Royal wulff ambush was my favorite, but they wear out quickly and the running line kinda sucks. Problem is, its the only 20 foot shooting head taper that has an integrated running line. I tried welding the head to a new running line and it wouldn't take, the heat weakened it too much. So I tied a loop in the back and paired it with a grip shooter running line and it worked out.
I took a look at the specs on rios website for the scandi short body for the versitip system, they are almost the same taper as the ambush, but 23 ft and a bit more mass in the ass. They also the come in sinker and int. in all sorts of grain increments
The grip shooter is basically slickshooter with a coated 15 ft handling section . And my favorite part is that the loop-to-loop is so small I barely notice it when stripping to the leader, If your going to strip a lot get the 35lb or 44lb shooter cause its wider.
Scandi short body and gripshooter is definitely an excellent shooting combo IMO, just add a poly leader and launch it. Hope this helps

 

The 375 Scandi short combined with MOWs and polyleaders has growing appeal the more I read online. You think it's necessary to get a longer head for lighter work?

 

Are you looking for a true shooting head, say 30' then connect to either mono or another style of shooting line?

Also you looking for floating and/or sinking shooting head?

and what are you targeting, steelhead in rivers, salmon say Puget sound?

Are you looking to single hand spey or just use for shooting head casting, one false cast and see ya later!

These would be my first questions to be able to assist you in right line and weight

 

Are you looking for a true shooting head, say 30' then connect to either mono or another style of shooting line?

Also you looking for floating and/or sinking shooting head?

and what are you targeting, steelhead in rivers, salmon say Puget sound?

Are you looking to single hand spey or just use for shooting head casting, one false cast and see ya later!

These would be my first questions to be able to assist you in right line and weight

True shooting head, yes.

Floating then poly leaders or sink tips

Steelhead in the puget sound and OP rivers

shooting head casting (I have a spey rod that I like to use in the winter on larger rivers but I dont want to stop using my single hand rods. I have a great 9 wt 9 ft that if I could get a bit more distance out of, I could see blowing the dust off of for some early summer work)

 

I have Rio Outbound Short in floating and 6 ips for my 8 wt. rods. I love the fast sinker, but even though Rio overlines by one size I would prefer a 9 wt.floater for the 8 wt. rod. 80-100' casts are easy with the sinker. It's smooth, slides easily and isn't too hard on your hands. Wonderful line.

The Rio Outbound Short is a 30' head and made for casting large, heavy flies. The Rio Outbound is a 37' head and may give more distance on smaller, lighter flies. These are lines I use in the Delta for bass and stripers, and we all use the ROS, not the RO.

You can look at Teeny lines too. They are a little less expensive, a little less high tech, but I love my T-200 for the 6-8 wt. rods. That it is sink tip line, best for moving water but OK for shallower still water too.

After years of Amnesia and heads I'd never want anything but integrated lines if you use them a lot. Your initial investment is much higher but your pleasure in casting them makes it worthwhile.

 

I have Rio Outbound Short in floating and 6 ips for my 8 wt. rods. I love the fast sinker, but even though Rio overlines by one size I would prefer a 9 wt.floater for the 8 wt. rod. 80-100' casts are easy with the sinker. It's smooth, slides easily and isn't too hard on your hands. Wonderful line.

The Rio Outbound Short is a 30' head and made for casting large, heavy flies. The Rio Outbound is a 37' head and may give more distance on smaller, lighter flies. These are lines I use in the Delta for bass and stripers, and we all use the ROS, not the RO.

You can look at Teeny lines too. They are a little less expensive, a little less high tech, but I love my T-200 for the 6-8 wt. rods. That it is sink tip line, best for moving water but OK for shallower still water too.

After years of Amnesia and heads I'd never want anything but integrated lines if you use them a lot. Your initial investment is much higher but your pleasure in casting them makes it worthwhile.

The Teeny TS-350 is pretty tempting as my sinking line. I love that it's integrated, and I've been told by others that it casts well. Other than trying to weld it yourself, (ala Pat Lat), what integrated floating shooting head options are there? When I first started spey fishing (just a few years ago) someone gave me a 575 gr skagit with an integrated running line. I think it's RIO but no idea what model. It would be nice to find a 375 version of that line.

 

You can get floaters in Rio Outbound, Rio Outbound Short. I have them in 8 and 11 wts. Friend has the TS 350 and it is a rocket. His running line is the most comfortable of any I've used.

 

You can get floaters in Rio Outbound, Rio Outbound Short. I have them in 8 and 11 wts.

Not integrated though right?

 

never mind, I was looking at the outbound heads...

 

All Rio Outbound lines are fully integrated. I can't speak highly enough of them. They are by light years the shooting line of choice down here for the rivers and the Delta.

 

I carry 2 spools with my 9 weight and I'd like to put the teeny 350 on one and an outbound on the other. If you had to pick one (short or regular) which one would it be? I tend to like shorter skagit heads with my spey but I realize this is a different animal.

