How To Make Your Own Sink-Tip Lines

If you are like me and love to swing flies, you understand the importance of sink-tips. Some cast better with faster-action rods, while others are meant for the butter stick, meaning a super flexible glass or slowish-action rod. A particular sink-tip often is the key to reaching those finicky steelhead, salmon and trout that run deep.

In the market for a new fly rod? Check these out.

how to tie your own sink tip (5)

If you fish anything other than the correct sink-tip for the conditions you encounter, you won’t even touch them. Like other elements of fly fishing/fly tying, sometimes it is better to make your own sink-tips so that you get the exact results you’re looking for. Here are a few elementary steps I take when constructing my personalized sink-tips.

how to tie your own sink tip (4)

Step 1: Choose your desired sink rate

Most fly shops sell raw sinking line, which allows you to cut a tip to the desired length. I prefer Rio's InTouch Level "T" series. Our North 40 fly shops carry several different sink rates in this line. Keep in mind what depth you plan to fish, how fast the water is running, and how deep you want to swing your fly. For Idaho trout, I have found that 10 feet of T-8 works very well when matched with my Airflo Scout shooting head.

This length and sink rate combination keeps me in the 2 to 3 feet depth for most of our big local waters, i.e., the Kootenai and Clark Fork rivers. However, if you are going to fish during high water, you may want to run T-10 to offset those flows. If you’re chasing king salmon or steelhead on broad rivers and significant flows, you may have to run T-12 or T-14 to reach the beasts.
how to tie your own sink tip (6)

Step 2: Measure sinking line and cut to length

This step is simple and is exactly how it sounds. Measure out your sink-tip to the desired length and cut it. This is a fun time to experiment. A lot of sink-tips come in 5 or 10-feet increments, but that doesn't mean a 10-foot sink-tip is best for you and your rod. Try cutting the sinking line to 7 feet, or go the other direction and cut it at 12 feet or even 15 feet. You never know what you will end up liking.

how to tie your own sink tip (2)

Step 3: Create the loop

There are a couple different ways to make a loop at the end of your sink-tip. I prefer to use a nail knot tool and heavy monofilament, mostly for simplicity. To do this you wrap the nail knot tool with 20- to 30-pound monofilament five times, like you would when attaching a leader to a fly line. But instead of inserting the flat end of a fly line underneath the mono wraps and into the tool, fold the end of the sink-tip so it creates a loop, and insert under the monofilament wraps. That sentence would drive a high school English teacher crazy, but it gets my direction across. Once the knot is tied, add a little Super Glue to completely secure the knot.

These tools can make tying your own sink tip lines easier.

how to tie your own sink tip (1)

This nail knot tool/monofilament method also serves well in the field when emergency adjustments or fixes might be needed. The second option to create a loop is with Rio's Welding Loop package. When using this method, simply cut a 1-inch section of plastic tubing, slip the loop through the tubing, heat the tubing with a heat gun to weld the fly line, then cut the tubing away from the line. This method slips through the guides a little easier than a knot.

how to tie your own sink tip (3)