Fly Lines for Lower Potomac

[Ben Coffman]

I'm new to the group and excited to see a source of information and support as I grow from freshwater fly fishing to saltwater! I've primarily fly fished for trout and panfish, occasionally fly fishing smallmouth rivers. In those environments I've fished with floating lines or an intermediate tip sinking line. This year, I've begun to fish on the Coan River near Lewisetta Marina just upriver from the Potomac's juncture with the Chesapeake Bay. I primarily fish by kayak there. I also occasionally fish the Atlantic surf from the beach at Assateague or in Ocean City, Maryland. 

I have an Orvis 9-foot 8-weight Clearwater with an Orvis Hydros 4 and I'm currently using Cortland Striper floating line. I've been fishing the area since early spring, and other than a few fish here and there, I'm not doing as well as I would expect if I was fishing freshwater. I feel that I may not be getting down deep enough or staying deep enough during retrieves so I'm planning to purchase a sinking line. There's a ton of information online about the best lines for saltwater, but very little agreement, so I thought I'd come to the members of this group for help! After all, the name of the group is tidal Potomac and that's what I need help with! 

Considering that I primarily fish the tidal lower Potomac and Coan Rivers from a kayak and occasionally the rough Atlantic surf from the beach, what would be a good line choice? I'd prefer one line to handle both situations but I've also learned that it's hard to find a good line across multiple environments! Fast sink or intermediate? Full sinking or intermediate line or just a sinking or intermediate tip/head? Any suggestions are greatly appreciated! 

I'm also open to tips for kayak fishing tidal waters as well! I'm currently fishing an 11' 8" Emotion Stealth Pro paddle propulsion with an anchor trolley system. 

Thanks for guiding a new saltwater angler in the right direction! 

Ben

[Tom Steeley]

Welcome to the group.

I'm not sure you've received any responses to your questions.

For the fishing you are doing, you cannot go wrong with the Rio Outbound Short series of lines.  A good thing and a bad thing there are a bunch of options.

For the surf, given that you need to go deeper, you can do the full sinking line.  For deeper holes, this would work great.  For the more shallow areas, you will be dragging along the bottom a lot.  That might be ok, but the full intermediate might be better.

Both of those lines would work great from any watercraft.

Where you run into problems with the full intermediate or full sinking fly lines is fishing from the bank.  I do most of my fishing on the potomac from Great Falls down to Fletchers.  Between the bank/rocks and the deeper channels there are huge outcroppings of rocks/boulders that are sometimes visible, sometimes submerged.  I have had a ton of success with the Rio Outbound Short multi-density lines.  They float or sink very slowly out over the outcroppings, but then sink fast out further in the deeper channels.

The one I've highlighted might be the best compromise for bank fishing the Potomac, but the full sinking and full intermediate IMO are best for the other applications.  And, Scientific Angler, BTW, has something similar.  Personally, not sure why but I prefer the Rio lines slightly more.

Tom

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[Ben Coffman]

Thanks for the reply Tom! I will look into the Rio Outbound Short lines! I've heard good things about them but haven't fished any of them yet. I definitely anticipate bank fishing the Potomac for the spring shad run, so I appreciate your recommendation and hope to be on the water with a good line by then! 

Ben