Getting flies deep

I struggled on the weekend at Jack Lake to catch fish. I was fishing near the surface and the fish were deep.

I was using Ian James' straight leader method -- 4-pound Vanish -- and so I asked him how to get flies deep with his method.

He quickly suggested three plans as options.

Plan A
Use a wee bit longer leader, step it up a bit from say 4 to 6 pound and then put a bit of split shot onto the leader about 6 inches in front of the fly. You need to step it up so that you can still turn over the leader with split shot.

Plan B
Switch to a full sinking line, or a fast sinking sink tip line, and then cut the leader back to about 24 inches or less.

Plan C
Go to a very heavily weighted fly and step the leader up from 6 to 8 pound. Again, you need to step up so that you can turn over the weighted fly.

Remember that with a sink tip or a full sinking line, you almost need to get all the line back into the rod before you can make the cast. The deeper the water, the faster the sinking line you need.

So a few choices here. I keep learning.