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Intermediate lines!

15K views 114 replies 26 participants last post by  Drifter 
#1 ·
I have fallen in love with intermediate lines. It started at cabelas today just looking around and spotted the new prestige plus clear type one sinking line, at $30 I couldn't turn it down. Went out and it casts like a dream. I fished a scud and caught some awesome fish, I love the depth control. A friend of mine always uses small nymphs and scuds on an intermediate and is constantly catching fish left and right.(part of what motivated me to buy it) But now I see why they are so popular I think anyone who doesn't want to spend the money for the SA or Rio line should pick up the the cabelas prestige intermediate. Great stuff!!!
 
#3 ·
Thanks for the recommendations. I've been reading a lot about intermediate lines for stillwater. I'm still learning the lake game, so I apologize in advance for the newbie question.

Do people usually have a separate reel for stillwater weighted lines, or do you just purchase an extra spool to swap in and out on your reel?

I only own one rod and reel (9' 5 weight) currently, so am curious how other folks play the swap game.
 
#5 ·
I also picked up one of those Cabelas $30 type-1 clear intermediates in a 4 wt. Its sinks a bit slower than my type-2 Cortland Clear Camo, but casts and shoots nicely. I can be patient, at less than half the price.

When lake fishing, lately I have been carrying three fully rigged rods. Up until now, I had 2 6 wts, one rigged with a clear intermediate full-sinker, and the other with a type-3 full sinker. Had my 9' 4wt rigged with a floater.

But since I can cast a bit farther with my 6 wt, especially if there is a breeze, and those dang risers keep moving away from my boat as I attempt to glide closer to them, I am going to be swapping a 6 wt over to a floating line and my 4 wt to a clear intermediate.
 
#6 ·
I keep as many rods strung as the situation calls for. I hate swapping spools on the water, though at the rig it's no big deal. This time of year as the fish sneak into the shallows all I use is a clear intermediate.
 
#8 ·
I also picked up a similar $30 deal on a clear-intermediate 12' sinktip in 5 wt.. It casts and shoots very nicely on my fast-action 9' 4wt, but the tip is also a type-1, so it doesn't sink very fast in moving waters, where I mainly use it. However, it worked fine for coastal cutts in a local river with fluorocarbon leader swinging a conehead sculpin pattern into and along a seam bordering the softer water.

Oops. This line is 5 wt, not 4 wt. Got it because the 4 wts were sold out.

Crawled back to the bargain cave and found a 4 wt type-2 clear 10' sinktip for the same cheap price. This will work on my med action 8' 4wt rod.
 
#9 ·
My first fly rod was set up with a floating line and now I wonder why all starter fly rods don't come with clear intermeidiate lines. I would recommend a clear intermeidiate set up to all beginning fly fishers. In lake or streams the majority of fish feeding takes place sub-surface. Tom
 
#10 ·
I also like to have a couple rods set up. I only have 2 however. Depending where I am I usually have a 5wt setup throwing streamers on an intermediate or sink tip as well as my 4wt tossing nymphs and dries. I did start carrying extra spools for my Guru. Its a pain changing spools on the water but its good to have multiple spools to be able to switch up game plans if need be.
 
#11 ·
I absolutely despise changing spools/lines on the water. I pre-rig all my rods prior to leaving the house, and take on average 5-6 rods out on a lake with me. I fish my clear intermediate and indicator rods probably 90% of the time, but the other 10% of the time I am sure glad I am rigged for those specific applications.

Also, anymore I wouldn't dare head out to a stillwater without my Hover line. After reading Troutpocket sing it's praises many times I finally pulled the trigger on one, and boy is it a game changer. I don't always need it, but when I do it's often the difference maker.
 
#13 ·
Also, anymore I wouldn't dare head out to a stillwater without my Hover line. After reading Troutpocket sing it's praises many times I finally pulled the trigger on one, and boy is it a game changer. I don't always need it, but when I do it's often the difference maker.
The Hover lets you fish all the same water you would target with the clear lines but also allows for a nice, slow retrieve in 3-5' without hanging up on bottom. Try that with your Aqualux or Stillwater line. I still carry an Aqualux but haven't fished it in 2 years. Maybe I should start carrying less gear . . .nah :)
 
#14 ·
I have a different take on clear intermediate lines. from say 1 to 5 ft. they work great but any deeper than that they tend to have to much belly sink "bow" and missed fish are a result. I fished stillwater steelhead for some 10 years and at first used cortland camo lines and they produced only about a third of the fish then a uniform sink line. once I switched to a uniform sink type 2 or 3 my hookups tripled.

