Has anyone seen the new issue of Flyfishing & Tying Journal? It contains an article about an experiment done by Robert Russell and Ted Richter about sink rates for spey lines. They explain how they set up their experiment and measuring device, what rod and line combos they used, etc. In their testing they discovered very little difference in depth between Rio's type 3 and type 6 heads. They got a couple inches deeper,with the 6, but not enough,in their opinion, to warrant the extra casting weight. What I found to be the most interesting is that they came to the conclusion that by doing upstream mends, casting slightly further upstream, or even taking two big steps down as the fly started it's swing, they were adversly affecting the depth of the fly at the end of the swing.
I quote them here: "We tried every technique we could think of to get down deeper, and the more we tried the shallower we ended up. We could affect the depth and speed of the fly during the first half of the swing, but by the time the fly reached the gauge, it had ridden up in the current." They felt that they got the deepest results at the end simply by casting at a 45 degree downstream angle and just letting it swing.
I guess I'm just interested in hearing others thoughts on the conclusions that they drew from their experiment. It seems to go against commonly accepted theories.
I quote them here: "We tried every technique we could think of to get down deeper, and the more we tried the shallower we ended up. We could affect the depth and speed of the fly during the first half of the swing, but by the time the fly reached the gauge, it had ridden up in the current." They felt that they got the deepest results at the end simply by casting at a 45 degree downstream angle and just letting it swing.
I guess I'm just interested in hearing others thoughts on the conclusions that they drew from their experiment. It seems to go against commonly accepted theories.