About the Author

Joe Rotter

Joe is the "blogger in chief" here at Red's in addition to being our guide service manager and partner here at Red's. He is a father of 3 spunky children his wife Kelly can only be found fishing when the temperature gets above 85 degrees and the fish are gobbling up dry flies.

In addition to being a fly fishing junkie, Joe is a hard core bowhunter, is a volunteer Hunter's Eductation Instructor, and loves riding horses with his kiddos. Joe still guides a small part of the time but spends most of his time working on web marketing, travel, and helping customers find the right tools and information for the job.

Cost Effective Streamer System - RIO Sinking Versileaders

December 15, 2017

We're in the fringe season right now in the PNW on our home water, the Yakima River. This time of year its cold, but not so cold the fishing is completely shut down. In fact, the bite has actually been pretty good this past week for anglers willing to roll the dice and brave the elements.

The fishing 99% of the time from November - early February is going to be either nymphs or streamers. Wet flies. While there are some destinations and days that can offer dry fly fishing with midges or small mayflies, angler should plan on fishing deep and getting good at it.

Streamer fishing is likely going to be most productive when done with a sinking line. There are LOTS of options here and lots of people even buy rods exclusively for streamer fishing, a fast action 9' 6 weight would be my first choice. Maybe 9'6" if I'm on big water chasing big browns or Alaskan Rainbows. Anyway, in addition to a rod that will handle a heavy load you'll need a line to get it down.

Carrying a spare spool with a sink tip line is the best, and this line can be an integrated sink tip (the smoothest and best for dedicated streamer rods) or it can be a multi-tip system which I'll out line today for you. This could also allow you to convert your current WF Floating Fly Line into a sink tip line.

Cost Effective Streamer System - "NOT THE MOST IDEAL HOWEVER!"

Standard Floating Fly Line (requires a loop at the tip) *a great combo is an indicator style fly line - great for nymphing and it casts well with a versi-leader attached.
RIO Spey Versileader (6' - 12') Depending on the Situation - I personally prefer the Spey Versileaders - they are a bit heavier duty. Get several weights and lengths to experiment with on your particular fishery and rod. These can be used on ANY weight rod making them very useful and a wise investment.
5' of Fluoroflex PLUS 3X, 2X, or 1X Tippet (my preferred trout tippet for streamers and nymphs)

This system will allow you to simply convert your nymphing line to a sink tip. Its not ideal because it simply doesn't cast as well or turnover larger streamers nearly as good as a true streamer line. It does allow you to be versatile and adapt to changing situations.

Better Streamer Line Systems:

Wulff Neautralizer Intermediate Sinking Shooting Head (combine this line with your own sinking leaders)

Wulff Ambush Shooting Head Streamer Kit (we can substitute the Neuatralizer if this is going to be ONLY for streamer fishing - the standard package includes a floating head to insure versatility)

RIO In-Touch Freshwater Outbound Short - WF6I/S3 - Brown/Yellow - This is a shooting head style line, 1-2 false casts and it shoots line very well.

RIO In-Touch Streamer Tip Sinking Fly Lines - This is a more traditional taper, lends itself to finer accuracy for fishing structure and bank lines.