old jim,

In addition to most types of saltwater fishing that I do, I use shooting head systems for trout and bass on lakes with streamer patterns and sometimes nymphs and poppers. I find it less effort to consistantly make long presentations with a shooting head systems. The long the cast, the longer the fly is in the water where the fish are. I do not use heads in situations where I might need to quickly pickup and re-cast since you need to retrieve all of the shooting line before making another cast. As Ladyfisher noted, less casting and more fishing.