Carl.
T-14 on most of the salmon rivers i have fished,, or know of would indeed "drag the bottom" and would greatly increase the chance of lining or fouling a fish. During high water tips with a sink rate of about 3ips are sufficient although some times a heavier tip is used,, though not necessarily needed. As for lethargy in salmon? They do definately slow down as temps cool,, especially the last two to three weeks of October and a low and slow approach is needed. The difference here,, and i guess what i meant by my last question was do steelhead tend to get fouled more often through the winter months(steelheaders can fish all winter,,, atlantic salmon guys cant) because of the low temps and lethargic state?
I have foul hooked 5 fish in the last 15 years and three of them were fish that came and missed a wet fly on a floater. I have also used tips almost exclusivly for the first 10 years of that period. I too see ALOT of fish foul hooked by sink-tips and part of it is the fisherman,,, but when you get down to the fishes level,,, sometimes bad things happen!
As i said,, iam not calling out anyone or saying anyone is wrong for using them although i seem to have touched a nerve somewhere. It seemed a question that the heavy tips and weighted flies would certainly run into a fish a little more often than not.
I see the effects of sink tips on my home rivers and i see it all too often on the Margaree in the fall. There is a misconception with visiting anglers that you need the heaviest tip you have to get to the bottom to catch fish. This is wrong and the fish pay a heavy toll for this mentality. Talk to local guides and local fishermaen and they will come just short of calling you a poacher to your face just for having a tip on. It gets worse when another fish gets foul hooked by one,,, your lucky not to get knuckled!!! They are fed up with it.
Carl, you said its more likely to foul a fish with split shot,,, probably true as Atlantic Salmon were protected from weighted flies many years ago,, but isnt tungsten dumbbell eyes just a fancy name for split shot?
Not the way i intented this thread to go so i guess i'll just put my back to the wall and get ready:saevilw:
Salmon Chaser