A shooting head line question.

[Chromez 0]

So, I'm interested in buying shooting head line for my 9ft 8wt fly rod and I'm wondering what to look for. Theres so many options out there and I wanna make sure that I purchase the right line for that rod. Any help is greatly appreciated.

[retrocarp 0]

Best bet is go to the local tackle rat and they should be able to advise you on what to use...... depending on fish you are chasing.

[Stevester 0]

Remember that line wts are not exact, they are a range of weights. Googgle AFTMA Line Weights and you should be able to find a chart that gives them. Don't be surprised if the lines from different manufacturers give slightly different performance on your rod, it is likely the result of the line being at the higher or lower end of the range. Note too that those line weights are for 30' of line so be sure that you have the whole head out of the rod guides when you are trying out the lines.

 

Steve

[heavynets 0]

Note too that those line weights are for 30' of line so be sure that you have the whole head out of the rod guides when you are trying out the lines.

 

 

I totally disagree. The line will shoot MUCH better if the head is AT LEAST in the tip top guide.

 

Tough to get specific without knowing more about the conditions, flies, species, etc. For heavy flies Rio Outbound Short works well.

[Stevester 0]

You are free to disagree but distance casters spend time optimizing the amount of distance between the rod tip and the back of the head. If memory serves this is called overhang. Now casting technique is a personal thing so not everyone has to cast the same way but be aware that people who do competition casting have been doing it for a number of years and have a lot of time maximizing performance.

 

Steve

[heavynets 0]

As you can see from the replies on the following forum, there are different results for different people/equipment.

 

http://www.washingtonflyfishing.com/forum/index.php?threads/whats-the-proper-way-to-cast-integreted-shooting-head.77353/

 

My equipment performs MUCH better with the head just inside the the tip top. It's not an opinion, it's a fact. I just heard a seminar by professional casting instructor Joe Mahler and he said the same thing.

 

Try both ways and use what works best for you.

[Piker20 0]

You will find that casting 'off the tip' requires a lighter grain head than if you load the rod deeper down the blank when casting. Is your rod a tippy fast action or more middle to tip. If its fast then I would start trying heads at the lighter end of the #8 grain window. If more middle action then start at the upper end.

A cheap WF line 2or3 weights heavier than your rod is an easy way to play around with cutting heads to size and starting long and slowly trimming back to find your fit.

[whatfly 0]

"Shooting head" means a lot of different things these days. It is used interchangeably between the traditional running line/30' "shooting" head arrangement of days of old, and an "integrated" shooting head which is where the running line and head are permanently joined. An integrated shooting head is your best choice in my mind, because it is easiest to cast, and the lines you might look for would be the Teeny T series line, or the Rio Outbound. The only problem is you need a different line for different sink rates. Other choice is to get a running line (could be mono or one of the Rio/Airflo fly line style running lines) and one or more heads. As Piker20 mentioned, the heads are traditionally the front 30' or so of a 2-3x heavier fly line, but I believe Rio now just sells the shooting heads pre-sized (i.e. you by a 6wt. head for a 6# rod).