Shooting Head Fly Lines by EF

If you’re looking for a fly line system that offers excellent water coverage and at the same time versatility in depth control for various fishing situations, seriously consider investing in a shooting head system. This is an extremely adaptable system that offers an interchangeable line solution for the broadest range of water heights and weather conditions. Over the years shooting heads have enjoyed wide spread popularity on rivers throughout Scandinavia and are increasingly finding favour with UK salmon anglers.  Armed with one reel loaded with running line and a selection of heads of various densities, salmon anglers in this country can fish with great effect from the highest to the lowest of river conditions.  With the head supplying the casting weight and the thin running line reducing friction as the line is cast out through the rod rings, these lines can also be cast huge distances for minimal effort, making it easy for casters of all abilities to increase water coverage.

 What is a shooting head system?

A shooting head system comprises of two main component parts – a head and an independent running line attached to each other by a loop to loop connection.  Although available in a variety of lengths, the head length for a standard15ft salmon outfit is normally between 10 to 12 metres or 33ft to 40ft in old money.  The heads are available in a large choice of densities from floating lines right down through the scale to super fast sinking lines.  With developments in line design and construction, manufacturers now offer heads in duel density profiles (floating belly/slow sinking tip, slow sink belly/fast sinking tip etc) or even interchangeable front sections of various densities like a multi tip spey line.  The majority of heads have no back taper, but benefit from a front taper to aid efficient turn-over of the fly line on the forward delivery.  Another plus of purchasing a manufactured head is they tend to have good quality welded loops at each end for ease of loop to loop connection to both the running line and the leader. 

The running line’s principle function is to allow the head to travel long distances on the forward cast with minimal friction created as the thin line shoots through the rings.  It does however have to generate enough friction to keep the lower part of the extending loop under tension. If the running line is too efficient, slack will form in the lower leg of the loop and the line will bunch up in the air and extend in a mass instead of an unfolding loop.   When it comes to choosing running line there are basically three options.  Originally the first running line was monofilament fishing line used by competition casters in the United States during the late forties.  Today monofilament running line is still a very good option for a head system. It has excellent shooting qualities and can be beneficial when fishing fast sinking heads as the thin line cuts through the water column.  As manufacturing procedures have improved over the years, the inherent memory which made this type of line prone to tangle on the forward cast has been greatly reduced.  That said, it’s well worth taking a few minutes at the start of the fishing session to pre-stretch about twenty yards of the running line to take out even the slightest of memory. Braided monofilament line can also be used as a running line and has good shooting properties.  Due to its woven construction it tends to be slightly less prone to tangle than standard monofilament.  In theory it also has less contact with the rod rings as it shoots out on the forward delivery.  The only real problem with braided monofilament is that it can feel slightly abrasive to the touch and can be hard on the fingers with prolonged stripping. The last option is plastic or PVC coated running line.   This running line is quite popular and offers good shootability, low memory and is relatively hard wearing.  Depending on the head weight, this line can be bought in different diameters for singlehanded and lightweight doublehand shooting heads (.029”), for light to medium weight shooting heads (.032”) and for heavier weighted heads (.035”).  As well as different diameters, some manufacturers also produce running lines in intermediate as well as floating versions for additional depth options with sinking heads.  

What casts can I use with a shooting head?

There is no doubt that Scandinavian salmon anglers have been instrumental in popularising shooting head fly lines throughout the world of salmon fishing during the last few decades.  Loop Tackle Design’s Göran Andersson developed a style of casting using shooting heads called underhand casting.  Göran developed the technique to give him the ability to make long casts in confined casting areas on his native river in Scandinavia.  Underhand casting utilises short shooting heads powered on the forward delivery with a dominant lower hand power application – hence the name.  The head is suspended momentarily in the air with only the long leader and the fly supplying the anchor before the forward delivery.  With 100% head energy suspended in the ‘D’ loop and only the weight of the light leader and fly gripped on the water, great line speed can be generated on the forward delivery. 

Shooting heads can also be used with more traditional speycasting techniques with   casts like single spey, double spey and Snap T’s. With the standard heads being relatively short, the casting style has to be more compact than when using longer headed spey lines.  Using a crisper, more compressed power stroke on the forward delivery, it is possible to use distance casts like the single spey to cover large sections of water.  Bearing in mind that the concept of attaching thin running line to a section of fly line was first developed for competition distance casting, overhead casting techniques will also excel with this profile of fly line.

