`m not sure avout the dink float its going to run downstream in the faster surface water dragging the head. I think the head alone fishing deep with a little tension to keep it straight is a better system.
My motto is you have to try everything first to make sure it doesent work.
I`m not sure avout the dink float its going to run downstream in the faster surface water dragging the head. I think the head alone fishing deep with a little tension to keep it straight is a better system.
My motto is you have to try everything first to make sure it doesent work.
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