I have never seen a blow by blow account of how to make your own shooting head lines for west coast steelheading. Anybody out there who can provide some
insight?
Thanks!
Matt
Thanks!
Matt
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How do you make your own shooting head lines?
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 baunvivant |
How do you make your own shooting head lines? |
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Posts: 177 08/20/2009 21:13 |
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16 pmd |
#1 | |||
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Posts: 721 08/21/2009 00:52 |
Though there is now not much reason to make your own with so many good ready-made ones available, some of us have made them in the past. Basically it's
just the front 30' of a WF line with no back taper. To make a single-density sinking head you would have to sacrifice an entire WF, so there isn't much
reason to do so. Some made multiple density lines from pieces for special purposes like getting a fly down into a deep narrow slot, but they were still
generally 30'. Others made floating heads before they too became available factory-made. After much experimentation most experienced anglers settled on
30' as the most useful length. Shorter ones turn over too quickly and the line stops flying - dumps. Too long and they are harder to pick up, especially
sinking ones. Most people use sinking ones, homemade or factory made, one or two line weights heavier than the rod designation - e.g. 9 wt. head for 8 wt. rod.
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bluejayee |
#2 | |||
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Posts: 845 08/21/2009 01:47 |
Hi Guys, I made some years ago. My brother still has and uses them. They were sinking. Very sinking. I used Cortland lead core line and weighed it on a
re-loading scale to what ever weight line it was, 7-8wt. I think. You could do the same thing with level sinking line. Choose the sink rate and weigh the
line to the line weight you want. I'd use a needle knot with a nail knot and Urethane to attach to the running line and leader. Cobra or flat nylon or
Amnesia are typically used. The West Coast Steelheaders did this sort of thing and they ought to chime in. I'd see them practice casting at the Golden
Gate casting pools. They could really sling some line. Jay
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Randyflycaster |
#3 | |||
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Posts: 105 08/21/2009 09:45 |
I prefer the 38-foot length, though it means I have to have more line out when I haul. I simply buy an WF line, cut off 38 feet of line,
then attach a loop-to-loop leader. With the longer head I can use an 8-weight line on and 8-weight rod. For most, however, I think a 30-foot head works best. Randy |
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baunvivant |
Thanks for the info | #4 | ||
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Posts: 178 08/21/2009 23:09 |
What do you suggest I use for a running line and can anyone tell me if I should play around with a lead core line?
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16 pmd |
#5 | |||
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Posts: 722 08/22/2009 02:25 |
There are lots of running lines, but they fall into two categories - mono and fly line-type. Mono allows longer casts and faster sinking of the head and is
cheaper. Fly line-type is easier to handle and tangles less. There are newer ones of both types coming out often, mostly because of popularity of heads for
speycasting. Search Spey Pages site for opinions on latest/greatest. Leadcore might be useful if you really need to get deep, but commonly comes in one size -
13 gr/foot (Cortland LC 13) - so 30'=390 gr. It's not fun or pretty to cast and lighter rods take heads less than 30', which will shorten your
casts. For most purposes ready-made non-leadcore heads are better because they cast much better and some sink about as fast as leadcore.
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B52 bugger |
Rio T-14 | #6 | ||
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Posts: 120 08/22/2009 08:28 |
I use Cortland LC16 and Rio T-14 which is tungsten. for salt water use. I cut these lines to around 27 to 30 ft. For running lines I have used every thing from
50 lb mono, ammensia, braided running line etc. I find best results with 444SL Cortland cut running line from standard WF.
444SL is a stiffer line doesn't coil while fishing in wind. |
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Randyflycaster |
#7 | |||
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Posts: 106 08/22/2009 11:44 |
I'm not sure what's out there now. I use the Orvis running line. It has a built-in loop. If there's a running line with the loop and lower memory
I'd go for it. I also have a Cortland, but I put on a big loop myself. I think Scientific Anglers or Rio now has a running line.
I don't like using monofiliment as a running line. Way too many tangles, and it's rough on the hands. Randy
Last Edited By: Randyflycaster 08/22/2009 12:10.
Edited 1 time.
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pcg |
#8 | |||
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Posts: 3281 08/22/2009 19:27 Admin |
I too second 16 PMD's suggestion: Cruise through Spey Pages. A huge resource.
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Booman2 |
#9 | |||
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Posts: 587 08/23/2009 21:15 |
I made a bunch of them for steelheading when I lived in San Francisco in the early 1970's. I bought Sci-Anglers sinking lines in DT and measured back 30
feet from each end, then threw the center 30 feet away. I used acetone and a razor blade to strip about 1 1/4" of the finish back from the fat end to make
a loop. After feathering the ends of the line core a little, I formed the loop and wrapped it with rod winding thread. This was covered with Pliobond cement.
Most of us carried lines in about 3-5 different sink rates, from type I to lead core. For shooting line, I first used Brownell's bow serving (flourescent
orange in color) and later, Amnesia. Shooting lead core heads can be a chalenge and I wouldn't use one on a bamboo rod because of the extreme stress in
picking it up from the water. If you ever get hit in the back by a bad cast, it can sound like a gunshot and may cut an ear! They were/are effecitive lines,
could be tuned at will, and I still have a few today.
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baunvivant |
Thanks! | #10 | ||
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Posts: 179 08/26/2009 00:28 |
Thanks everyone for you input. I really want to go old school before I try a commercially available product so I intend to sacrifice one of my sinking lines
for the cause. I am not sure that I will for sure go with a mono running line but I might as well try it.
Best, Matt |
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Ken M 44 |
#11 | |||
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Posts: 3160 08/26/2009 12:15 Immoderatus Britannicus |
A long time ago I used to fish a lot of stocked lakes and we used old school home made shooting heads all the time for distance casting, we used low cost DT
lines (usually Cortland mill ends (second quality) and the way we did it was to cast the DT line until you were at the maximum but comfortable length of line
in the air and cut them at about 2 foot from the top ring. Splice to mono - we used a flat supple mono running line that iirc was called 'Tapeworm' or
just plain vanilla Maxima about 30lb BS - the splice was a good guide for length before double hauling and shooting the line, there are probably higher tech
running lines now but you want something slick and fairly durable (we needed cheap as well at that time) but we would get two heads from each DT line. My
brother and I always swapped the second half of the DT line so we had a range of types without major spend.
If you are stripping a lot of line for long periods of time a finger protector is useful - we used to cut the fingers off 'rubber' kitchen gloves but just use one at a time ... happy days 
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