I finally received my OPST Skagit 250gr -13.5' shooting head in the mail today. This head will be used on my 9'6'' 6wt medium fast action fly. I have not tested it out yet so my statements are based on what I heard, read, seen and my spey casting experience.
I have been spey casting for about 3 years now. At the very beginning, I have watched many spey casting videos to help improve my casting, specially Skagit Master featuring Ed Ward. With that said, I seen Ed Ward casting a custom fly rod in a OPST youtube video with a custom shooting head. This "custom" fly rod was originally a 9' 5/6 single handed fly rod blank made/converted into a mini switch rod. The rod was loaded with a prototype OPST shooting head . The idea behind it was that if someone enjoy spey casting, you can even spey cast for smaller fish in places with very little backroom. At the time, "trout" spey was not really that well known so many company did not make lower wt. two handed rods. It would be a overkill catching a 12-15'' trout on a 5wt switch rod, the 5wt switch rod would be like a 7wt single handed rod if using the general 2wt rule of thumb.
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| A scale that measure in grains is necessary for serious spey casters! |
After watching the video repetitively after seeing the lazer loops, I decide to experiment with this idea. I converted a 9' 5wt cabelas fly rod that I did not really enjoy casting because of the metal end cap leaving marks on my arm. I made my own custom shooting head - 225gr at 16.5' and use various versileaders and sink tips. This rod has became my go to rod and I have caught many fish on it ranging from smallies to stock Atlantic Salmon.
I will provide updates on the OPST after I test it out on the river, hopefully this weekend!
Thanks for reading!
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