[James Laraway]

a question for the 'pimp your line' crew ( Hamish and Ewan).

For my local river, the Nairn I have a wee switch rod. Now I have the (manufacturers) correct line and its superb....however...its a bit like the rio shooting head system with a head that you loop onto the running line ( all factory loops which again is great) so when you overhead cast you get the very annoying loops gangling through the rings.

So 2 questions:
can I cut the loops off attach the running line ( somehow!) to the shooting head ?
OR
am i better getting a SH with an integrated running line and then cutting it down to the correct weight ? ( 12-15g) .

Now i have an SLX for my #7 which i love...so maybe an SLX would be the perfect match so a question for Mike - do you have head weights for your SLX's ? I only ask as of course a Zpey #6 is probably more of a #4 or a #5...

the loop-to-loop going through the rings is annoying. I should say i only really need to roll cast, spingle spey ( or my interpretation of it !)  or overhead cast with the rod

[Mike Barrio]

Hi James,

The head weights are on the SLX product info page ...... see https://www.flylineshop.com/barrio-slx.html

Cheers
Mike

[James Laraway]

so my current line is 14.5g with a length of 9.9m ( 32.4ft)

The SLX WF6F is 13.6 grams  with a length of 24ft....i think i need one...

I could in theory go one higher to a #7 ( as the rod is rated to 15g) but i think the #6 will do it nicely....

where did i leave my wallet ?

[Mike Barrio]

The SLX head weight is approx 13.6 grams, but 24 ft is only the font taper and tip James, the head length is very similar to your current line at 33 ft

Line is in the post, should hopefully reach you tomorrow ..... fingers crossed.

Cheers
Mike

[Eddie Sinclair]

James,

for my sins I am  a friend and fishing partner of the aforementioned Ewan and Hamish. I have played with many  shooting head systems for single handed and double handed rods for both reservoir fishing and salmon fishing solutions over many years of playing with different ideas. Unfortunately we have different casting styles with different actions on different rods.

Whilst testing some of Mike salmon lines on the Dee with Ben Dixon we came up with entirely different ideas on what suited our casting/rod preferences I would try different weights of heads on your preferred rods and your casting stroke and find out what suits you and how you cast. Ben and Ewan and Hamish have all seen my fairly aggressive forward stroke which is not applicable to all but works for me but requires a different weight of head to be effective. Play with different weights and tapers and see what works for you and go with it, whatever works for you is the way to go. if you are happy with it you will have more fun and will fish more effectively. At the end of the day it is supposed to be fun.

Enjoy.

Eddie. 

[James Laraway]

got the line today Mike - amazing service...

whats happened to the nice 'day glo' colour ?   

[Mike Barrio]

Thanks for the confirmation ...... the orange headed version will be available again soon James

Best wishes
Mike

[Hamish Young]

James... let's sort an afternoon of 'play' time!

[James Laraway]

Definitely. Bet it ends up an expensive day for me.....must buy this, must buy that...I can see it now...

[Euan Innes]

Having gone over to the Dark Side for all my salmon and sea trout fishing I seem to have amassed a fair collection of shooting heads, some of which are home made or modified. Having now found out how to make my own welded loops it has cost me a whole £5 in clear heatshrink to do this. Considering that a welded loop adds around £5 to the manufacturing price of a fly line, being able to do it yourself is a good thing. Mill end lines, sale lines and bargain bins are the places to look for lines. My single handed skagit for my Western3 was made from a sale Norris integrated head that cost £20 but didn't suit the rod I bought it for. Hamish trawls Ebay for bargain #12 line to cut and shut and they are very cheap.
A small set of digital scales was another tenner and that is the vital bit. Skagit weights and lengths are available all over the net with all the info you need.
Not expensive at all but seriously good fun!

[Derek Roxborough]

I have an Oldish Airflo 40+ I was using this in the sea in the US. I decided to try it as per the Video and it worked, well, up to a point , I found I could cast it off my 5wt about 15yds, this , to me  this is quite good, I will practice more , I can cast this further, with an overhead cast, but rolling it to the distance is progress , , I bought this line in a sale about 6 years ago, so it doesn't owe me any thing, Derek Roxborough