I am pretty new to fly fishing and recently purchased a quantity of different colour lures for fishing the reservoir. However, although they are beaded they seem to take forever to sink. I have made sure that the leader has mud on it to make that sink but the lures are fishing far too shallow on the retrieve.
Sinking line works but i wasn't looking to go that deep,just to the maximum of a 9ft or 12ft leader with a floating line.
Is there some way i could add weight to the lure.

Sounds like your lures have plastic bead heads.
Better with metal heads.
You could put a split shot on your cast just at the eye of your fly hook.
that'll sink your flies fast.

cheers

willie

Unweighted flies will fish more 'naturally'. Shot is a practical fix but in the long run you should buy a range of lines. First stop could be a slow sink or fast intermediate, delay tthe retrieve until at the required depth. Use a shorter leader for sunk line work to keep the fly down

You could try a range of differing density braided or poly leaders.

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Personally i'm not in agreement. If you are trying to imitate a damsel nymph or fry then weighted flies definatly give a more natural look and more movement.

Gold head lures and bead chain eyed lures ie damsels or hummungus's will all get down quickly to 10-12ft without the need for sinking lines.

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I always squeeze on a few drops of Xink, especially marabou lures and nymphs, maybe an unnecessary habit I have got into, but seems to make flies sink a little quicker.

Xink Sinkant - Sportfish


Plumpy

Thank you all for help, there's a few things i can try, but i suspect that the bead heads on the lures are plastic and not metal like Willie said and that is the main reason for them not carrying enough weight.
Many thanks

degrease your leader aswell this will help your fly sink faster

blobby

I sometimes find that marabou lures can be a bit reluctant to sink until they are well saturated. my solution is to apply a generous amount of saliva, they sink like a stone right from the off then

You don't make any mention of retrieve speed, with a floating line even using beaded flies on the commonly used strip retrieve the fly will fish quite shallow . If you insist on a floating line try slowing down , I generally retrieve even lures quite slowly , including blobs ,and catch as many as anyone .