Sinking line question (longer line)

[JB5000]

I have a SA Sonar Titan sink 3 / sink 5 / sink 7 and I use it from a boat in the ocean. The water is typically 30ft deep (25-40ft), and there are currents and winds. During the summer I target stripers that often hang out near the bottom. The line is only 105 feet long. In ideal conditions, the front of the line should take ~40 seconds or so to sink all the way down to 30ft. I realize this is "deep" for fly fishing, but it works well, and sometimes outproduces other fishing methods.

The issue is that there are currents and winds, and if the line is under tension, it doesn't sink very fast (if at all) - so a cast needs to be followed with enough slack being dumped into the water so that the line can sink down, without tension (probably ~40 seconds to get max depth, which is a long time to keep it slack if you are drifting). It seems like the line would stay in the strike zone longer if the line was longer (not necessarily faster sinking). If you make a long cast with a 105ft line, then you don't have much line left over (at all) to feed out as slack. I don't like feeding out the backing, or using it as a handling line. I might want to add 40-60 feet or so of extension to the existing running line. There is plenty of room on the reel.

Has anyone added length to the back end of a sinking line in a way that works well?

I have an older sinking line that I was thinking of cutting down and attaching to the back of the line, to make a longer running line - maybe just loop-to-loop . . . the running line section of the older line has developed some memory issues and is now prone to tangles, but the core still seems strong, so I might use the front end and the thicker handling part, probably that would be about 60ft worth. Perhaps heavier / thicker than necessary and not ideal, but it seems like it would work.

Is there any alternative "sinking running line" on the market that might be a good option to consider for this purpose? Without buying an entire line just to cut off the sinking running line part? It would make sense if such a thing existed, or something like it, but I haven't seen it. The line extension wouldn't need to do much, aside from serve as a faster sinking and easier handling form of backing.

 

[luj333]

I have a "dredge" setup to fish real deep stuff (over 100 ft) that I use bulk spools of Rio Level-T T-11. Alternatively, if you want to just add extension you could cut a piece of that, weld some loops and attach.

 

[rodneyshishido]

Back in the olden days, to get down deep I would use a shooting head with amnesia running line followed by backing.

 

[JB5000]

I have a "dredge" setup to fish real deep stuff (over 100 ft) that I use bulk spools of Rio Level-T T-11. Alternatively, if you want to just add extension you could cut a piece of that, weld some loops and attach.

Is the entire line T-11? That would indeed be a "dredge" set-up. Does it cast at all? What are you targeting at 100ft? I like the casting ability of the integrated sinking line, which is nice when fish pop up on the surface. It's also nice to be able to cast a good distance perpendicular to the direction of drift, when fish are deep. I could theoretically attach 60 feet of T-11 as the additional running line, but that would probably sink about the same rate as my old sinking line if I chopped it (maybe a bit faster), and T-11 might be thinner. I have a 30ft T-14 shooting head somewhere. I guess I can go loop-to-loop and experiment . . . Someone should really make a sinking shooting line - thin, sink rate 4-5ips, on a 30lb core, and sold in 60 and 100 ft lengths . . .

 

[trout trekker]

Someone should really make a sinking shooting line - thin, sink rate 4-5ips, on a 30lb core, and sold in 60 and 100 ft lengths . . .

Agreed and they came close many years ago. S.A. had sinking wet cel shooting lines. With the advent of the integrated lines many head and shooting line configurations went away. Today I still use Amnesia shooting lines with shooting heads as well as Rio's now discontinued .030 clear intermediate shooting lines along with a 500 foot bulk spool of Cortland's LC-13 ( Lead core ). The thing with both of those types of shooting lines is they absorb water, they need to be kept wet or they'll start coiling and fouling. Our old shop built specialty heads for many years, both multi-density integrated along with mix & match systems ( often referred to as twenty ten systems ). What you describe doing in your OP was what our original drift lines were built to do. We designed those for getting down to reefs ( typically for pacific rockfish, cod, seabass. ) in the open ocean current for depths to 60 feet, using a cast ahead of the drifting boat, feeding line & counting it down and then fishing it through on the pass over and subsequent down current drift. Absent full higher density shooting lines in the market place today and knowing that I'd loose the occasional shooting head if they become entangled on a reef, I'd go with an easy to replace, cost effective Rio T or Cortland LC shooting head and 30 Lb. Amnesia.

Dave

 

[luj333]

Yes entire line of T-11. You can make medium(50/60/70ft) casts when needed, but its mostly dumping line out and drifting. I use it to get down to wrecks or reefs to dredge up whatever species might be down there. Yes, you would think it's a cold water line, but there's no issues using it in warm water.