Shooting Heads

[Fruin]

I'm posting this at the risk of being severely reprimanded by Willie Gunn. I've seen his replies to posts on the Speypages regarding Skagit Lines and throwing bricks!

Anyway, here goes...

I've cut up old fly lines in the past and made DIY shooting heads with varied success. However, last weekend a friend gave me a Guideline floating shooting head cut to his preference for a 15ft rod (very generous of him indeed).

I fished the Tay with it today. I set it up with a 12ft fast sinking tip and an 8 feet level leader. I was using weighted flies(tungsten coneheads), so leader length wasn't too much of an issue.

I normally fish spey lines with head lengths of around 65ft, but I have to admit that the shooting head made casting big heavy flies all day a far easier and more enjoyable experience than I am used to.

I did notice when I put this shooting head on the scales that it was 4 to 6g lighter than my other lines, but this seemed to match my rod perfectly compared to all my other spey lines and DIY shooting heads. If only all spey line makers would indicate the weight of the head/belly on their packaging. I could then look for lines of this exact weight, now that I seem to have found the perfect match for my rod!!!

I've been converted ;D However, I still intend on picking up a long belly spey floater to try for my summer fishing.

[elwyman]

WG has a similar opinion about windcutter lines.

[storlaks]

I have used shooting heads on and off while fishing in Norway every year and to be honest I've always went back to speylines. (short and longer heads) This is probably due to the pleasure I get from proper Spey casting however I do recognise that shooting heads have some distinct advantages if you match your rod with the correct head weight. As you pointed out, turnover of larger flies is easier but you can also fish your fly slower in colder water conditions as you have less line drag under the water. Guideline also offer "double density" sinking heads which are very effective.

I've since tried to find a compromise and use the Hardy Mach I salmon lines (55ft head) whereby I've cut back the front taper and add 15ft Rio sink tips where appropriate. Turn over is good and I have flexibility in depth. I'm sure a WIndcutter would be similar, but I don't like Rio lines.

I did buy the new Guideline Long head(17 yards) last year but found I had to cut it back to about 14 yards before it would work. Maybe a lighter head(9/10) would have been better and I could have kept the lenght, but I was recommended the 10/11 for my rod.

Both Loop and Guideline will advise what head weight you should have for most major rod models. Check their website and/or send them an email. It's worth it, just to get it right.

[salmonfly]

fruin said:

I'm posting this at the risk of being severely reprimanded by Willie Gunn. I've seen his replies to posts on the Speypages regarding Skagit Lines and throwing bricks!

Anyway, here goes...

I've been converted ;D However, I still intend on picking up a long belly spey floater to try for my summer fishing.

The information on these web sites is not always spot on!! Shooting heads are some thing that you will always have to play around with before you cut them; it is not as easy as just matching your rod to a shooting head, it also involves matching the places that you fish most.

IE: if you are fishing smaller places with little of no back cast (underhand casting) you will need to use the same line weight that match’s your rod but some times you will have to step up one class higher.
You will always have to use a little shorter shooting head to load your rod in smaller/tighter fishing places.

Now the same rod but a bigger fishing place and a lot more casting room, the above shooting head will not always load your rod in the same manner as in the smaller places, most of the time you will need a little longer shooting head (another shooting head), so you will have to cut it using a little common sense if you do not want to buy another shooting head.

The secret is, not just in the weight and length but also were you are going to fish most.
You must always think about this before cutting your shooting heads.

(Running Lines)
There are three sizes of running lines .35, .32, .29; the .32 is the most widely used running line
But what ever you do stay away from shooting lines!! In my experience with two handed rods, casting with shooting lines is asking for trouble.

[fredaevans]

ACE Vision shooting heads are a treat even on shorter/lighter rods. Use one on a 7wt 13-9 and it zooms even with a Poly medium sink leader on the front end. Grain weight +/- on these will be about 450; add the sinkinging poly leader you're a bit over 550-575 grains.