Spring fly fishing is a lot like dating: The right lines make all the difference on how well things go. During April and May, most Maine rivers and streams are running high, fast, and cold, and when lakes open to trolling, they too are cold, off color, and debris-filled. Fish tend to be lethargic with little energy or inclination to chase after food, and they lie up in areas that funnel natural food right to them. Spring holding runs also tend to be away from colder, faster-flowing water where the fish need to expend energy to stay in place. All of these early-season circumstances and conditions are reasons bait anglers enjoy far more consistent action than fly fishermen.

By using worms, spinners, and sinkers, casters can pinpoint where the bait lands, then slowly work it along the stream bottom right into a feeding lane, regardless of current speed and flow direction. Bait and bobber fishermen who visit bogans, backwaters, and eddies with little to no current can also maneuver their baits along the riverbed until they cross paths with a hungry trout or salmon. Regular floating lines found on most reels used for summer casting won’t allow flies to be fished at the depth and speed necessary to afford regular early-season success. For this reason many fly enthusiasts turn to bait rigs or lures for ice-out casting and trolling, or worse, don’t bother going at all until fish are feeding on the surface.

This is not the way things have to go for devoted fly fishermen. With just a few changes, fly rods may be used productively regardless of water height and speed. In a previous article I explained about selecting and using weighted flies to fish deeper, and while this still applies, when streams are flowing really heavy, a weighted fly line is the real answer. A wide variety of sinking lines are manufactured, and choosing the correct one can be a bit daunting, but the results very rewarding. I’m going to take some of the mystery out of the selection process and, in so doing, hopefully improve and lengthen the fishing season for many fly casters.

A look at leaders

Did you know that there was such a thing as a sinking leader? Until about five years ago I wasn’t aware of this product’s existence, but since then, I have used a sinking leader extensively with notable success. While ordering a sinking fly line from Scientific Anglers for an April black salmon outing, the representative asked me if I had enough sinking leaders for the trip. When I admitted I’d never heard of such an item, he gave me a complete rundown of the uses and sent me three to try. They were such a success I’ve been buying and using them ever since.

Think of it this way. What good is a sinking line if your leader allows the fly to ride higher in the water. Not only is the fly not getting deep enough, but the upward curve of a floating leader attached to a sinking line causes the fly to ride poorly in the current. Sinking leaders are tapered, just like regular leaders, but are much shorter to cast better and sink quickly and uniformly.

I use 5-foot leaders produced for Scientific Anglers by the 3M Company. Available in 8-, 10-, and 12-pound tippet strength, these leaders have low memory to coiling, high abrasion resistance, and excellent turnover and delivery of even large or heavy flies due to the leader weight and short length. Although it is possible to use a three-foot segment of regular leader material with sinking fly lines and large or weighted flies, it won’t cast as smoothly or sink and drift as symmetrically as a tapered sinking leader. So the first step to setting up lines for spring casting or trolling is buying and using sinking leaders.

Full sinking lines

When water levels are high and running fast, only a full sinking fly line will lower a fly quickly and evenly to the depth where fish are holding. There is a downside to using weighted lines, however. They are challenging to cast and require either an extra reel spool or changing out a line from an existing reel. These two stumbling blocks prevent lots of fly fishermen from turning to sinking lines, and that’s a shame since both obstacles can easily be overcome. Since sinking lines have sizes matching them to rod weights just like any other fly line, it’s possible to still use a favorite rod and reel combo by only switching lines.

An extra spool adds expense, but allows changing line types in less than a minute. If you choose to use a loop system on all lines and carry extra lines in the tackle box, unspooling one type of line and rewinding another style onto a reel will take several minutes but save a fair amount of money. Since I often carry half a dozen floating, sinking, and sinking tip lines with various characteristics, I opt for the loop system exchange, saving space and weight of the extra spools in my tackle box and saving dollars as well.

Full-sinking lines are categorized by rate of sink in inches per second (ips). Since rate of sink is determined in flat water, the speed of current in a river or brook will change the sink rate and a heavier, faster sinking line will be required to reach the desired depth. For example, just after ice-out, following a heavy spring rain, or when snow melt raises and speeds up the water, I use a fast-sinking express line, Scientific Anglers names it a Uniform Sink +V which yields 4.5-6.0 ips. A week to 10 days later when the stream’s speed and level drop, I change to a Uniform Sink +III at 2.5-3.5 ips, and if levels keep declining, the following week I switch to a sinking tip line, which I’ll discuss later.

