casting shooting heads

I just bought a 9wt SA shooting line and 30ft sinking head.
Generally speaking, when I cast, is the shooting head just inside or just outside the guides, or does it matter?

Thanks for your advice

The thin "running line" should be 2-6 feet outside the tip with the thicker head outside. Most shooting heads are about 30 feet, so 32-36' total (plus leader) is about what you should have outside the tip. If you want something that might help a bit to get you started you can put a dash with permanent marker on the running line comes off the reel with the head and a couple feet of running line outside the tip, but you should be able to tell with your eyes closed after a little practice just by the feel of the line and loading on the rod.

If you try to false cast with more line out (say 30' of head and 10' of running line) the loops will start to collapse because of the thinner running line. The idea is to get good line speed with the heavier head and then "shoot" the running line on the actual cast.

Having just a little bit of running line out of the tip shouldn't collapse the loops, and it will also take potential stress off the junction between the shooting head and running line when you release it for the actual cast (rather than being inside the tip top, where it might snag on the tip or a guide under a lot of pressure).

mark

This post just saved me hours of frustration...I casted my first shooting head fly line today and it was very challenging. The loops did collaps a few times but I didn't think it was because of the running line.
Thanks Passlake for asking and Mark for answering.

Peregrines is correct. Also minimize or eliminate false casting and learn how to water haul.

www.danblanton.com/casting.html

Also, your shooting head, assuming it s 30ft or close should be at least 1wt heavier and usually 2wts heavier than the rod's rating or else the rod will not load up properly and you will not get optimal distance with your shooting head setup. Heavier wt rods, 7 and up and often 6 and even some 5 wt rods are usually designed to cast optimally with about around 40 ft of line outside the tip. Lines are rated on the first 30ft. The extra 10 ft equates, on average, to around 2 line wts. This is why shooting heads should be uplined by at least 1wt and 2 is usually better. If you are using and integrated line that has shooting head welded together by the factory, the manufacturer has already factored this into their recommendations for matching line to rod.

With integrated lines, you also need to be sure that you have the entire head out. Sometimes, such lines with shorter sinking sections my have have an intermediate or floating section that is part of the head too. This should all be outside the rod time. You can check the manufacturers specifications for your line to determine the total head length.

What kind of running line are you referring to? I use 38 foot shooting heads, and Orvis and Cortland running line. (I never use mono.) For long casts I generally have 14 feet of running line out and my loops don't collapse.

Also, I find I can make short casts even if the entire head is not outside the rod tip. If I want to haul, however, I must have enough running line out so I don't bring the end of
the shooting head back through the rod tip guide. (The friction will kill the cast.)

Personally, and I know most people will disagree, I don't find that much of a difference between casting shooting heads and traditional fly lines.

That's just my two cents,

Randy

Perigrines has it right.
I will only add that when ready for the next cast with that Sinking Head, lift the rod high and back to get the Sinking head moving up and back and make a roll cast to get it up on top before lifting the line for the next cast. I suggest the same for an Intermediate line. It can be difficult to pull those lines out of the water when they are deeply submerged.