[speyrd]

Given some serious thought to learning how to under hand cast. What length and grain weight of floating head should I be looking for to cast on a 12'9" 9wt. rod?
Leroy......................

 

[Neil]

Leroy.
When recently met John and Amy Hazel at the New Jersey show they were telling me that they were exploring the Under Hand style of casting.
I see your in the same area,maybe hook up with John and Amy and have a chat.
I leant John my Vision 8/9 Euro line to try.It's a great line to start learning the Under hand cast.
Yes,there are Loop and various other lines avaliable out there,but in my opinion the Vision is the best line to learn with.
For your 12'9" 9wt. I recommend a line that is,approx.35'-40' with a grain weight of approx. 475-525.
Check out our line charts on the G.Loomis web site or here on the Spey Pages.
If I can help further please ask.
Speyladdie.
Loomis Pro Staff Canada.

 

[Ullsock]

Shooting head for 12'9" rod.

The shooting head that I use on my SAGE TCR 12'9" is a floating 10,5 m head and sinking 10,2 m heads. They all weight aroud 34 gram. I use lines made by Guideline, Vision and Rio. The Guideline is the fastes line the Rio has the less aggressive taper. Find a head that suits you casting style so that you will cast comfortably.

 

[speycaster]

Head for 9 weight

Leroy, I think somewhere around 500 grains is likely to be a good match, but it really depends on the rod. Seems to me that fine tuning with heads makes a greater difference than with longer lines. I would definitely try a number of different configurations if you can. Length is a bit of a balancing act. Longer heads seem to give better distance, but shorter ones are easier to turn around when wading deep and require less room behind you.