 

It depends on your water and flies. Down here we all use the ROS because we're pitching quite heavy streamers, and often bushy flies (frog, mouse, rat patterns) for stripers and the short head turns them over better. If you're fishing for steelies and using "normal" flies, then the RO would give you a little more distance and a slightly softer presentation. Sometimes I wish the 30' head was longer, the RO 37' head would solve that, but there's a reason why the short is preferable for Delta fishing.

 

I've used the Rio Scandi short (rated as a 5wt/325gr) on my 8wt. singles. Comes with the floating head, but I have used T-8 and polyleaders in various sink rates. Can even get one with heads ("versileader") if needed. Not sure its a great bet for heavy winter work, but certainly an option. I also just run a 325 skagit short on the same rod and it bombs/trows tips fine.

 

You can also get the Ambush lines as just a head (no integrated running line):

http://royalwulff.com/products/ambush-shooting-heads/

 

sure would be nice if fly shops had a try before you buy type deal....

There needs to be a "fly driving range"

 

sure would be nice if fly shops had a try before you buy type deal....

There needs to be a "fly driving range"

Pretty sure Pacific Fly Fishers in Mill Creek has a casting pool out back that they let people test drive lines in.

 

Looking to get a shooting head for my 9ft 9wt. Anyone have any recommendations on manufacturers? Thinking about at Rio's outbound right now.

I have an Outbound on my 6wt 9ft Redington Vapen Red and it is awesome. I can imagine you'd love it on that 9wt.

 

How's the running line perform? Also what's the versatility like for flies that you can throw (do things get messy if you start to get heavy?). Lastly, how does it handle tips or poly leaders?

 

For many years, I've used an older Rio 6/7/8 Versitip Spey line on my 9' 8wt single-hander. I don't loop on the belly extension, so with one of the 15' tips the entire "shooting head" is about 35 ' long. It loads the rod just fine, and casts well too, with little hinging. I plan to take it with me to Minnesota in early October for bass and pike, and I can change from floating to various sink tips in a minute or two.

For your 9 wt, you might need the 7/8/9 Versitip.

 

I have been lately, I would like to get a 30 ft scandi for dryline in rivers, but a 15ft tapered mono and light fly throws nicely enough if you watch for your anchor a bit more.
I primarily use it from the beach, its not the best for straight spey casting, a bit to short for dryline and not the right taper for turning over tips from a spey cast, but water load it and let it fly it'll launch just about anything.
Keep in mind that throwing 375 overhand you have to compensate for the added weight of the tip so it would be more like throwing 420-450. When you are spey casting you need all that weight to pull the tip off the water, but the tip does not add to the weight of a d-loop.
As an overhand shooting line for Puget sound beaches the little scandi bodyand poly leaders is pretty fun. But for heavy tip work in a river a two hander is definitely the better bet.

And a weight forward line like outbound and a light spey/shooting set up are in totally different leagues. They may shoot alike, but setting up your one big cast with a short spey cast makes beach fishing much easier, especially on your flies

 

Great help all around. This site never ceases to amaze me.

I do however think through the process I've lost focus of what I was initially trying to achieve. Somewhere along the line I was trying to take my single hand 9wt and make it an extension of my spey rod (sharing tips and such) rather than having its own time and place. All I'm really looking for is more distance on the river than I can get from the WF9W I currently have spooled up. If it's the kinda day that I'm throwing a thunderhead MOAL with 12 ft of T-14, I think it will be best to keep the 9 footer snuggled up in the rod tube.

That being said. I want to give the teeny brand ts-350 (7-8 ips) a go on one spool and get a good floating set up that is "bombable" on the other. Since this floating set up will not be taking on tips (maybe an intermediate poly at most), I'm not sure the scandi body is necessary. I'm still torn on what this set up should be though. Possibly leaning towards the outbound regular. I like the taper and it seems appropriate for the type of flies I will most likely be using with the floating line set up.

 

plus,they are excellent two hands lines in your case on a,five six switch.

I'm looking to pair it with a fast action 9ft 9wt single hand for small to medium flies. Also a nymphing set up. Would you still go this route?

 

Pulled the trigger on the ambush for now.

 

Good call, running line shouldn't be a problem if you're careful not to over stretch it and rinse after saltwater use. It is pretty much the only integrated head in that type of taper and length, so well worth the money to try it out

 

Part of me is still curious about the TS-350 by Teeny. 70 feet of floating running and 30 ft of 7-8ips integrated sinking.

Wondering if this can do anything that the ambush and a long heavy tip can't (that might justify getting both)

 

30' of 7-8 ips and 350 gr is some serious sinking horsepower. I can't imagine a use for it other than chinook on the Kenektok or someplace similar. 15' of 7-8 ips sink tip gets me intimately acquainted with far more rocky substrate than I need or care to.

Sg