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Catch More Fish by Adding This One Skill: Learn to Fly Fish Sinking Lines

Do this one thing, and you will increase your catch rate by getting your fly in front of more fish.
Ken Baldwin|
A Chromatic Peanut originated by Russ Maddin and tied by Max Werkman of Werkman Outfitters.
A Chromatic Peanut originated by Russ Maddin and tied by Max Werkman of Werkman Outfitters. | photo by Ken Baldwin

I've written about this before, but it is worth repeating. If you're not comfortable fishing with a sinking line, I highly recommend getting comfortable. It will pay off for the rest of your fly fishing days.

Fly Fishing Success With a Sinking Fly Line

I just got back from a trip to Grand Rapids, Michigan, where I went to fly fish for steelhead and smallmouth bass. We had an exceptional two days, but if I hadn't used a sinking line, there's a very good chance we would have caught at best one or two fish.

Success in Bad Weather

Both days were cold and damp. Day one was especially cold, with snow and sleet. I hooked six steelhead and landed three. The guide I was fishing with also caught three; I insisted he fish so I could get some photos.

Sinking Fly Lines and Streamers

All the fish caught were on streamers that we were swinging near the bottom. We caught fish using both a spey rod and a single-hand fly rod.

A fly angler fighting a steelhead on a spey rod using sinking line.
Guide Max Werkman of Werkman Outfitters into a Grand Rapids steelhead. | photo by Ken Baldwin

The combination that worked was a 3-5 inches per second (IPS) sinking line and a natural brown sculpin streamer. We tried a bright yellow-headed streamer and then a pink and black one at the beginning of the day with no success. When we switched to the natural pattern, we had our first fish within ten minutes.

A fly angler releasing a Grand Rapids steelhead caught on a sinking line.
Reviving a steelhead after a good fight. These fish are in full bloom of color. | photo by Max Werkman

Finding the Right Sink Rate

When we were consistent with our retrieve, which was slow but just enough to keep the streamer off the bottom, and used a natural-colored streamer, we hooked up.

If we were snagging the bottom, the sink rate was too heavy. If we were nicking bottom once in a while, we knew we had the correct sink rate.

Smallmouth Bass on the Fly

The second day, I fished with Tom Werkman for smallmouth bass. His son, Max, is the steelhead specialist, while Tom focuses on the smallmouth fishery.

Cold Weather and Pre-Spawn Bass

The weather had eased up a little on the second day, but it was still cold. The fish weren't spawning yet, but you could see hints of spring in the trees and bushes. This made us think that the fish were moving around, feeding, and setting up for the spawn.

A fly angler using a sinking line is fighting a fish on his fly rod.
Tom Werkman showing me how it's done. | photo by Ken Baldwin

Sinking Fly Line for the Win

I probed the deeper holes with a sinking line and a black streamer. Most of my hits came after I let the fly sink a few feet before I began my retrieve, and then gave the streamer a slow, shaky movement. I wasn't jigging it, I was swimming it back. By shaking the line with my hand as I retrieved it, I gave the streamer movement without stripping it too fast. When you do this with a fly made of bunny fur, the movement looks fantastic.

Learn How to Fish a Sinking Line

In future articles, I'll dive deeper into the rivers I fished in Grand Rapids, including gear, technique, flies, and more. In this article, I want to hammer home the benefits and importance of becoming comfortable with fishing a sinking line. Learn the different sink rates, lengths, and how to use them. You will find they aren't difficult to cast and will get you into more productive zones.

A fly angler reviving a Grand Rapids steelhead after he caught it using sinking line.
A sinking fly line helped Max Werkman get his streamer deep enough to where this steelhead was located. | photo by Ken Baldwin

It Will Make a Difference

I really believe it was the sinking line that made the difference in our success. I'm sure we would have caught some fish using a weight-forward floating line, but it wouldn't have been nearly as productive. The fish were deep, and a sinking line helped us get down to them while giving the streamer the right movement to entice strikes. It's worth adding sinking lines to your fly fishing toolbox. KB

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

The gear reviewed in this article was provided to me at no cost for evaluation. The views and assessments presented are my own.

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Ken Baldwin
KEN BALDWIN

Ken Baldwin is a writer and editor for Fishing On SI, covering fly fishing gear, travel, and all other aspects of a life well fished. His writing and photography have appeared in Men’s Journal, Catch Magazine, Fish Alaska, and American Angler. Ken also created and hosts Season on the Edge, a television series exploring travel, adventure, and culture through fishing that aired on NBC Sports and in seven countries. For twenty years, Ken guided fly anglers in Alaska, keeping him in close proximity to brown bears and launching his path into wildlife photography. That field experience led to his work as a bear guard and consultant on the Netflix documentary Our Planet II, narrated by David Attenborough. His photography was also featured in the series promotion. His career has taken a few memorable turns – professionally dancing and teaching salsa, bartending at the House of Blues on the Sunset Strip, and played the terrorist “Mulkey” in the film Die Hard 2. Ken graduated from the University of Washington with a degree that had absolutely nothing to do with any of the above.

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