It’s funny you should bring this up while I’m sorting through my shooting heads for my other rods. Our rivers are a bit hi and I’m up against the bank so I need to change to shorter rods. At any rate, I like my Scan head with tips. It has the little sink tip compensator which gets the tips deep. One thing about the Scan heads is that it reduces the work in building one from scratch. Just trim to the weight you like casting with on a particular rod and go fishing. Deciding on the weight of the head may be anywhere from 50 to 150 grains less that the recommended Spey line weight for a particular rod in accordance with its length and action. This decision of weight is purely subjective by your own standards and what you are comfortable with. As far as running line goes, I’ve used the PVC ones and they do help the beginner with turn over in that the friction of .035 line through the guides will pull the head straight before it hit’s the water. 50 pound Slickshooter is the best in that it will last the longest and it has a smaller diameter which reduces friction in the guides. As far as getting rid of memory, you just have to stretch the length of the slickshooter before you start casting. This will erase memory. What pulls the head straight is the tension of getting the running line out of the water. With a stripping basket, it is ridiculous the distances you can achieve. I can almost get 100 feet of the Slickshooter to come out of the basket. Most of my heads are 35 to 45 feet long. But remember, most fish are not out there 150 feet. They are only about 50 off the bank.