What are the advantages of shooting head lines

There is no doubt that the main advantage when using a shooting head line is distance.  These lines will cover large sections of river with relative ease.  Due to the short nature of the heads, they can also be cast good distances in confined spaces, making them ideal for heavily wooded river banks or when fishing with restricted space on the backcast.  The fact that the heads are also available in a large cross-section of densities from full floating to super fast sink, allows the salmon angler great flexibility by changing the head sink rate to accommodate different depths of various pools.  The other great benefit of a shooting head system is the ability to improve how the fly works through the pool.  Shooting head anglers have long since reaped the rewards of fishing this type of line set up for salmon because of one simple reason - they fish the fly for longer through the pool.  When using a shooting head, the relatively short head section must be retrieved within a few feet of the rod tip before re-casting.  As a result, when fishing a mid to long line, the angler may have to retrieve twenty yards or more of running line before re-casting.  As the line swings through the stream, hand-lining until the head is just outside the rod tip increases the fly’s ‘swim-time’ and ultimately, the coverage of the pool.

What are the disadvantages?

Although shooting heads offer an opportunity to extend the time the fly is swimming in the water, this comes at a cost.  The main disadvantage of using a head system is the management of the large amount of running line gathered prior to the forward cast.  When using a shooting head, the angler is regulated to retrieving the back of the head within inches of the rod tip.  If the line is cast with too much thin running line overhanging from the rod tip, the lighter, thinner running line will not have enough energy to turn over the head.  The angler must retrieve a large amount of the running line, which if not properly managed is very susceptible to tangling as it travels through the rod rings.  With this in mind, one of the best ways to manage the running line is to form loops as the line is being retrieved.  To avoid the line bunching on the forward delivery it is best to form two or three larger loops of line rather than multiple loops, which will invariably tangle at the first stripper guide.

What is overhang?

Irrespective of which casting style you employ to fish your shooting head, one very important aspect of using this profile of fly line is overhang.  Overhang is how much running line is outside the rod tip prior to the next cast.  Different head weights/lengths, rod action and caster’s ability means there is no set length, but any more than 6ft of overhang will be become difficult to control.  To optimise the amount of overhang for your particular rod/line set up, start by casting the line with the back of the head touching the tip ring of the rod.  After a few casts, extend the overhang by a few inches and feel how the rod responds to the additional running line outside the rod tip.  Continue the process until the rod starts to ‘kick’ in your hand.  This indicates the point where there is too much overhang and the thin running line can’t turn over the weight of the shooting head.  This will also be visible by how the casting loop unfolds in the air.  Now reverse the process and shorten the amount of overhang every few casts until you reach a point where the rod and line system feels balanced and the loop formation of the forward delivery is not only tight, but smooth as the line unfolds in the air.  At this point you’re in the sweetspot!  Consider using a black indelible pen to mark the running line with a reference point where the first finger of the uppermost hand touches the thin line. 

What line size should I buy for my rod?  

When it comes to buying manufactured shooting heads, there are two options.  The most popular choice are heads of various densities that are looped at both ends and ready to use straight out of the box.  These heads are easily balanced to your rod by simply purchasing the recommended line rating for your particular rod.  The other option is to buy a line that is designed to be cut to the angler’s required length.  These lines offer the opportunity to customise the head by cutting the back of the line until the preferred length and weight is reached. This can be done by feel, with the angler casting the line, cutting the line, casting the line and cutting the line until the set up feels balanced for their requirements.  This of course is not without its inherent dangers!  Be careful to only cut small sections from the back of the line each time. Although it’s stating the obvious, take your time with the process - once it’s cut there’s no going back!  The other way to customise the line is to cut it to a set weight.  Using a set of digital scales the line can be very accurately cut from the back of the line to a certain weight for a particular rod.  For example if you’re looking to make a head for your 10wt rod, cut the line until it weighs 40 grams.  If you want the head to load the rod slightly deeper, cut the line until it weighs 42 grams. The following gram weights are a general cutting guide for the head: 7wt = 25 grams,

8wt= 29grams, 9wt = 33 grams, 10wt = 40 grams and 11wt = 44grams.  Once the head has been cut, either attached a good quality braided loop or ideally, strip the plastic coating to expose the line’s braided core to make a homemade loop.  A good strong loop can be made by folding over the braided core and binding with fly dressing thread, then coating with waterproof glue or some form of varnish.

Summary

Shooting head lines are not only excellent for comprehensive water coverage, but a very portable system.  As mentioned at the beginning of the article, armed with one reel loaded with running line and a selection of three or four heads, you are all set to travel light for a day on any salmon water.  A shooting head system also offers as much depth control options as any other fly line profile available to the modern day salmon angler.  A quick loop to loop connection system makes it easy to change head density depending on the depth of water and the strength of stream for any given pool.  When using shooting heads, an angler is not confined to one method of casting.  These lines will perform well within the various disciplines of doublehanded casting techniques, with all skills levels from beginner to advanced casters enjoying not only an effective method of fly presentation, but also a system that is great fun to use.