North 40 Fly Shop eMagazine December 2015 | Page 27

It was a pleasure to fish with

the new OPST Commando Head and Laser running
line during a recent outing. I took my 7 weight to a
section of the CDA river that I remembered having
had trouble casting heavy streamers from the bank
due to the bushes behind me. I started at the top of
this run and two-stepped my way down. My first cast
was a little quick, as I was anticipating the shorter stroke, and I blew my
anchor point. My second cast left me with nothing but smiles, launching
my tungsten streamer to the far bank. Thinking it might have been a
fluke, I stripped in the laser line, which had a great feel, through my
fingers. As the running line piled up around my legs, it opened up on the
water and floated well. With my next single-hand cast, the laser running
line severed my pointer finger completely off as it rocketed through the
guides of my rod. Just kidding, but I've never seen a mono running line
rip through my guides and out of the end of my rod like that before. The
true beauty of the Commando head is how easy it is to cast in difficult
scenarios. A couple more casts and I was completely sold! A few more
after that and I felt the rewarding grab of a trout.
Although there are a lot of advantages, there are also a couple
disadvantages to the Commando Skagit head line. It's not for everyone.
If you need a delicate presentation where you fish, the Commando line
might be a bit much. I definitely spooked some trout with my skagi bombs
hitting the water. Also if dead drifting is your game, mono running lines
are never easy to mend.
All-in-all I had a great day on the river with OPST lines. I would recommend
it to anybody that wants to try something new on your single hand,
switch , or two hand fly rod. OPST will give you more options on how
you can fish your local rivers. It will also change your plan of attack on
how you can present your fly.