I learned that using a weighted fly (same or faster sinking) with a uniformed sink line the line stayed straight to the fly and if a fish even breathed on it I could tell! maybe a little dramatic statement but true, the line was just so much straighter to the fly for strike detection. many times with the cortland camo or any full body sinking line, what I would feel is the fish letting go of the fly then I would set the hook, or the fish would feel the hook and spit it before I could set the hook.

I took a friend and set him up and he wasent setting to the hook on takes. I was hooking fish and he wasent. then he told me all that was hitting were small fish or trash fish (just slightest tick-tick) I laughed and said those were steelhead and to set the hook next time! sure enough 10 pounder on. many other fly fisherman got in on this fishing and learned to splice together lines from a fast sink section to slower sink and so on to fix the problem of the "belly sink" I used scientific anglers uniform sink lines and they did the same thing as splicing many tips together. most times when I would hit bottom it would be the fly not the line beings I would tie flies that were weighted just enough to sink a little faster then the sinking line. Also - This way the line is not sunk from your boat clear to the fish spooking anything in between as you work your fly back which seemed to be important because the steelhead would spook from seeing line that is the diameter of 100 pound mono looking like a Indian set net. we found that fish would quit swimming in the area the sinking lines were working after an hour or 2. I try and take this same approach while fishing still water trout. the big "smart" fish will spook from seeing sinking lines in an area for to long.

I just wish they made a uniform sink in clear where the tip actually sinks first and the body of the line follows at a tapered rate.

Jim Wallace = who sells a heavy "full" sinking clear line? would be good for vertical presentations I would think.
 
#16 ·
Geeze!:D Heavy clear full-sink? That may be something that doesn't even exist! Ha, Ha, a vertical clear line? How about a very long straaight leader of some 4# fluoro with a heavy BH chironomid, and a lot of patience?

I do have an old 6 wt Airflo clear intermediate that I ran over with my old sq-stern canoe and wound it up in my trolling motor. I had to cut and splice it, and it turned out that the tip section was trashed. Coincidentally, the belly/running line on my Airflo 6 wt multi-tip suffered a similar fate.

To resolve this untenable situation, I am using all the sinking tips from the old multi-tip line with the old "body" of the clear intermediate full-sink. So I can now attach, via braided loops, either a type-3 or a type-6 10' sinktip on the clear intermediate mainline, as well as the clear tip. I haven't really experimented with this thing enough yet to comment on how well it actually works, though.
I have finally extricated my sorry arse from the jungle known as "landscape maintenance servitude." I'm so happy that I've even been trading the last of my good customers away to the competition for only the promise of keeping up great service! I am, after all, getting paid with more fishing time.

The old floating tip from the 6 wt Airflo multi-tip set-up just might go on a 6 wt clear-int sink-tip that I have, if I ever raise the courage to hack and loop it.

I have a different take on clear intermediate lines. from say 1 to 5 ft. they work great but any deeper than that they tend to have to much belly sink "bow" and missed fish are a result. I fished stillwater steelhead for some 10 years and at first used cortland camo lines and they produced only about a third of the fish then a uniform sink line. once I switched to a uniform sink type 2 or 3 my hookups tripled.

I learned that using a weighted fly (same or faster sinking) with a uniformed sink line the line stayed straight to the fly and if a fish even breathed on it I could tell! maybe a little dramatic statement but true, the line was just so much straighter to the fly for strike detection. many times with the cortland camo or any full body sinking line, what I would feel is the fish letting go of the fly then I would set the hook, or the fish would feel the hook and spit it before I could set the hook.

