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CASTING WITH RUNNING LINE

978 views 16 replies 11 participants last post by  tythetier 
#1 ·
ALRIGHT, SO I GOT THE FANCY SHMANCY 8/9 WT SETUP THE OTHER DAY....WHAT IT HAS FOR LINE IS A FAST SINK TIP THAT IS MAYBE FIFTEEN FEET AND THEN RUNNING LINE. I CAN GET THE FIRST FIVE OR SO FEET OF THE RUNNING LINE OUT AND THEN MY CAST SEEMS TO JUST KINDA FALL APART LIKE RONALD REGANS ACTING CAREER. I HAVE TRIED THE ROLL CAST THING WITH NO REAL LUCK...WHAT AM I DOIN' WRONG MY BROTHERS???? I LOOK TO YOU, THE ONES I TRUST THE MOST!!:cool:

I HAVE SEARCHED THE VAST INTERNET WITH NOTHING MORE THAN VAGUE POINTERS ON HOW TO FISH IT, BUT I NEED TO LEARN TO WALK BEFORE RUNNING SO THEY ARE NOT MUCH HELP.
 
#2 ·
try to false cast with just the head out and maybe a few more feet of running line, and then shoot, aiming higher than usual. Make sure the line is straight back behind you and you feel it actually tug before you begin the foward cast aiming for the tree tops. It is more of a lob than a tight loop like you might try normally.
 
#3 ·
What you have is a shooting head. Google 'casting a shooting head'.
You will find all kinds of good info.
As Chad said you should only have a few feet of running line out beyond your tip top. However, I would disagree with the lob description and advise that your cast be as linear as possible with very tight loops for distance.

TC
 
#4 ·
Ty,

Please desribe your fly line in a little more depth, make, model, etc. The casting portion, or the portion of the line that is the correct weight for the 8/9 rod will be longer than fifteen feet. The portion of the line that needs to be outside the tip top will be around thirty to forty feet long. If you do have a shooting head with attached running line I can help you a little. If it is an outward bound or other type of hybrid, then others here will have plenty of help for you. I think you are describing something like a Rio interchangeable tip system. If not, I can't tell what you have.

Steve
 
#5 ·
THANKS FOR THE HELP AND INFO GUYS.
STEVE, I AM THINKING IT IS SOME SORT OF INTERCHANGEAGLE SET UP AS WELL. I DO NOT KNOW WHAT MAKE OR MODEL IT IS, AS IT WAS ON THE SET UP WHEN I BOUGHT IT. I GOT IT FROM A GUY WHO'S UNCLE PASSED AWAY AND THE GUY THAT I GOT IT FROM KNEW NOTHING ABOUT IT.
WHAT I HAVE THOUGH IS A BLACK TIP MAYBE FIFTEEN FEET (I WILL MEASURE IT OUT TONIGHT) LONG WITH A LOOP CONNECTION TO A RED COLORED RUNNING LINE. THE TIP IS VERY HEAVY!! IT LAYS OUT EASILY AND SINKS VERY FAST.

I GOT THIS RIG AS A WAY TO GET GOING INTO STEEL OR SALMON, I MIGHT HAVE TO GET A NEW LINE IF THIS IS SOME SORT OF HOME BUILT JOB JUST FOR THIS GUYS LOCAL WATER.

ONCE AGAIN, THANKS FOR THE HELP AND INFO, I WILL TRY OUT WHAT CHAD SUGGESTED TONIGHT, AND LOOK UP THE SHOOTING HEAD. THAT COULD OF BEEN WHERE I WAS GOING WRONG, AS I WAS LOOKING UP CASTING RUNNING LINE. DOH!!
 
#6 ·
I would seriously think about finding a new line. That thing doesn't sound like it was well thought out for fly casting. It must be a homemade set up, and it may actually be missing something important, as normally you'd have another 15 - 20' of floating line looped to the running line (i.e., behind the sink tip) for a shooting head system. I doubt there is enough fly line to properly load the rod the way it is set up now. Probably the best you're going to do is flop the 15' tip on the water, do a quick water haul with no more than a few inches of the running line outside the tiptop, do a single haul on the forward cast and let it fly. But you will have zilch for line control, which makes it a lousy set up for fishing as it sounds unmendable.
 
#9 ·
COOL COOL GUYS, THANKS FOR THE HELP!!
SO NOW FOR A NEW LINE, DO YOU GUYS LIKE THE INTERCHANGEABLE SYSTEMS OR STICK TO THE STRAIGHT, NO FRILLS WF INTERMEDIATE SINK SORT OF THING??? I PROBEBLEY WONT BE GETTING TO MUCH INTO HEAVEY SALMON STUFF. MAINLEY STEELHEAD ON THE WASHOUGAL OR LEWIS MAYBE.
I KNOW THE WHOLE DIFFERENT STROKES FOR DIFFERENT FOLKS THING, I AM JUST LOOKING FOR ANY IDEAS ON SOMTHING THAT YOU REALLY LIKED OR DIS LIKED.
 
