Lead core & sink tip

The boss let me off the hook. Actually, I started looking busy and she said "I thought you were going fishing". That was my cue. Came in for lunch, but here's the preliminary report on the lead core fly line.

The lead core line has a smaller diameter than a typical trolling line, but it's still heavy compared to the main fly line. I wasn't sure how best to tie this stuff to the main line or to the monofilament line. I first tried a small shrink tube made for the job and, while it grabbed the plasic outer sheath of the lead core, it didn't want to hang onto the regular fly line. So I opted for a crude knot, similar to what would normally be used to attach monfilament to a hook (aka a blood knot).

This lead core is really meant as a weighted leader, performing the same function as a sink-tip fly line, but sinking at a much faster rate, thanks to the lead core. Choosing the length is a bit of hit and miss. I bought a 30 foot length and decided I'd try 12 feet first. If that wasn't enough, I'd still have an 18 foot length left.

Casting isn't quite as elegant as casting a #18 fly to a shy trout, and it's more like heaving a wet tow line to a distant boat or to shore. The 6/7 weight rod I was using, although fine for normal sink tips lines in these delta waters, really needs to be 9 weight to have the muscle to cast this heavy line. Do they make 9 weight fly rods? Picking it up once it's started sinking is almost impossible. Heck, this is a lot different from a 3 weight rod I use for casting small trout flies.

The lead core definitely takes that lure down in a hurry. However, since the line isn't color marked, I don't really know how deep it's going.

I'm off to experiment a little more before declaring myself an expert  ;D

Sounds like maybe 6 ft would have been better.  Thanks for the update.  Looking forward to more on your experience with lead core.

Not much more to report. The 6/7 pole is like a wet noodle with the heavy leader. But, with practice, I was able to put it in the proximity of where I wanted it.

I didn't wander very far: Stayed behind the house for my pratices sessions. The boss took a couple of photos.

Great photos.  Did you get any Bass??

Ron_Staff said:

Great photos.  Did you get any Bass??

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You just had to ask  ;D  Actually, I didn't see to much activity on the fish finder, so I wasn't really fishing seriously. I was just tyring to master the lead on the end of the wet noodle.

You just had to ask ;D Actually, I didn't see to much activity on the fish finder, so I wasn't really fishing seriously. I was just tyring to master the lead on the end of the wet noodle.

I kinda figured you were practicing with the new Lead Core line. But I just had to ask.(BG)

Here's the other part of the answr on weighted fly lines ....

I stopped by my favorite (but far away) fly fishing shop today and asked to see some titanium line. Sure nough, the guy produced what I was looking for. It appears to be thinner than the equivalent lead core line for a given speed of descent. Now this has me baffled because the density of lead is much higher than that of titanium. The way the guy explained it was that it's not solid titanium or solid lead; Instead, there's sprinkles of the relative metal in the line, and the weight is determined by how densely they populate the line with the metal.

I'm taking this all with a grain of salt until I can try out the titanium line (yes, I bought some). It sure seems more supple than the lead line though.

I can see where they would use that type of construction for fly line. The line I use for trolling has a solid core of lead and is color coded and each change in color is 10 yards.

The lead core line has a smaller diameter than a typical trolling line, but it's still heavy compared to the main fly line. I wasn't sure how best to tie this stuff to the main line or to the monofilament line. I first tried a small shrink tube made for the job and, while it grabbed the plasic outer sheath of the lead core, it didn't want to hang onto the regular fly line. So I opted for a crude knot, similar to what would normally be used to attach monfilament to a hook (aka a blood knot).

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Thinking back to my use of lead core for trolling, I tied the lead core to backing of monofiliment using a nail knot of the mono over the lead core and safetying it with a drop of epoxy.    I attached the mono leader with another nail knot, not epoxied.

Do they make 9 weight fly rods? Picking it up once it's started sinking is almost impossible. Heck, this is a lot different from a 3 weight rod I use for casting small trout flies

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They make 9s, 10s, and 12s.    I have seen 9s for sale down here in LA, they use them for bonito in the salt.  Now there is a fun fish.

Thanks Carl. The 12 weight poles must be like pool cues