I took a friend and set him up and he wasent setting to the hook on takes. I was hooking fish and he wasent. then he told me all that was hitting were small fish or trash fish (just slightest tick-tick) I laughed and said those were steelhead and to set the hook next time! sure enough 10 pounder on. many other fly fisherman got in on this fishing and learned to splice together lines from a fast sink section to slower sink and so on to fix the problem of the "belly sink" I used scientific anglers uniform sink lines and they did the same thing as splicing many tips together. most times when I would hit bottom it would be the fly not the line beings I would tie flies that were weighted just enough to sink a little faster then the sinking line. Also - This way the line is not sunk from your boat clear to the fish spooking anything in between as you work your fly back which seemed to be important because the steelhead would spook from seeing line that is the diameter of 100 pound mono looking like a Indian set net. we found that fish would quit swimming in the area the sinking lines were working after an hour or 2. I try and take this same approach while fishing still water trout. the big "smart" fish will spook from seeing sinking lines in an area for to long.

I just wish they made a uniform sink in clear where the tip actually sinks first and the body of the line follows at a tapered rate.

Jim Wallace = who sells a heavy "full" sinking clear line? would be good for vertical presentations I would think.
 
#19 ·
Please explain the difference between using a floating line and a Intermediate I line.
 
#22 ·
Other than that I can actually fish down to 12' or 15' depths in a lake with my clear intermediate if I'm patient enough to wait for a couple of minutes or so, and then s-l-o-w-l-y (really slowly) troll my fly at that depth (try that with a long leader off a floater), there are other differences in using these lines.

I don't usually fish dries when using my intermediate, although one can actually apply flotant to this line and make that work.

When using a floater to strip something like Reversed Spiders in the surface film for searun cutts that are coming to the top to hit my fly, I find that sometimes there is enough small debris floating on the surface that it keeps fouling my hook and wrecking my presentation (common in the pools near the head of tidewater in my local tidal creeks, as the incoming tide moves in a lot of junk), so I want to get slightly below this. I'll use my clear intermediate, which will let me get my line under the surface debris and where I can still see my reversed spider and see the fish take it.

The intermediate line also lets me fish my fly deeper if I want, just by letting it sink a bit before retrieving.

When paddling through the estuary and up a tidal creek, I am often trolling a streamer or baitfish pattern. This works better for me if I'm using an intermediate line and a long leader, as I often paddle (and troll) at cruising speed to make time. A floating line would result in my streamer dragging in the surface film where it will pick up debris. I suppose that if the surface were clean of debris, I could drag a slider or baitfish pattern across the surface OK, but that is rarely the case if I'm paddling on an incoming tide. Might work on the outgoing tide, as there are areas with clean surface water that magically appear when the falling tide moves the debris back out.

When trolling back out, I'll often troll with a long leader and my floating line, as that is often just before or during the low tide, and I'm usually moving with the current in shallower water over some sort of bottom structure. Quite often all the surface debris is gone at this time. Keeps me from snagging up the bottom when moving fast in the same direction as the current. I hate to see my backing when I snag up!
 
#21 ·
I hear you IRA i'm finding it very hard to put the indi rod down. I fish a lot more with dry lines and long leaders for shallow under the surface fishing on the west side then the east. but it's hard to beat the presentation of the indicator, nymph, chiro set-up.
 
#24 ·
One other thing to consider is that not all intermediate lines are the same.
What I've observed is even though two different lines might have the same 1" per sec sink rate, one will sink faster then the other. This can hold true even with the same line.
I had one Cortland clear camo that sank nice and slow and another that sank like a rock.

Years ago SA made a very slow sinking intermediate sink line. It was a turquoise color. I ended up dying my green because I didn't like the color. When I first bought it, I could have sworn it was mis-labeled and was actually a floater. It would float on the surface for a bit before it would start sinking. It took probably a good minute for it to sink a foot. It was a super effect line for when fish were taking bugs just below the surface film. It outshined the clear camo intermediate by a far distance in those situations. I wish I could find another line line that fished like that.
 
#25 ·
One other thing to consider is that not all intermediate lines are the same.
What I've observed is even though two different lines might have the same 1" per sec sink rate, one will sink faster then the other. This can hold true even with the same line.
I had one Cortland clear came that sank nice and slow and another that sank like a rock.

