A comparative study by Dr. Mendelson
Dear all,
This topic, as Dana said, is what brought us together. We were into some serious fights, and eventually came out as friends.......
As influx works both ways I did fish a good deal last season in Russia with Windcutter and Accelerator lines, just to make sure that I not was missing anything central out, when being so hard headed about the virtues of tailored shooting heads and thin running lines.
What I found out is that the longer designs(too me even a Windcutter is looong..) are great to cast, at least in open situations or when waded out). One gets into effective distances ever so easy.
BUT, and this is the alarming part, they are poor in controlling the drift!!! This controversial statement derives from the fact that the long heavy belly is hard to keep up in the air. Also it is under pressure from a much "broader band" of currents, needing repetetive mendings to control the belly rather than the fly.
So I am even more convinced that the shooting head system makes for a far more effecient fishing technique. With them I often can cast 35-40 yds square, flip a good mend in that settles the 35'-45' head almopst parallell to the flow and then let it fish the "outer lane",where little competition is to be had. With the head sailing away under a a minimum of tension, and the running line either on the water, easy to lift free, or free in the air all the time, it is very easy to flip occational mends in that settles the head right. The horrible truth is that it reminds a bit of fishing a float... Often enough fish hook themselves as the take stops the fly but lets the head swim on to pull the hooks in from below.
I would like to return on this topic when I can get some peace to write (the family are off for a Sunday outing).
To close - to get the best of two worlds I tailor heads made of 25' level #12 Floating (A 40 yds DT makes many such") to 20 feet tips (#11) ranging for floating down to leadcore. Then you really get a good "float " with all the fine sinktips you Steelheaders have taught me to love. As for a running line either the Airflo Intermediate or the Flatbeam 35 pound is what I like.
Good luck!
Per
PS. 1) I never feed line into the mends
2) To mee the final stripping in of line is combined with a constant stripping during most of the cast. In fast water maybe less than 1"/second, in sluggish water up tp 10"/second. All to ensure that the fly is actively swimming out there. Once the cast is fished out I continue this stripping in a gradually quicker pace. Maybe 20% of my fish take me in this final stage. With the fly under tension the positive hookups are far greater than when the fly is hanging passive in the traditional "dangle". As you immediatly feel the fish the trick is to strike hard as soon as this the take occurs. As you see a big part of the "stripping in" is part of the actual fishing, adding a bonus effect. Hence it is hard to say that one actually looses much time as compared to flipping a full line out, without stripping. DS