shooting heads

[rodgerbramham]

Hi
I fish a lake where most of the educated fish cavort/rise/feed just out of normal casting range. Would rigging a shooting head be deemed to be unsporting - if not why don't more people adopt this tactic?
Cheers

[flycaster]

Hello Rodger.

I can't think why a shooting head would be deemed 'unsporting' because it is a perfectly legitimate way to cast a fly. If the fishery concerned has decided to ban their use for reasons known only to themselves that is another matter and their use in such circumstances shouldn't be considered.

You don't say what sort of distance the fish are at and it should be understood that the main advantage of a shooting head is that more running line can be shot - because it is thinner - and whilst it may mean that less line has to carried in the air the distance cast may not be significantly more especially if your technique is not as good as it might be. Getting the best out of a shooting head requires practise and it can't be considered a quick fix and this is probably why they aren't more widely used, but if you really want to have a go I suggest a head length of 33' - 36' and shooting line of flat mono or something like Stren or Amnesia mono of 20lb - 30lb bs.

You can search this site for more detailed info on shooting heads and how to make them.

Cheers, Pete.

[rodgerbramham]

thanks Peter
Not sure on the distance but thought (wrongly?) that shooting heads would give me an extra yard or so?
Cheers Rodger

[xyl]

thanks Peter
Not sure on the distance but thought (wrongly?) that shooting heads would give me an extra yard or so?
Cheers Rodger

Hi Rodger,
They don't, not on the same rod and using the same line density anyway. Where shooting heads do excel is at casting streamers to a "good" distance "effortlessly" over and over again, which is why they are tremendously popular on the danish coast. By "effortlessly" i mean that with shooting heads there's no need to aerialize a lot of line after every retrieve; rollcast, backcast and fire is the name of the game. That way the fly is in the water most of the time and not in the air.
That said, in my experience casters who can't carry a long line in a controlled manner, are often getting better distance with a shooting head. If it is the lack of backcast space that is preventing you from reaching those fish, then a shooting head is definitely worth considering. You could also wade as deep as your waders will allow to get closer to the fish and still throw a long cast with a shooting head, just use a horizontal haul. Try that with a full line and lots of overhang. :whistling:

PS: I can't see anything "unsporting" about using a shooting head setup either.

Cheers,

Svend