hi all

i am pretty new to fly fishing (after going from carp/catfish to fly fishing)

i was wondering if somebody could explain (in the simplest of terms please) what a shooting head line is? is it used to fly fish for trout or just salmon?

i do realise that the advantages are to cast longer (which appeals to me),

but other than that i havent a clue about them.

i need to buy some new line and was tempted to buy a shooting head when i realised the advantages of casting at distance, but that is all i know?

sorry for newby question and thank you so much for any replys,

mark

Welcome what type of fishing do you do most?

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hi. thank you for your welcome and quick response

i fly fish for trout mainly now. in rivers or local lakes

mark

A shooting head system is good for distance and if you adapt some shooting heads they are good for rolls or speys too.. But if presentation is important i would stick to the normal lines. The thing i dislike most about shooting heads for single handed flyfishing is the running line. With a bit of practice and proper guidance you will be able to get your flies out a long way and still have a control on presentation with a regular fly line..

Welcome to the madness and congrats on your promotion

Jerry

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When I die, I want to go peacefully like my Grandfather did, in his sleep -- not screaming, like the passengers in his car.

I would not recommend shooting heads for a beginner,but heres a Rundown.
Shooting heads DIY - The more than Adequate Shooting Head DIY, a guide to building your own shooting heads for fly fishing - Global FlyFisher

Jim

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The Fishermans Friend is the Flirty Fly,Fickle Food for Fleeting Fish.

A shooting head is next to useless for trout fishing on a river. it's OK for exteme distance, but isn't a nice line to cast. stick with WF (weight forward)

You say it appeals to you to cast further? why? obviously it looks good to spectators, but i'd bet the fish'd prefer a shorter, more controlled cast.

thanks guys

i plan on using regular line 70% of the time on my local waters

i have a motorhome and was thinking that it maybe usefull to have a reel with a shooting head system on the van incase i find myself fishing some strange water on my travels

thinking it may come in handy

many thanks for your speedy response

mark

To get the best out of a shooting head you will need to learn to (double) haul. You can achieve a deal of distance with these but they do tend to hit the water like a cow falling in. Still they have their uses, just not for me.........................birdsnest

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Fear not if I steal from your side, as of yore, from paradise streams to fish Teifi once more.
BN based in Wolverhampton

A shooting head is really an extreme weight forward line, where the running line is separate to the fly line, knotted to the end of the head, and made from a thinner and lighter material like mono, braid, or a bespoke very light fly line. In that respect it differs from the running line on a standard WF line.

Having been popular back in the day of Geoff Bucknall and Dick Walker, shooting heads for trout fishing are now seen by most anglers as a very specialist tool, as BB says, for long range and / or deep fishing on reservoirs. The achilles heel is always the backing. Mono tangles dreadfully unless really carefully managed, and should be frequently replaced because once it's been tangled it's never as good again; braid is abrasive so it cuts your fingers and being semi-buoyant it plays havoc with sinking times that need to be carefully managed; and bespoke fly line backing like Airflo Polyshoot is good to use but you lose a bit of distance.

Given all of this....can't see what a shooting head system will buy you for relatively casual use

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"In wine there is wisdom. In beer there is strength. In water there is bacteria." - German proverb
JH based near Southampton

Hi Mark and welcome, may I ask a question?, well two actually. What sort of distance are you hitting with a standard wf line?.

Sean