Spey Sinking Tips: MOW Tips & Versileaders. Sinking tips have become one of the more confusing parts of the fly fishing arsenal...
Spey Sinking Tips: MOW Tips & Versileaders.
Sinking tips have become one of the more confusing parts of
the fly fishing arsenal, hence the reason for this article. We’re going to
break this article into a 2 part series;
Part 1: Spey Sinking Tips, MOW Tips & Versileaders
Part 2: Single Hand Sink Tips
So lets get down to the gritty. If you’re fishing a Spey
line; whether it is a Skagit or Scandinavian style fly line, you’re going to
need a tip. Skagit and Scandi fly lines are designed for the use of a tip section.
This tip section is what allows you to anchor your casts properly and is what
makes your fly sink into the “zone.” “The Zone,” being the depth in the water column where you believe the
fish is.
Choosing the correct sink tip is paramount in putting your
fly in The Zone. All sink tips are rated in Inches of Sink Per Second (IPS). A
tip that is rated at 5 IPS will sink 5 inches per second. Understanding what
sink rates are needed for any given scenario on the river is key. Fishing too
heavy of a sink tip will cause you to dredge the bottom with your fly, while
fishing too light of a sink tip may not put your fly down in the zone during
the peak of your swing. In general, the faster and deeper the water, the heavier
your sink tip should be, and vise-versa.
The two sink tips we prefer for Spey lines are Rio’s MOW tips and Rio’s Versileaders. MOW tips were designed for use with Skagit style
lines, while Versileaders are, in general, intended for Scandi fly lines. The
difference in these two fly lines has been discussed in another blog article Skagit
vs. Scandi.
We’ll lightly touch on the difference between these two fly
lines for the purpose of understanding why there are different tips available.
In general, Skagit fly lines are intended for casting larger, heavier flies; in
this regard Skagit style fly lines are built with much more mass towards the
front of the line which allows the fisherman to control their heavy fly.
Scandinavian or Scandi fly lines on the other hand are a longer, lighter fly line intended
for casting smaller, lighter flies. Casting a Versileader with a Skagit line
will prove to be difficult at best, this is because of the inefficient energy
transfer between the two very different diameters between a Skagit head and a
Versileader. Due to the inherent differences in the design of Skagit and Scandi
fly lines, different types of tips were designed to compliment each line.
Now let’s delve into the use of MOW tips on a Skagit fly
line. The name MOW, is an acronym by the
inventors; Mike McCune, Scott O’Connell and Ed Ward. McCune-O’Donnell-Ward, MOW.
The tips are available in Light (T-8 7 IPS), Medium (T-11, 8 IPS), Heavy (T-14,
9 IPS) and Extra Heavy (T-17, 10 IPS).
Now, hold on to your shorts here because it’s going to get a
little confusing. Each of those tips, T-8, T-11, T-14, & T-17 are available
in the following:
·
10’ Floating Tip
·
10’ Sinking Tip
·
12.5’ Sinking Tip
·
7.5’ Floating x 2.5’ Sinking
·
5’ Floating x 5’ Sinking
·
2.5’ Floating x 7.5’ Sinking
The 10’ Floating tip is designed to turn your Skagit fly
line into a full floating line.
The 10’ & 12.5’ sinking tips are traditional sink tips
that are used for many water conditions.
The true “MOW” tips became so desirable due to the 3 integrated
tips (i.e. 7.5' x 2.5', 5' x 5',
and 2.5’ x 7.5’ versions). Back
before the MOW tip erra, if you wanted a less severe sink you would need to cut
your sinking tip. By doing so and cutting them shorter than 9’ your cast would
be impaired greatly; you would loose the length necessary for a proper anchor.
The purpose of the 3 integrated MOW tips was to provide sink tips in the same
cast-able length of 10 feet, but with varying lengths of sink over the entire
10’ length.
The 7.5’ Floating x 2.5’ Sinking tip shines when you need
your fly to skim through rock gardens without getting hung up. The short 2.5’
sinking portion gives your fly enough sink to get down into the pockets but
allows you pass by rocks much easier. Fishing a full 10’ sinking tip in many
rock gardens or tail outs will cause you to essentially dredge the bottom.
