Fly Fishing Tips: Casting Equipment
Underhand Casting Equipment
Because the underhand style requires fishing rods to have a different action to the traditional spey rod, not all rods are suitable.
Here are some examples:
Loomis GLX, GLX Distance and Stinger, Guideline Le Cie, Sage TCR, Loop X1 and Hardy Angel. Shooting heads are made by
Guideline, Rio and Loop.
Shooting Heads
The rods and the heads to match them come in various weights such as 7/8, 8/9, 9/10 and 10/11. Some anglers prefer to go up one line rating for the rod they intend to use the head with, i.e. using a 10/11 head with a 9/10 rod. All the shooting heads need to be cut-back to suit the individual rod model and the height and ability of the caster. We offer assistance at the Lodge in helping you to cut the heads back to the correct length.
The heads also come in different sink
densities, from floating through to the fastest sink rate of sink 3/4. We advise guests to carry a good selection including
floating, sink tip, intermediate, slow and fast sinking. Changing the heads is very simple.
In between the head and the backing is a running line. This is a slick line that shoots freely through the rod guides.
We recommend the shooting line known as ‘Compline’ by the Guideline Company.
Guideline Shooting Heads – review by Matt Hayes
I have been using the Guideline shooting heads for two seasons now and I am very impressed by their performance. The biggest drawback with the heads has been that the angler has to customise each head for his/her rod by cutting the head back and whipping loops on to each end. As I write this, I am assured by the company that they are about to introduce a full range of ready cut and looped heads in 2008.
The head is attached to a shooting line, in-turn attached to traditional backing. The system therefore is very versatile because you can alter the sink rate and performance of your line simply by swapping heads. Having said this, I often take two or three rods loaded with different heads to each pool I fish so that I can fish the pool effectively throughout its length. For example, at the head of the pool I might use a float/sink 5 or even a full sinker with a float/sink 3 or intermediate for the main pool etc., Here is a run down of the heads and their uses:
Floating – obviously very useful for bombers, dry flies etc., Some anglers like to use a floating line all the time and by combining it with poly-leaders of different densities it is possible to create a sink-tip line whose sink density can be altered by simply changing the poly leader. I believe, however that the other heads in the range offer better performance in this respect and I tend to use the floater for floating flies only or on small, fast rivers where a short sinking tip is better.
Sink Tip – a useful line that has a floating main taper and an intermediate clear sink tip. Useful for summer and autumn but perhaps superseded by the float/sink series.
Float/Sink 1 – this is a fantastic head and perhaps the nicest one to use in the range. It has a floating main line which gets the fly to drift in low water with an extended sink tip in sink rate one – a slow sink just beyond hover. A super all round line in low water and medium water when the water temperature is above ten and the fish will rise to the fly. .
Float/ Sink 3 – another fantastic line. The main line is floating and really helps the fly to drift but the tip is a medium sink that gets the fly down. Ideal for those riffly, pacy pools in low water and a good line for the faster flowing pools in the mid to lower sections.
Float/Sink 5 – a fantastic line for the heads of the pools where you need to get the fly down quickly. I always carry a float/sink 5 for the pool heads on Gaula.
Hover/Intermediate – very much the standard choice line for middle to lower sections of the pool at mid-summer water height. A nice line to cast. Performs well when not cut back too much. Try to use a long intermediate head and you will get a really nice casting line with a good turnover.
Sink 1 / 2 – a really nice line when the river is running off after a flood. Casts well. Medium sink.
Sink 2 / 3 – I use this line a lot. A good all round choice early season or whenever the river is pushing. Casts like a rocket and sinks quickly.
Sink 3 / 4 – a real fast sinker. Easy to cast and just the job for delivering big tubes when the river is up and running.
Sink 4 / 5 – a really fast sinker that is useful in the early season when you have to fish as deep and slow as possible. A line for big tubes and high water.