I have been using Rio Versitip and really like the set up.
In fact I have switched all my lines to Rio brand.
Recently, I purchased the Sage Performance Taper and I am equally impressed as well.
Only draw back is that the Sage is not a multi tip (no big deal I have the Rio for that).
But I wanted to try out the new Airflo and Rio Sinking leaders so I hooked this set up to the Sage line. After a few days of fishing with the sinking leader, I prefer it over the Versitip.
I actually think this hinges less then the Rio set up.
(Btw, Rio has better welded loops then the Airflo)
Any one else try the sinking leaders? Did you prefer it over the factory multi tip lines?

This could be a good substitute for people who don’t like to use shots or think the multi tip lines are too expensive.

Divers

I've been playing with sinking ****, the ones I use are called T-14 it gets down fast!

Divers-
There are some defininate (sp?....Im too lazy to pull up dictionary.com) pros and cons to sinking leaders.

I fish them alot in the summer time. I feel that they give me an edge on summer fish when they aren't totally focused on a straight dry line presentation or when I am fishing over heavily pressured fish.

Sinking leaders do a great job of bring the fly down to the fishie's zone but because they lack the mass to hold the fly down on the swing, the fly tends to ride up much quicker then it would when fished with a standard sink-tip.

I have found this presentation to be very effective in the summer-time.

However, I have yet to give them a go in the winter because I've never found winter fish to be overly receptive to fly lifting to the surface so I feel they provide you with a severe disadvantage under your typical winter conditions.

Crap!
Thats probably why I have been getting skunked.

Sparky, do you know who makes the sage lines? I have heard it was SA. Just curious.

Divers-
The Sage lines are indeed mfg. by SA however they are not complete with SA's trick AST coating.

I absolutely love the taper of the Performance Taper but have always been disapointed with the durability of the coating and prolonged shootability of the line. However, if you take good care of the line, clean it and treat it with Glide frequently, you should extend the life of your line.

.02 cents here only.

I'm not a sink tip fan by any stretch of the immagination. But getting deep down and dirty as they would say is a must under given conditions.

What I 'do' is take a full dry line and a 2-3 foot section of 'butt section' (and your leader is probably already set up this way anyway) and put a loop in the end.

Here I attach either a RIO or Airflo sinking leader/tippet/fly. The above system would seem improbable, hinge like hell, etc., but it dosen't. The 2-3 of butt acts "disconnects" the dry line from the sinking leader and allow it to get down, and NOW. If you're using a weighted fly, even faster.

You can also use T-14 for the same system bennie of this is it's very thin so water flow doesn't push it to the surface anywhere as fast as you'd get with a 'standard' sink tip.

A good thing.
fae

I used that butt section setup today just to see and it does work very well. Thanks for the tip!

Your most welcome! Only 'secret' to this system is the butt section (7wt's and up) has to be at least 30# siff mono such as Maxima. A light 7wt and down you can/could use 25# test.

It's the 'stiffness' of the mono section that transmits the casting energy into the sinking leader (just like with a full dry line/leader combo). Too limp ... the whole thing will "hinge" on you and collapes.