Here's a very useful answer to an enquiry about how to make shooting heads from Mike Connor who some of us remember well on this forum. Much missed!
"Make them yourself from mill ends;
fishing Fly Fishing Lines and Backing mill end and budget fly lines
Some info here;
What is a "shooting head"? What can I do with it? Do I really need
one?
Basically a shooting head is just a piece of line of a certain length
and weight, designed to carry out a specific task.
Although shooting heads are widely considered to be pure distance
tools, this is not at all the case. Of course they are excellent
distance tools, but when correctly set up, they can be used for a
whole host of things. The abbreviation used for shooting heads is
"ST". For instance, a ready made head might be designated ST#7F. This
translates to "Shooting Taper, AFTM #7, Floater.
The AFTMA, American Fishing Tackle Manufacturers Association, which is
now the ASA, American Sportfishing Association, originally defined
some standards for fly lines. These standards were based on the first
thirty feet of any given line, ( excluding any level tip, if present),
and have been in use for a long time now.
The "taper" on most shooting heads is the same as the taper on the
front of a DT on standard heads, but there are in the meantime a great
many "special" tapers available.
Of course one may buy shooting heads "ready-made", including those
with special tapers, but these will practically never match either the
rod, or your preferences.
How do I get one suited to my particular purposes then? First of all,
one has to determine what those purposes might be. It is also as well
to know how these things are defined, and the nomenclature in use.
A shooting head is basically any piece of line other than a full line,
which is joined to shooting line by a knot or similar. That is to say,
any line where the shooting line is not "integrated" at manufacture.
Any line with a head and running line section which are seamlessly
integrated, may be referred to as Weight Forward ( WF) fly line.
Rocket Tapers, Bass Bug Tapers, Saltwater Tapers, Steelhead Tapers,
etc are all weight Forward Fly Lines. The integrated shooting line, is
in this case referred to as "running line".
On a head, this line is referred to as "shooting line". That is the
only basic difference between a shooting head and a weight forward
line.
Assume we wanted a head for pure distance casting, then we must find a
piece of line which suits our rod and other preferences exactly. As
this particular type of casting is more suited to the competition and
tournament fields, we will leave this for the moment, and move on to
more practical considerations. Suffice it to say here, that the
shooting head for distance is irrevocably linked to the double haul,
which was first introduced to competition casting by Marvin Hedge at
the 1934 Nationals in St. Louis.
Here we are mainly interested in a specific practical use for shooting
heads, namely, fly fishing in salt-water.
As a shooting head rarely even enters the rod-rings during this type
of fishing, it does not have to be of any extreme quality. One may use
mill end DT´s and cut them as desired. This is cheap and easy.
How does one decide what weight line to use in the first place?
As a rough guide, here is a table, for roughly matching fly-sizes to
lines. The larger the number ( up to size 1/0) the smaller the hook.
Above 1/0 the larger the number, the larger the hook;
Line Weight Fly size
3 28 -12
4 up to 10
5 up to 8
6 up to 6
7 up to 4
8 12 - 1/0
9 up to 2/0
10 up to 3/0
11 up to 4/0
12 up to 6/0
There is a lot of overlap, and heavy ( weighted) or bulky flies will
require a heavier line than indicated in the table. There is a lot of
nonsense talked about "weightless" flies etc. Here again, there is no
such animal. The larger the fly the heavier it is. Bulky flies also
have more air resistance and need heavier lines to carry them.
Double hauling will increase the weight of fly which can be carried,
as it generates more line speed. A shooting head will carry the most
weight in any given range.
This is the AFTM line rating table. It is the only set of standards in
existence for fly-fishing tackle. There are no others. The figures
given are for the first thirty feet of a line, including the taper,
but excluding the level tip, ( if present).
