OPST now offers Commando Tips, completing your Pure Skagit system from hook to reel. Presenting your fly at the depth where fish are holding is one of the most important factors in successful fishing. Commando Tips are ideal for making swung fly presentations to steelhead and salmon. It's a fact that not every run calls for the fastest, heaviest sink tip. Riffles and shallower runs can be just as important as deep holes, especially in high water. In such conditions, a shallower, yet still level, sink is the way to go. Commando Tips will make you a more complete angler by allowing you to choose, within a set grain weight, from between three different sink rates: Riffle, Run and Bucket, for shallow, medium and deep water, respectively. Our tips are 12 feet long to enhance water load and prevent blown anchors, and come with strong welded loops at both ends for easy rigging. The rear ends come with color-coded line IDs to identify both grain weight and sink rate. 96 Grains are looped with Yellow, 132 grains with Light Blue, and 168 Grains are Tan. Within those three grain weights are the three sink rates (Riffle, Run, and Bucket) for each weight. See the image below.
Those familiar with MOW tips will be able to choose from three different grain weights: 96 grain, 132 grain and 168 grain, (T8, T11 and T14 grains per foot) for use on 2 weight switch rods up to 9 weight two handers.
You will notice that the designations are S2/3, S5/6, etc- meaning the back half of the line, for example for an S2/3, is a Type 2 (2 inches per second), and the front half is a Type 3 (3 inches per second). This produces a straighter sink to the fly and reduces the belly effect that occurs in level sink tips. Here are the specifications:
96 Grain, 12 foot (T8): | 132 grain, 12 foot (T11): | 168 Grain, 12 foot (T14): |
Rod Size: 2-6 | Rod Size: 5-8 | Rod Size: 7-10 |
Color: Yellow | Color: Light Blue | Color: Tan |
Riffle: S2/3 | Riffle: S2/3 | Riffle: S2/3 |
Run: S3/4 | Run: S5/6 | Run: S5/6 |
Bucket: S5/6 | Bucket: S8/9 | Bucket: S8/9 |