Fly Fishing Sinking Tips- I Wish I Knew How Simple These Were To Fish

Sinking tips and sinking lines intimidated me for so long. I thought they were and extra hassle, and difficult to fish. I was wrong. Here's why you should make them a part of your fly fishing.

A sinking tip found this trout in a deep hole. / photo by Ken Baldwin

It took me a while to incorporate sinking tips into my fly fishing tactics. I don't know why I put up such a resistance to it. I created this belief in my head that it was complicated and too much work to be worth it. The truth is, it's simple and basic, and so easy to incorporate into your fishing, and really helps you catch more fish. So much wasted time, and caught fish that never was, because I created the narrative in my head that it was a complex practice that intimidated me.

Sinking Tips for Fly Fishing - Get’Em and Use’Em.

Attachable sinking tips are such a simple concept and easy to set up and use. There will be situations where you are fishing a dry fly and conditions change, and you want to switch over to fishing a streamer. You can do that with a floating line, but a sinking line or tip tends to catch more fish when streamer fishing. With an attachable sinking tip, you can convert your floating line to a sink tip line in short order.

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Smart Fly Fishing: When To Use a Sinking Tip

- When I'm fishing an unweighted streamer in swift-moving river. The current against the fly and line keep raising the fly higher in the water column than I want. A 7'-10' sinking tip will help keep the streamer deeper.
- When I'm fishing a saltwater flat and the moving tide is keeping my fly up on the surface. When I fish the Brewster Flats in Cape Cod, I like to fish sand eel patterns on a sinking tip line. With the tide moving across the flats, the sinking tip keeps the fly down and in front of cruising fish.
- When I want to drag a fly along the bottom and keep it there. I'm fly fishing a crawdad pattern for Largemouth or Smallmouth bass and I want to drag and hop it along the bottom, with a sinking tip I have more control of the movement I give it and have a better feel for when a bass picks it up. I also do this with big crab patterns for striped bass in the salt.
- When fly fishing from a drift boat, throwing streamers to the bank and stripping them back. I like the control and depth I get with a sinking tip. It keeps the streamer down where the fish are, especially if you are exploring undercut banks for big browns.

A sinking tip gets the fly down to where the big ones roam. / photo by Ken Baldwin

A Sinking Line Gives a More Natural Presentation

These are just a few of the many scenarios where a sinking tip can be used. Fishing a sinking tip or line isn't only about going deeper in the water column, it also can present a streamer with a more natural movement. A floating line with a streamer tends to make it jump up and down on the retrieve. A sinking line will keep the streamer moving in a straight line. You can also control it to stay at a particular depth on the retrieve.

Attachable Sinking Tips Equal Convenience

They come in different sink rates so you can adjust how deep you present your fly. The attachable tips are usually 7"-10" long and have a loop-to-loop connection. This makes it easy to go from a floating line to a sink tip line without changing your reel or spool. You can do this in less than 3 minutes and not have to leave the water.

Adding Another Arrow to Your Fly Fishing Quiver

You can buy sink tips individually. I prefer a kit of tips that have lines with different sink rates. This way, you can customize your fly presentation to what the situation calls for. It's really a simple process. Don't overthink it (like I did). Next time you are on the water, attach a sink tip and watch what it does and how it affects the retrieve. You will see a lot of potential in ways you can fish it and how to use it. It's just another trick that you will pick up along the way. KB

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“The gods do not deduct from man’s allotted span the hours spent in fishing.” - Herbert Hoover