Having a 7.5’ section of floating with a 2.5’ section of sinking will allow
that fly to “probe” bouldery waters more effectively.
The 5’ Floating x 5’ Sinking tip is another great tool for
boulder ridden waters and rock gardens. Where this tip shines is with rock
ledges and deep slots. The 5’ length of sinking allows you to get deeper into
those slots and the 5’ section of floating allows you to swing through them without
getting hung up.
The 2.5’ Floating x 7.5’ Sinking tip is a great choice as it
is arguably the most versatile tip for most scenarios. The 7.5’ section allows
for a full swing through the run and still able to navigate through rock and
boulders.
The last of the MOW tips are the iMOW series. iMOW tips are
designed with an intermediate back section as opposed to floating. This
intermediate back section yields a more gradual depth transition of your fly
when compared to the standard MOW tips, allowing your fly to swing deeper. See
the image below for a visual on the difference between the MOW and iMOW tips.
The iMOW series are ideal for waters that have less
obstacles and structure and less of a given sink tip is needed.
That folks, wraps up MOW tips. It is worthy to note that as
of 2016 Rio has moved their entire line of MOW tips to incorporate the new
In-Touch platform which uses their ConnectCore technology. This means ultra low
stretch, allowing you to feel what is going on at your fly quicker.
Now it’s time to delve into Versileaders. As mentioned
earlier, Versileaders have been designed for use with Scandi fly lines. Fishing Scandi flies, again,
typically means fishing lighter flies, closer to the surface. Because of this,
the sink tips which are designed for Scandi lines, Versileaders; are rated at a
much lower sink rate. Where MOW tips’ sink rates range from 7 IPS to 10 IPS,
Versileaders range from 1.5 IPS to 7 IPS.
Rio’s Spey Versileaders are an aggressively tapered, polymer
coated, nylon core line that are available in two lengths, 6 foot and 10 foot. They
are available in the following sink rates: 1.5 IPS, 3 IPS, 4 IPS, 5 IPS, 7 IPS.
Similar to selecting the correct MOW tip, choosing the right Versileader will
be dependent on target depth and water current.
There are a few other sink tips options in the Spey theater,
most aptly for Skagit fly lines, they are as follows:
InTouch Level “T” Tips. These series of tips are level, fast
sinking lines that can be cut to length and weight of an individuals
preference. These tips have no tapper to them at all and are best suited for
casting the largest, heaviest of flies. These tips are available in T-8, T-11,
T-14, T-17, and T-20.
15 foot Sink Tips. These tips have a tapered front end that
allows for a much better presentation than a level Tungsten (“T”) tips. They
are available in five different densities: floating, intermediate (1.5 – 2
IPS), Type 3 (3-4 IPS), Type 6 (6-7 IPS) and Type 8 (8-9 IPS). In order to keep
consistency with your casts, these tips are associated with a weight in grains
to match a given weight rod. So whether you use a Type 3 or a
Type 8 sink tip, they will weigh the same so long you purchase the same weight
rating. Remember, weight does not affect
sink rate. Density affects sink rates. For those physics gurus:
Weight = Mass x Gravity
Density = Mass/Volume.
Therefore: Weight = Volume x Density x Gravity
So if we want to keep the same grain weight line, but change
the density (sink rate), either Volume or gravity is going to have to change
proportionally. Well, we know were not going to change gravity so volume must
change. Which is the reason why a Type 3 line has a larger diameter than a Type
8. As the density (sink rate) increases, the volume (diameter) must decrease. Do note: this is only the case for the 15 ft Sink Tips and the standard 10 Sink Tips, the others (MOW, Vesileaders, & "T" Tips) have different weights for their respective sink rates; thus the diameter of those tips increases as their sink rate increases.
Last up are the standard 10ft Sink Tips. These are simply a
shorter version of the 15ft tip and are ideal for shorter rods, smaller rivers
or tight casting situations. Available in the same sink rates as the 15ft
version.