Years ago SA made a very slow sinking intermediate sink line. It was a turquoise color. I ended up dying my green because I didn't like the color. When I first bought it, I could have sworn it was mis-labeled and was actually a floater. It would float on the surface for a bit before it would start sinking. It took probably a good minute for it to sink a foot. It was a super effect line for when fish were taking bugs just below the surface film. It outshined the clear camo intermediate by a far distance in those situations. I wish I could find another line line that fished like that.
Good point Brian, I've also found different intermediate lines sink at different rates. I sometimes wish my 40+ int. sank a little bet slower. My friend has a Rio hover and I think that might be just the ticket in situations like you mentioned.
I'd like to try one out.
 
#29 ·
The slowest sinking intermediates that I've tried are the Rio Hover and Cortland's 444 "ice blue" intermediate line that was mostly replaced years ago by the clear camo. I've heard good things about Airflo's sixth sense slow intermediate lines but haven't fished one.
Those Cortland lines were very good . I have`nt tried the clear camo . The best intermediate line I now own is an Airflo something-or-other . It`s not a clear line - it`s a puky green . It casts very well . It sinks very slowly - as it should imo , instead of the type 2 rate my Rio clear line sinks at .
 
#28 ·
Yesterday, at the lake I fished, all ya needed was a clear intermediate line and the right fly. That could have been any fly, for all I knew, because I never had to change up. I bit off my searun cutthroat streamer, and tied on a lake bugger that a little voice inside my head told me might work. It was an impromptu concoction devised after a couple of beers. Size 8. Gold beadhead, etc (you know, the mandatory black marabou tail, some sparkle chenille and black saddle hackle). I am now calling that thing the "Narwhalsawzall Stocker Clocker," and probably due to no fault of its design. Dang!

I just cast out and stripped out some more line until I had about 40' behind my U-12, then took a couple of light strokes of my paddle and with my line tight, just did a very slow wind troll in the light breeze, sometimes setting my rod down and taking an occasional stroke before picking up my rod again and getting ready for the grab. Had several grabs while I was reaching for the paddle or taking a stoke.
I fished mainly in 10' to 15' depths, but picked up a couple of fatties working the submerged logs against the far shoreline in about 7' or 8', where I could see the logs on the bottom. There were a few rise rings, and what looked like a small midge hatch going off at 5pm when I was paddling back to the ramp. I picked up fish trolling over where I saw the rise rings, but those hookups may have been coincidental.

Although I did some casting and retrieving, and that worked as well as the trolling, my arm protested, so I mainly trolled. Was using the used 9' Fenwick boron rod I picked up last Fall. The writing on the blank had worn off, so there was no indication of the weight class on the rod. Guy who sold it to me said he thought it might be a 7 wt. After yesterday, I think its a 5 wt, since it felt overlined with my 6 wt Cortland Clear Camo. Rod's action is full flex, almost noodly, but with great damping. Seems like an excellent streamer trolling rod.

Dang! Must have been the building high pressure and pleasant conditions, combined with mass quantities of recently stocked hungry trout that had spread out all over the lake. Whatever, but I enjoyed nonstop action from 2pm til just after 5pm when i had to reel in because the trout would not let me troll back to the ramp! I released a good two dozen before I lost count, and had at least half as many more toss the hook near my boat. I probably connected with 40 trout during the course of 3 hours. Oh yes! "Non-stop action" because these feisty demons would not come willingly nor easily to the net!
Saw only one other angler out on the lake, and he may have been having similar success. When he rowed within shouting distance, I mentioned that it seemed like there were a lot of hungry trout around. He replied that he just released about a dozen over where he had just been fishing.
Those trout were uneducated and hungry. I had tied my fly on some 8.5# 3x with a non-slip mono loop, and that didn't even slow 'em down. I did my best to school as many as possible. With the large number brought to my net, there were a couple that were bleeding badly, so I bonked 'em. One was one of the smaller one I caught, only a 13"er. The other two keepers werre about 15".
There were some that I released and some that got off that were in the 15" to 18" class that just went ape-shit when hooked. Jumpers! And going for big air!
The nice weather window closed, but the fish are still there for now. Surface water temp was still at 51 F.

