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Thread: Shooting head weights

  1. #1
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
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    Boulder Creek
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    Default Shooting head weights

    So hopefully I can get a clear under standing of shooting heads from the wisdom of this group.
    Please correct me if I'm wrong.

    Shooting heads -
    T - represents tungsten
    # - grains per foot

    T-# also represents a fixed sink rate per ft.

    Now, with my Sage XP 8wt 10', I typically throw a T-14 cut to 28' = 392 grains as advised by my last local shop.

    That is the densest line head I currently have so if I wanted to fish higher in the water column I should be fishing T-12 or 10 at the same grain wt. Now if I was to weigh an I line head or floating head, again the head weight should be the same weight as what ever best loads the rod and that weight is determined by the line length multiplied by grains per ft.

    Right?

    Thanks folks, it's all very confusing to me. But not really just a bit of a mind f#$k some times.

    Now.... I'm gonna weigh each of my heads, measure them, divide weight by length and figure out what the hell I've been beating my rotator cuff up with!

    Let me know if I've got this straight. Please and thanks

    J. Ice

    By the way, writing this out helps my thought process.

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sebastian, FL, USA, Earth
    Posts
    23,837

    Default

    This is an area I do know quite a bit about.


    Is this fly fishing for Stripers from a boat or wading rivers for Steelhead?
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  3. #3
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    Nov 2010
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    Boulder Creek
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    Default

    Truthfully, I didn't consider there being much differace in distinguishing where or how.
    For me, stripers / perch in the surf and stripers in a boat.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Sep 2014
    Location
    O'vale Ca., Estes Park Co.
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    131

    Default

    Personally I have trouble going more than 12’ of t material added onto a shooting head for a rod at 12-12’6.
    Rotator cuff aggravations don’t go away, but Spey rods help ease the pain.

  5. #5
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    Jan 2005
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    Default

    Quote Originally Posted by ICE View Post
    Truthfully, I didn't consider there being much differace in distinguishing where or how.
    For me, stripers / perch in the surf and stripers in a boat.
    For casting and stripping for Stripers most use ~30' heads with running lines or full integrated lines.

    For swinging for Steelhead and trout in rivers most use sink-tips for line control.

    ___________________________________

    Looks like you are using heads on a running/shooting line.

    Rio Outbound Short Shooting heads:

    https://www.rioproducts.com/products...-shooting-head


    Regular -30' factory looped shooting heads come in many sink-rates. $49.00


    Floating

    Clear slow sinking

    Type 3

    Type 6



    For your 10' #8 line single hand fly rod you need a Rio OBS 315 grn ST8 ~30' factory heads


    Then a 28' length of T14 for super sinking.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  6. #6
    Join Date
    Nov 2010
    Location
    Boulder Creek
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    Default

    Thanks Bill,
    Is my general understanding of the system and head to weight to rod correct as explained above?

  7. #7
    Join Date
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    Shooting heads have to be between 25 and 35 feet long to cast right.

    25' would be for shorter distances.

    30' for average distances.

    35' for very long distances.

    ____________________________

    You sometimes have to adjust the leader length with the flies used to get a head to turn over right.

    Sometimes your leader will "dump" or turn over prematurely if your leader is too short?
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Sacramento
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    7,786

    Default Length??

    I've cast shooting heads ranging from 28' to 32' but had to adjust the casting stroke significantly in either direction from a length of 30'. Assuming the same rod is used to cast each head, it seems like a short head would require a faster casting stroke and the longer head, a slower stroke. But that hasn't always been the case for me. Anything shorter than a 28 footer or longer than 32' (assuming the correct grain window for the single handed rod) makes the timing of loading and casting difficult. The cast ends up being more of a lob....

    Are the longer lengths for spey/switch rods??
    "America is a country which produces citizens who will cross the ocean to fight for democracy but won't cross the street to vote."

    Author unknown

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Location
    Fresno, CA
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    Default

    I fished shooting heads most of my fly fishing career. Throwing everything from 225 gr to 600gr heads. Back in the old days, Cortland and SA made different weight shooting heads. Cortland was marked slow sinking - light brown, fast sinking - med. brown and extra fast was dark brown. SA had there own colors also. I always and still use clear Amnesia for my running line. I know most everyone hates that stuff. Sunset line was the manufacturer. It was called Amnesia shooting line. Then they started coming out with the colors but I always stuck to clear. The black would straighten out after the sun hit it being that black color absorbed the heat. I still use LC 13 for my shooting heads, especially for stripers at San Luis and the Forebay. I also use it in Baja. To me it seems to sink faster than the RIO T line material.
    Jay Murakoshi

    Commercial Fly Tier

    Travel Coordinator

    Web site: http://www.fliesunlimited.com/

    Email us at: jaysflies@me.com

    Call us at (831) 809-4221

  10. #10
    Join Date
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    Old guys like Jay, Dan Blanton and I started with factory heads by Cortland and Scientific Angler.

    These heads were ~30' long with a loop on one end for the shooting/running line and a taper on the leader end.

    They came in floating and then many different sink rates from slow to very fast.

    They came in line sizes from 7 to 12 ? On average most went up one line size.
    Bill Kiene (Boca Grande)

    567 Barber Street
    Sebastian, Florida 32958

    Fly Fishing Travel Consultant
    Certified FFF Casting Instructor

    Email: billkiene63@gmail.com
    Cell: 530/753-5267
    Web: www.billkiene.com

    Contact me for any reason........
    ______________________________________

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