Shooting heads
For those of us who are keen freshwater anglers we are seeing a marked trend towards shooting head lines similar to those which have been developed in Scandinavia and have been on the salmon fishing circuit there for a long time. They offer superb versatility to the roaming angler who tackles fish in variety of conditions and types of water. Systems such as the Rio AFS and Guideline Power Taper allow the use of one reel with running line onto which different head densities can be looped on once the optimal head length for that particular rod had been calculated. These range from floating through to intermediates to heavy density sinking tips. Spare heads can be kept in a pocket and attached to the running line to suit the prevailing conditions in a matter of minutes.
These lines require a much more punchy style of casting; Scandinavian underhand casting was developed around lines with these profiles. They are ideal for people coming to grips with Speycasting as they make casting relatively easy. The only downside is the potential of tangles with the loops of thin running line during the casting process but with a little practice it soon becomes effortless. Shooting heads are reasonably priced from around £30 for the running lines and around £45 for individual heads.
Conversely there are still the traditionalists who support the use of long belly lines such as the John Norris XD Spey series and the Hardy Mach Series of spey lines. With heads up to 65’ long compared to the shooting heads length of 40’ they require a much more traditional style of Spey casting – one that would be commonplace on Scotland’s prestigious salmon beats. In anything more than a floater these lines are not for the faint hearted and require a smooth rhythm and timing to get the best out of them. However when finally mastered they are a joy to cast and allow one to really show off with distance casting.
Popular Shooting Heads
- Rio AFS Clear Intermediate Shooting Head Fly Line
- Rio AFS Floating Shooting Head Kit
- Rio AFS Outbound Floating Shooing Head Fly Line
- Rio AFS Sink 2/3 Shooting Head Fly Line
- Rio AFS Tracker Multi Tip Shooting Head Fly Line
- Rio Spey AFS Shooting Head Fly Lines
- Power Taper Triple-Density Shooting Heads