All ya need for that lake is a clear intermediate line! And a Narwhalsawzall Stocker Clocker!
 
#30 ·
I primarily fish stillwaters. Over the years, I've gone through a lot of different lines. These days, my primary line is a clear intermidiate sinking guy. I use both Cortland and SA and can't really tell all that much difference. What I have learned, with the help of a fish/depth finder, is line depth is paramount for stillwater. If I've never fished a fishery before, I'll use my fish/depth finder to see where the fish are holding. If they are holding close to the bottom, I use my full-fasting sink line (the fastest sinking available). But usually, the intermidiate sinking line will cover the bases unless the lake is deep.

I carry three lines, floating, intermidiate sinking and fast sinking. I use the intermidiate line the most. Once in a blue moon I might try a Cortland clear sink-tip but I've found the full intermidiate clear line works the best. All the guys I fish with on stillwaters use the intermidiate, clear line.
 
#33 ·
Here is a question I cannot answer, maybe you can.

The lines I use the most are my Courtland 444 Slime Line, and a SA Type II Uniform Sink. A few months ago I was stretching my slime line and it snapped about 12' back from the head. Obviously the line was gone, but until I found another I took it down to Kiene's and had a loop welded on the remaining line after the break.

I took it out the next day and was shocked. I got about another 15' of distance out of it. It seemed to fish better and was more sensitive. It's totally improved with 12' of head gone.

Why?
 
#34 ·
Here is a question I cannot answer, maybe you can.

The lines I use the most are my Courtland 444 Slime Line, and a SA Type II Uniform Sink. A few months ago I was stretching my slime line and it snapped about 12' back from the head. Obviously the line was gone, but until I found another I took it down to Kiene's and had a loop welded on the remaining line after the break.

I took it out the next day and was shocked. I got about another 15' of distance out of it. It seemed to fish better and was more sensitive. It's totally improved with 12' of head gone.

Why?
The short answer is it's now a heavier line as the first 12' of taper is missing.
 
#39 ·
MB, I wish I had the line but no. Actually I looked at a similar line, not the one you brought up which is the correct one. I have to flip back to my original thought because it does look like I lost some weight.

I overline because there is less line out with more grains per foot for the false cast and I can shoot further with a heavier line on a fast rod. If I am using a mid flex then that's not the case. I have tried underlining and it just doesn't work. I am not even close to a 100' cast with any of my sinking lines except for my Rio OBS which is overweight from the factory, and that one I can get pretty close, at least 85' on a good one. I'm lucky to get 60' out with my other sinkers from a pontoon or float tube which is nearly only when I use them, but that's partially attributable to a two fly rig with a big bugger and long leader I think.
 
#42 ·
OK, I am getting this. But, by extension, why would I not get a line profile and cut out the taper to my other sinkers if that improves the distance which it definitely has? I don't think I care about presentation with sinkers--I almost always have the two fly rig with a bugger/leech and a point nymph.
 
#45 ·
OK, I am getting this. But, by extension, why would I not get a line profile and cut out the taper to my other sinkers if that improves the distance which it definitely has? I don't think I care about presentation with sinkers--I almost always have the two fly rig with a bugger/leech and a point nymph.
The only reason not to is it's like drilling a hole in your boat: tough to go back. :)

I just put numbers in a spreadsheet where I assumed 5 gr / ft for the body and 3 gr / ft for the level tip and also the running line. I used 4 gr / ft average weight for the front and back tapers (average of 5 and 3). I get 141.5 gr for the first 30.5 feet of the virgin line and 119.5 gr for the first 30.5 feet of the "new" and shorter line which is the equivalent of dropping from a 5wt to a 4wt line (I overestimated in the previous post. :) ) while changing the taper style from WF to Bass Bug.
 
#43 ·
I don't worry about making a fancy cast with my slime line either. I'm normally using a 15-20 leader with two patterns so I don't cast much. Once in awhile I'll find a honey spot where I can remain stationary and cast around me but normally, long casts are not required when I'm in my small pontoon boat.

Fishing with my dry line is a different story.
 
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