Shooting Heas Casting

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    Posted: 26 Apr 2019 at 12:14pm
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Shooting heads have been around overseas for some time.    I was one of the first to use one on the Tongariro Rv in the early seventies after I fished one out from the Major Jones Pool.     It was lost by an American executive of the Boeing Airline Company, who was guided by Hut Little from Turangi.     Interestingly anglers campaigned to have SH banned along side the Red Setter fly.    
 
Despite its relative antiquity and proven value not many anglers can cast it well enough to get the maximum value from this proven distance rocket.     I have written an article for the NZ Fishing News https://www.fishing.net.nz/fishing-advice/how-to/tips-for-using-a-shooting-head/    which needs some amendments to bring it up to date,
 
I have also offered Sporting Life a demo and talk for their Fly Fest about the subject which includes how to set it up and fish it as well as how to best handle shooting lines in running and still water.
 
Cheers
 
Rainbow
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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Uncle Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 26 Apr 2019 at 1:19pm
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Way back in those days, I'd cut a double taper line to fashion a rudimentary shooting head.
Tried all sorts of running line including a hollow braid that was horribly coarse~~think it was a type of builders string line.
Old John Seirpinski used similar & I remember it made one hell of a noise as it went through the guides.

Another method was to splice a lightweight level line to an overweight bit of a double & if it was pretty good if the ratio was correct.
Using systems like that was a bit tough on the early carbon fibre rods.
They didn't like being overloaded & I managed to break a couple.
One was a 3M rod, one of the very first in the country, that I got off Geoff Thomas.
It was a two piece with a shonky brass ferule that made me cry when it folded.

I remember one day fishing alongside Barney Northcroft & he was using his mighty split cane double hander.
My wee lightweight with the shooting head was doing better than his great weapon & he was mighty un-pleased
I let him have a couple of casts tho & he didn't want to give it back.LOL

Ah, memories..

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Post Options Post Options   Likes (0) Likes(0)   Quote Rainbow Quote  Post ReplyReply Direct Link To This Post Posted: 27 Apr 2019 at 11:21am
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The reason why I put a post in on Shooting Head casting is that over the last couple of seasons I got really bored with upstream nymphing on the Tongariro.     Watching endless passes of various coloured indicators has lost its appeal.     Instead I have returned to downstream wet-fly fishing with a shooting head that I started fishing this famous river nearly fifty years ago.     This rocket has also been my goto weapon fishing the deep drop-offs at the bigger river mouths around Taupo and the occasional salmon expedition down south.     Modern graphite rods, double hauling, HD shooting heads and non memory shooting mono has really revolutionised and refined this very traditional form of fly fishing.    Just to watch a big cast sail effortlessly across a wide river is a joy to behold.     The reward is a big hit that can happen anytime during the swing.     The anticipation is many times more intense than watching an indicator dip down and being rewarded by a surprise wriggle down below.     Surprisingly there are many anglers who have never tried it.   It all boils down to what you value most from the sport.
Rainbow
 
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