Unless you’re a black-salmon angler, it’s possible to get by with one full sinking and one sinking tip fly line for Maine waterways. Sportsmen visiting Canada’s spring salmon rivers will need that third express sinking line for deep dredging in swift current. Casting a sinking line isn’t all that difficult as long as anglers remember the heavy weight of a sinking line and strip in more so they lift less line off the water. Casts will be almost as lengthy as a floating line because once the heavier line starts its forward motion, it will carry out the extra length needed. Using a roll cast or fishing with a long spay rod are two other methods of laying out precision casts with weighted lines and leaders.

Sinking tips

Just as the name implies, sinking tip fly lines are casting lines with a weighted tip section. Not only does the weighted section vary in length from one manufacturer to another, but also in how heavy that sinking section is, and once again the rate is designated on each line by inches per second. Some tips are as short as 10 feet and can be as long as 30 feet. My personal preference is a 15-foot length, and I own and use a slow sink 1.5-2.0 ips version and an moderate sink 4.5-5.5 ips wet tip. Sinking tip lines are perfect options when streams are at an intermediate height, or when anglers trolling streamer flies on lakes want to get two or three feet deeper than a floating fly line allows.

Sinking tip lines are much easier to cast since the belly of the line and the running line that makes up the remainder of a 100-foot fly lie floats. Sink-tip fly lines are always two colors, with the front length of weighted line offering a discernible color difference from the main line so anglers can keep track of each cast in the air and on the water. Tips tend to be lighter shades so as not to spook fish, while main lines are darker or very bright. I have used several color combos over the years and prefer a clear sink tip and a light green or blue fly line.

If you’re under the impression that weighted lines are a one-trick pony, useful only for high-water spring river and brook fishing, think again. I have had great luck using both full sinking and sinking tip fly lines for ice-out lake trolling as well as for late summer deep dredging. I abhor lead core lines, heavy boat rods, and deep-running metal dodgers, so opt for a fly rod, weighted streamers, sinking leader, and a Deep Water Express line that drops at 10 inches per second. This outfit easily drops to depths of 35 to 50 feet depending on trolling speed and I still get the fun and excitement of playing fish on my fly rod.

Another very beneficial application for weighted lines is after unexpected heavy summer rains turn rivers muddy and send them overflowing their banks. On several Atlantic salmon trips in Quebec and New Brunswick, I caught fish when others couldn’t only because I had packed my sinking lines. I’ve also turned unexpected high water bass and trout outings around thanks to a quick change over to sink tip or full sinking fly lines.

Another option

Pete Dube, avid salmon angler and owner of the Restigouche Hotel in Quebec, introduced me to another unique method of creating a sinking line while still using an easy-casting floating fly line. I’ve tried it on spring black salmon trips and it works like a charm, so I plan to experiment on trout and salmon this spring. Pete takes a lead core trolling line and cuts 5-, 10-, 15-, and 20-foot sections, then adds a quick loop system to each end of the four pieces.

One of the four lengths of lead core will work to get a fly near bottom regardless of river speed and height, especially since the salmon are holding along the river edges and below islands where currents are lighter. As water levels decrease, the angler drops to the next smaller length of weighted line. Since the section of lead core attaches between a short leader and a floating fly line, casting requires less work and yields more precise placement.

One downside to using this simple sinking line solution is that lead core has a propensity to kink rather than twist, so anglers must check their setup every half hour or so. On the plus side, cost of this setup is minimal, no extra spools or extra lines need to be lugged along, and it takes less than a minute to change weighted sections if you move to a new run with a different flow rate.

Weighted lines can add as much as a full month to every caster’s season as well as increase the success rate during high water periods all year long. Cost of the line is moderate considering the advantages, and it only takes one or two outings to get comfortable casting sinking style lines. Remember what I said at the beginning: The right line at the right time can really keep a man in good standing in a lot of situations, and so it is with high-water fly fishing, too!

Outdoor feature writer Bill Graves can be reached via e-mail at bgravesoutdoors@ainop.com