[NrthFrk16]

I've heard great things about the (in)famous Bob York's line recipe and have always wanted to try it. I got a chance to talk to him today, in depth, about the particulars. Line recipes seem to make alot more sense when told to you in person rather then read in a book.

Anyways, after getting past his report from the Rhonde-it consisted of something along the lines of like "I walked into the Turkey Shoot and because I am famous, everyone left the hole to watch me fish. And not a fish was caught behind me." Bob sure is a character...arrogant?...maybe a little.

Anyways his line recipe consists of 17' of High Speed Hi-d shooting head of line size larger then the rod you are going to fish. This is spliced into 17 ft of a belly section of a floating line that is either one or two weights heavier then the rod you are fishing. This is then spliced into a .027 or .031 running line.

If you want to fish a shorter head, say a 12 foot head, you just extend the floating belly section by 5 ft.

Anyways the tip sections I fish now get me by but I am in search of something better.

Has anyone played around with Bob's system (which was published in Trey's book)? Has anyone played with a similar systyem? How did it fish? Any manipulations?

Im going to start crunching some numbers to see how the grains play out to decide if I want to go 1 or 2 lines sizes heavier on the sinking portion and 1, 2 or even 3 lines sizes heavier on the floating mid-section.

I'd love to give it a try because according to Bob, its the greatest line ever-"I can cast 200 ft with it!" LoL

 

[juro]

I can't comment on his line recipe but it sounds effective. I've built a few similar lines using Mike Kinney's guidelines and this system has served me well over many years. In fact the floating part of the head is still the original one I bought at the Swallows Nest. Mike was a great source of knowledge as I was learning how to build and use these hybrid Spey line systems.

I don't want to misquote the recipe off-hand so I will look in my notes and/or run some measurements and let you know what I am using "Kinney" style.

Note:
[#]The head portion consists of more floating head, less sinking head in general[#]The lines are not spliced but looped to allow quick exchange

Frankly, I wouldn't build a sinking line system that I could not exchange tips on. A floater is the only "fixed" system that I could imagine being comfortable with.

 

[andre]

Ryan,

was he fishing the 17' of Hi D in the GR this time of year? If so no wonder nothing was caught behind him everyone else was dragging the surface. Anyway, I agree with Juro about the need for the interchangable tip. However, a great number of excellent "old timers" use the same tip throughout the season.

andre

 

[sinktip]

I also echo Juro and Andre's multiple tip advise. As for the Kinney "Slinky" system, I have two friends that fish they exclusively on both single and double handed rods and love them. I have cast the single hand version and while it took some getting used to for someone used to a long bellied system, it cast far and got down nicely.

Ryan:
That was a Kinney slinky that Dave was using up on the Sauk.

 

[KerryS]

I don't make lines but, heard a formula from one of the "old timers", Use WF floater 2 weights over rod weight, cut first fifteen feet off, make second cut 3 times the length of rod minus 15 feet, splice to running line of choice. This is assuming you are using 15 foot tips connected with loops.

 

[Fred Evans]

Ryan,
Couple of thoughts: check out an 'old thread' in the International Spey Casting Board. We had a long back and forth last year on 'build you're owns.'

The loop to loop idea is where you want to go as this allows you to have several 'heads' or convert the line back to a full floater if need be. Main thing is the main line needs to be at least two full line wts above the rod weight to provide the 'grains' needed to lay out the sinking head.

A simple one I use with one of my 8wt "Euro" style Spey's is a DT 10 wt line with the head cut off and looped. I run about 50 feet of the DT, then to the backing. Effectively what I have is a WT forward with enough grains to shoot the head and main line, mend, etc.
With this I'm casting heads from 150 to 300 grains without a problem. (Lighter the head, the longer the cast) I've got a heavier head I use (about 400 grains) but timing becomes verrrrry critical; miss and it will take you right off your feet as it wraps itself around the back of your head.
Fred

 

[pescaphile]

Used to use this system when I fished a single-handed rod -called it a "BC dredger".

You can inded cast it far and it does get down. Mending is tough with the thin running line though.

By the way, the rio windcutters which are so popular will be essentially the same as this line if you simply remove their middle section.

pescaphile

 

[Fred Evans]

Agree with "pesa" comments above but (store bought anyway) the RIO Acrtor. tri tip is the better of the two choices. (For me anyway) The longer head/casting characteristics of the Alclrt. just seems to work better on the longer rods with sinking tips.

But if the object is to 'build your own' you can get 'seconds' closeouts, etc., on lines that won't break the bank and you can "chop away" relatively inexpensively. And you will chop away until you hit the right combination for a particular rod.
fe

 

[pescaphile]

*** ...but (store bought anyway) the RIO Acrtor. tri tip is the better of the two choices. (For me anyway) The longer head/casting characteristics of the Alclrt. just seems to work better on the longer rods with sinking tips. ....***

Didn't intend to endorse the windcutter. Just meant to say that the line described in this thread is very similar to a windcutter with the middle removed. I also like a longer belly line and prefer the Mastery spey with the tip cut off for use with sinking tips or a plain ol' DT.

The line described is essentially a shooting head of sorts. With a 15' tip (probably most common length used) and another 15' of 10 to 12wt DT belly spliced to the running line, you have a sort of 30' shooting head. Not my cup of tea, but you can throw this thing a good distance.

I think the windcutter would have a 20' floating belly if you remove the middle section.

Pescaphile