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Fishing Lures on a Sinking Line

By Paul Kitchen

I have had my fair share of good results the last couple of seasons by fishing lures on sunk lines when the conditions do not suit pulling. I do think to myself ‘Kitch what are you thinking’ when most of the field are setting up floating lines and midge tips with nymphs. However it works, it’s a confidence thing, we’re all better at one aspect of fishing than others, pulling is mine. Here are just a few hints and tips that will help you bump up your bag and produce better results.
The one line I would never go on the water without is a sixth sense di 5 sweep. It is a brilliant line that is so versatile. You can fish it at so many depths and it makes a real difference to the movement of your flies when hanging at the end of your retrieve. The basics you need to cover all depths is a intermediate, di 3, di 5, and di 7 the sweeps and forty plus lines are not essential for a beginner but they all have their day out on the water.
I often start with a three fly cast, usually blobs and boobies for the top dropper and point fly, and something less bushy and dense for the middle dropper, usually a traditional wet, a cormorant or a nymph. My leader is usually 23ft with my first fly 11ft from the top dropper. This way you can quickly change lines a few times quickly without having the top dropper getting snagged in the top eye of your rod. Then I have my middle dropper 6ft down from my top dropper, and then 6ft from that to my point fly. Three flies spaced nicely apart and shouldn’t spook fish by your flies being spaced to closely together.
For your fly choice I normally place the brightest fly on the top dropper, this fly will often not catch as many fish as the others but will normally produce a lot of follows, the following fish will often then take your flies further down your leader on the hang. The general rule is bright colours on cloudy days and dark colours on bright days, however this is not always the case. Also if you are fishing in coloured water dark flies often out fish brighter ones.
Always watch the water around you for signs of fish, if you can see fish bow waving under the surface, they are more than likely chasing something and can be easily caught pulling. Often if you place a booby on your top dropper to create a disturbance on the surface when fishing your flies back to the boat, the fish will respond, if they don’t take your booby but follow it they will often turn and take your flies behind your booby.
Always vary your hang I have my fly lines marked at 22ft and 15ft but will often hang further away from the boat, sometimes the fish spook when they come close to the boat. Mix your retrieve when you have hung your flies, giving your flies a quick pull will sometimes tempt a following fish to take. If you can’t see your flies watch your braided loop, if it moves in any way strike more often than not it will be a fish.
Get yourself a line chart with the sink rates on them, it is much easier working out what depth the fish are taking your flies at, you may need to fish your flies slower, then you can count a different line down for the right time before fishing your flies at the correct depth. Also when counting down always stay in contact with your flies, I catch quite a few fish this way and it also tells you the fish may be higher than you think, if the fish took before you got to the depth you were counting your flies down to.
Sometimes the fish only seem to take your flies on the hang when they are static, if this happens and the conditions suit get the bung on, it is not just there to fish nymphs with, a couple of blobs or egg flies fished under it can be just as deadly.
If you are confident you are over fish but no longer getting takes take your droppers off and go down to a single fly on a long leader. That can make all the difference, especially if the fish have had a lot of angling pressure.
In the summer months we are often met by flat calm sunny conditions where nymphs are often the order of the day, and most anglers won’t go near their lure box. Give it a try for a few casts, on Rutland two black blobs fished on an intermediate can often be a deadly method.
Remember when you go out fishing there are no rules and no text book way to pulling lures. Keep changing your fly pattern, lines and retrieve until you start catching. If that doesn’t work get your nymphs on.

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