[Mike Barrio]

Have you got your own way of thinking for polyleader choice when salmon fishing?

How do you work out which length and sink rate of Polyleader to use?

Cheers
Mike

[Rob Brownfield]

Not an expert by any means at Salmon fishing, but I can hold my own when it comes to getting a bait or whatever to trip the bottom where the fish are.

I look at the water and the speed of the current and the deeper and faster I think the water is, the longer and faster sinking poly leader I choose to start with. (Rod length also dictates this as I would not use a 10 foot leader on my 10 foot 6 Switch rod)

If the first couple of casts catch the bottom soon into the swing, then I come up 2 sink rates.

If it catches at the very end of the swing, then 1 size up.

If I catch at the beginning of the swing, then I shorten the poly leader and so on.

Obviously, I reverse above if not catching the bottom until I do, then go back one "setting".

One thing I have started to do is use alloy tubes rather than Cu ones. My thinking is an allot fly has more "life" in the currant than a copper tube due to its weight.

Will be interested in other remarks as this is all new to me, the last time I salmon fished with a fly rod I had DT lines and level leader.

[Marc Fauvet]

good topic Mike  

first of all, one must keep in mind that the tip of the polyleader will never sink as fast as the butt end.
there was a great article/study of this but i can't find it.

so, basically, to get to the fly at the desired depth if there's any kind of flow (or don't have enough drift time) one needs go 'faster sinking' than the non-realistic inch per second rating on the pack.
it's a little complicated....  

cheers,
marc

[Rob Brownfield]

first of all, one must keep in mind that the tip of the polyleader will never sink as fast as the butt end.
there was a great article/study of this but i can't find it.

Not sure how that would be relevent in that the butt of the poly leader is attached to a fly line. The butt cannot do anything but sink slower than the tip as its attached to something that is more than likely, floating or at very least sinking slower than the poly leader. (working on the principle that you would not use a slow sink leader on a fast sink line).

I can safely say that when holding a fly/poly leader on a tight line at my feet in clear, flowing water, the poly leader always sinks point first.

I am intrigued now..please find the article...

[Mike Barrio]

Don't just wait for the more experienced salmon anglers to reply with a "how it should be done .... "

I'm just as interested in the thoughts of those who only fish for salmon every now and then

Cheers
Mike

[Hamish Young]

I match the polyleader to the task at hand, as I use shooting heads a lot then they make a useful transition between line and leader. I do not use anything other than slow sink and floating lines for salmon fishing so the tips I use are reflected in the fact that the line I am casting doesn't 'get down much' therefore I need to balance my outfit with 'tips' that will achieve the task for me.
As a rule of thumb I (personally) want my polyleaders/tips to be sinking.
On smaller rivers I very rarely fish anything other than a sinking (no floating or intermediate) polyleader as 9 times out of 10 I want my fly to get down and get down quickly.

Length of polyleader (for me) is largely dictated by the type of line I'm using. As I do a fair bit of single handed Salmon fishing then (depending which falls out of my bag/pocket etc first) I use shorter polyleaders from Airflo and versitips from Rio on the front of a SLX. Again, I don't really bother much with anything other than sinking leaders, I have no use for a floating one or an intermediate unless I feel my 'presentation' is suffering on the rare occasion that I fish a full floater but even then I'll make sure I'm using a 'proper' tapered leader making the floating polyleader redundant in my eyes.

When it comes to big boys toys on the double hander then it's the big leaders and, again, it's nearly always a sinker as I feel that's of more benefit to where I fish the most and reflects my personal choice of of using floating or very slow sinking lines/heads - the fastest sinking salmon line in my possession is a Mackenzie intermediate shooting head.

With that 'sorted' I adjust my choice of polyleader to the conditions. For example, I turn up to my favourite pool and the river is:
1. "flowing like buggery" - leader choice: feckin fast sinking.
2. "flowing quickly" - leader choice: medium sink.
3. "next to no flow" - leader choice: back to the pub.

In the scheme of things it's not brain surgery

H

[Mike Barrio]

Great stuff Hamish

[Iain Goolager]

Being a not too serious Salmon fisher............... I like to select my tips as to keep the flies as deep as I can without fouling the bottom in Spring and mid to 3/4 depth in Autumn. 
Pretty much 'the unthinking approach to Salmon fishing' but its what I do.

Always keen to hear a more technical approach.

Iain

[Eddie Sinclair]

Iain,
I salmon fish a lot in spring and the back end and I use the rio 15 foot versi tips on various lines and shooting heads and my scientific approach is similar to yours. I usually fish with the tip that gets my fly as deep as possible without consistently catching the bottom. On some beats that I know well i know which tip to use depending on water height but i will change tip half way down a pool if required but as stated I am usually trying to get the fly down. I dont do much salmon fising in the summer as I am usually fishing for brownies at that time so my fishing deep only applies to mostly cold water conditions. I am not a fan of really heavy tubes to gain depth my own preferrence is for a heavy tip and light tube so that it has a more life like action. I may be wrong but that is what i like to do.


Eddie.