Can you Throw a Sink Tip from a Kayak?
When you have a question about fly fishing, it’s a good idea to ask someone who’s tried it. When this question came in, we had the go to guy: Dillon out of Ponderay’s Fly Shop.
He’s got a kayak in his truck 24/7, and we knew this was the perfect question for him. Dillon fishes still water and rivers from his kayak, and has extensive experience throwing all kinds of line, but when it comes to sink tips, and whether or not you should try 'em out of a kayak, his answer was an emphatic: "Yes."
You can see in the video above why you should do it, but we called him up in Ponderay to get a little bit more inside information for this write up.
AskNorth40: "What else can you tell us about fishing from a kayak?"
Dillon: "Wearing a vest is a must. I mean, I haven’t fallen out of my kayak yet, but I feel that day is coming. When you are casting these heavy weight rods and heavier lines, especially from a littler kayak like mine, you can really feel the push back and it’ll rock you right away. And I’d rather be safe and keep fishing then not... so I wear a vest."
AskNorth40: "What are some tips or pointers you can give to people thinking about kayak fishing or maybe jumping up to throw bigger streamers?"
Dillon: "Well something I’ve found out is that you aren’t going to be able to reach out as far with your line as you would if you were standing. You’re three feet above the water line versus being six feet above the water line, and aside from the mechanical issue your cast isn’t going to feel the same as standing, and you’ll lose some length just because you can’t utilize your hips fully but aside from that, your back cast is going to hit the ground much sooner than it would if you were standing. So I would say, just from my personal experience, if you’re going out go out for the first time in a kayak or stepping up to heaver lines, think about keeping your casts shorter than you would normally."
AskNorth40: "Anything other insight into the world of sink tip fly fishing from a kayak?"
Dillon: "Maybe just a little side note, when you strip in the line, you need to focus on line management because you get messes in your lap it can’t spool out clean like normal, so be aware of that. I’ve gotten tangled up many times, and that’s never fun."
Thanks for checking out our Kayak article and I'm glad you found it informative. As a kayak/Nucanoe owner I also found this to be very helpful in how I approach the water from this vantage point. I really hope they share with us some more tips and tricks when it comes to this kind of adventure.
Stay tuned for more articles from the "Legends" and thanks again for checking us out.
Best regards,