#11 ·
Ty,

Ok, your info helps a little, and that is one hell of a good offer from east fork. go meet him if at all possible. To continue with the puzzle here though; can you strip out maybe fifty feet on your lawn?
If you can, then look to see if everything behind the fifteen foot head is of one peice. More important, look about thirty to forty feet back from the outward end of the head. look to see if the line there goes from thicker to thinner in diameter. That might tell us if this is a manufactured line because if the fast sinking tip is attached to a floating line, then the floating line will get smaller and become running line. Also, it is possible that this is one weird bastard, but if it is a bastard it is also possible that it is actually a very well made bastard with some real value as a fishing tool. Shit, I thought this would be easy. Go see East Fork!

You could also take the outfit out to the lawn, lay thirty or forty feet out and see how that casts fore and aft.

Again, there are versi tip systems out there that work very well for Steelhead. The one I have has fifteen foot tips in floating, sinking and fast sinking. That lets you cover some range of Steelhead water and technique.

sb
 
#12 ·
Ty,

From your description, it seems that you have some kind of multi-tip shooting head system that is missing the heart of the line: namely, a floating belly section. No wonder it doesn't cast well!

The belly section is/was/would have been a 15 to 25-foot section of floating line considerably larger than the running line, and of a weight that, combined with the sink tip(s), would provide enough weight to fit an 8/9 rod. (The AFTMA standards for the front 30 feet of an 8-weight is 210 grains, 240 grains for a 9-weight.) Shooting head systems are usually most efficient at the upper end of the rod's rating; so a proper shooting head for your rod might be around 250-260 grains - including the sink tip. If would help to get the weight of the sink tip; ask a friendly pharmacist or an ammunition reloading-friend to weigh it for you.

You can buy floating shooting heads from Orvis and, I think, Sci. Anglers. (Were I you, I'd buy an inexpensive WF9F line on eBay.) Either way, cut the front taper off and add a braided loop. Also put a braided loop on the floating tip so that you can reattach it for floating line use. You may need to trim the floating belly back in stages until the combined weight feels comfortable with your rod when you cast it with no more than two feet of running line beyond the tip. In fact, it will cast more reliably if you have a smidge of the belly inside the tip when you cast. Later, you can add sink tips, i.e., weighted leaders of 5-15 feet from Rio, Airflo, or Sci. Anglers.

If all this sounds bewilderingly complicated, then buy a multi-tip weight forward line system from one of the above. Either way, it will give you a versatile line system for your new rod. And yes, you will need a few tips in different weights, even if you were fishing just one river.
 
#13 ·
Yeah, something sounds askew. Just the title of this thread tells me that. There's a reason why it's called "running line." It's for filling the spool and holding the fish, not for casting. You need line to cast and load the rod. Running line won't do that.

That said, I like the advice about not tossing it. It may in fact have a specific use somewhere. Worse come to worse, salvage the sink tip and reuse it somewhere.
 
#14 ·
I met Tyler on the Washougal. What he had going was a Reddington 8 weight, a sage reel and 30 feet of level sinking line over some amnesia backing. Given what he paid for the outfit used, he ought to be charged with theft :) The rod cast remarkably well. Casting the sinking head was a little awkward but you’d expect that. Later, we put floating line on and were zinging 70 casts. Congratulations on the new rod,Tyler. Now go find a fish worthy of rod!
 
#15 ·
Actually what 'he' has is a line set up for 'over-head' casting, not spey casting. This set up is especially effective when fishing 'in the salt' where very long casts are required to get beyond the surf line. Or out of a boat and a fast sink rate is required.

Fred
 
#17 ·
THANKS FOR GETTING THAT SQUARED OFF FOR ME DON! I THINK I AM GONNA HUNT DOWN A STANDARD WF FLOATING LINE AND KEEP THIS THIRTY FOOT SECTION FOR A SINK TIP TO USE IN THE BIG WATERS OR SALT.

THANKS AGAIN FOR THE HELP AND INFO, SORRY ABOUT THE DIFFICULTY TO DESCRIBE ;), I AM A SMALL ROD GUY THAT NEVER REALLY THOUGH I WOULD GET INTO BIG GEAR FISHING, SO I NEVER REALLY LEARNED MUCH ABOUT THIS KINDA STUFF.

THANKS AGAIN TO DON!!!

TY
 
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