AFTM In grains In grams In ounces
3 100 +/- 6 6.48 0.228
4 120 +/- 6 7.78 0.274
5 140 +/- 6 9.07 0.32
6 160 +/- 8 10.42 0.366
7 185 +/- 8 11.99 0.422
8 210 +/- 8 13.61 0.48
9 240 +/- 10 15.55 0.55
10 280 +/- 10 18.14 0.64
11 330 +/- 12 21.38 0.75
12 380 +/- 12 24.62 0.86
It will be seen that 30 feet of #12 line weighs 0.86 ounces. Most of
my #12 salt- water and pike fishing heads weigh a full ounce, as they
are slightly longer than thirty feet. Once again, as a rough guide,
most #6 rated rods, will cast a full ounce without difficulty.
A one ounce weight will carry a relatively heavy fly a long way.
Assuming that you already have a rod you wish to use, then you need to
find a "rough" match for it, so that you know which weight line to
buy.
Assume further that the AFTM rating on the rod is accurate. Assume the
rod has a rating of #8. This means that the rod will theoretically
cast optimally with thirty feet of #8 line outside the tip.
This is "NEVER" the case! Most rods will cast much heavier weights
than they are rated for, as they must usually be capable of casting a
whole DT! This means that this particular rod will cast ninety feet of
#8 line! Ninety feet of #8 line weighs 630 grains!!! Or 1.44 oz! As a
general rule, and a matter of experience, the optimum casting weight
for such a rod usually lies at about two thirds of this weight = ~ 400
grains which is about an ounce.
We only wish to cast thirty feet or so of line. So we need to look at
line that will give us something like this weight for thirty feet.
Looking at the AFTM table we see that thirty feet of #12 line weighs
380 grains (+/- 12 grains tolerance). So in this case, I would simply
put a #12 DT on the rod, and casting normally, without hauling etc,
slowly extend line, until I found the optimum weight and length, and
then cut this at the rod tip. This line will be about thirty to thirty
five feet long, depending how accurate the line tolerances are, and
the rod rating. That was it! Quite simple really. Just attach this
"head" to shooting backing, and you have a perfectly matched head.
Furthermore, if you weigh this head, you know exactly what weight of
floater this rod will cast perfectly. IRRESPECTIVE OF ITS LENGTH!!!
( Within limits of course). If you want better more delicate
presentation, choose a longer length of line with the same weight.
Some casters prefer longer heads, up to 45 feet, or even more. But
these can have disadvantages for saltwater fishing, and less than
perfect casters.
If you wish to use intermediate or sinking lines, the principle is the
same, but take more care when casting the DT. Sinking and intermediate
lines of the same weight, travel a lot faster than floaters, as a
result of their lesser diameter, and greater density, this also loads
the rod more. You will almost certainly find that an intermediate line
about one line rating lower than the floater will be about optimal,
and a high density sinker about two ratings lower will be optimal.
There are numerous advantages to such heads. You always cast the same
length and weight of line, and this is easier. They are cheap! You get
at least two heads out of a standard DT. They take up less room on the
reel. They can be used in pretty tight conditions. You can loop on
whatever head you wish to use in a very short time. I carry my heads
loosely coiled in a "CD" wallet.
Of course you can use WF lines, which basically are just shooting
heads spliced to running line, "integrated" heads, which are more or
less the same, or even full DT lines. But if you are serious about
salt-water fishing, with relatively "conventional" fly-gear, then
there is no real alternative to a well matched set of shooting heads.
For the majority of coastal salt-water fishing for sea-trout etc an
intermediate line will be found most useful.
Instructions and more info here;
Shooting heads DIY - 1st section - preparing the lines - Global FlyFisher
Shooting heads DIY - The more than Adequate Shooting Head DIY, a guide to building your own shooting heads for fly fishing - Global FlyFisher
If you use mill ends you are looking at about 2 quid for a shooting
head.
You can also make them yourself from soft polypropylene braid.
Instructions I can post if you want. Very simple, just find the right
braid, and cut off the length you want to suit your rod. Cost is about
20 pence per shooting head.
You want good backing though, as "shooting" line.
TL
MC"
As PP pointed out in an earlier post Airflo polyshoot running line is on ebay at knock down prices currently.
Shooting heads..
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