Early season fly fishing. Line Preference?

[BobG]

Early season pond fishing, which do you guys prefer, a full sinking line, standard flies, or floating lines, and weighted flies?
I was throwing a sinking Airflo on a 5wt the past couple days, and I forgot what a PIA a full sinking line can be.:rolleyes:

[joebe]

For me depends. From shore I like a sink tip, from a boat/Ponoon Boat I like Full sink if the pond is deep or intermediate if there is high weeds/shallow. This time of year for the Plymouth/Cape Ponds I strictly fish my 6 weight, reason being the vast majority of the fishing is wooly buggers and streamers.

[Bigcat]

I like the sink tip.

[chickenhead]

For me depends. From shore I like a sink tip, from a boat/Ponoon Boat I like Full sink if the pond is deep or intermediate if there is high weeds/shallow. This time of year for the Plymouth/Cape Ponds I strictly fish my 6 weight, reason being the vast majority of the fishing is wooly buggers and streamers.

I use a 5 weight, but otherwise this pretty much sums it up.

[Onshore]

Depending on the depth of the pond, I often used a full sink line but if it was shallow, used a sink tip of intermediate. IMHO, the important thing in early season pond fishing for trout is to get down where the fish are. As the water warms and springs turns to summer, an intermediate can be a killer.

[smcisaac]

I hate full sinking lines. If the job can't be done with a sink tip I pull out the spinning gear.

[BobG]

Well,

I ended up liking the sinking line better than I did the other day, when I was ill prepared.:rolleyes:
Todays I put on my waders and stripping basket, and all was well.:brow

[chickenhead]

I hate full sinking lines. If the job can't be done with a sink tip I pull out the spinning gear.

Well,

I ended up liking the sinking line better than I did the other day, when I was ill prepared.:rolleyes:
Todays I put on my waders and stripping basket, and all was well.:brow

I pretty much use the sink tip for high water river conditions (Deerfield river floods) only. I always seem to bungle the cast when I try to use it for long casts. On the ponds I much prefer the full sink. I almost always fish from a float tube though so I have a built in stripping basket. If wading the ponds, the stripping basket would be a big help.

[gseries69]

There are several factors you need to consider when choosing a fly line on stillwaters. The fly your'e using, the speed of the retrieve, and the depth of the water.

By considering those three factors, you are forced to think about what line will keep the fly in the fishes zone for the longest amount of time. A chiromomid pattern for example must be fished painstackingly slow. A floating line with long leader will keep the fly suspened in the water column like the natural. A hand twist retrieve will bring the fly thorugh the water column at a pace slow enough to mimic the natural.

If the fish are suspended over a drop off, you may want to use a mayfly imitation or dragon fly imitation. In this case you have to consider how deep the fish are and how quickly you will be retrieveing the fly. If you use a fast sinking line you will get to the fish quickly, but with a slow retrieve the fly will only be in the fishes zone for a short period of time. If you are using a fast strip and streamer pattern, the faster sinking line will work fine.

Other times the fish will be shallow waiting for insects, during a damsel fly migration for example. In those cases a clear intermediate line works best for several reasons. One, the line sinks very slowly keeping the fly in the fishes zone, however, unlike a floating line, the intermediate sinks just beneath the surface and does not form a wake that will spook fish. Second, the clear lines don't throw as much of a shadow over the fish.

So, I would be armed with 3 to 4 lines when fishing stillwaters. Floating lines for your chironomid, suspended leach, cased caddis and, emerger presentations, intermediate line for shallow water situations or during times of day when there is a high sun, type II or III sinker when the fish are deep but you will be using a slow retrieve, and type IV or V when the fish are deep and you will be using a fast strip.