Olympic Peninsula Skagit Tactics – OPST Commando Tips

OPST Commando Tips are Here!

People have been asking, and now it’s time to announce that OPST now offers OPST Commando Tips, completing your Pure Skagit system from hook to reel. It’s a fact that not every hole calls for the fastest, heaviest sink tip. Riffles and shallower runs are extremely important too, 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 grain weight, from between three different sink rates: Riffle, Run and Bucket, for shallow, medium and deep water. 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 attached image.

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 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 of the OPST Commando Tips:

96 Grain, 12 foot (T8):
Rod Size: 2-6
Color: Yellow
Riffle: S2/3
Run: S3/4
Bucket: S5/6

132 grain, 12 foot (T11):
Rod Size: 5-8
Color: Light Blue
Riffle: S2/3
Run: S5/6
Bucket: S8/9

168 Grain, 12 foot (T14):
Rod Size: 7-10
Color: Tan
Riffle: S2/3
Run: S5/6
Bucket: S8/9

To Recap:

• They are 12 feet long and come in 8, 11, and 14 grains per foot, for totals of 96, 132 and 168 grains.
• Within these grain weights, we have three different sink rates.
• We have tried to illustrate these for people with Riffle, Run, and Bucket designations for varying depths.
• Riffle, Run and Bucket appear on the packaging and the type designation of S2/3, S5/6 etc appear on the line ID (See Chart below).
• The tips come with two sink rates – the back half of the tip is a slower sink than the front half, for a more level sink to the fly.
• This is as designed by Ed Ward.
• For 132 and 168 Grains (T11 and T14), Riffle is S2/3, Run is S5/6 and Bucket is S8/9.
• It’s not possible to make a 96 grain tip with S8/9, so for that grain weight, the designations are S2/3 for Riffle, S3/4 for Run, and S5/6 for Bucket.

Here is a table that outlines the above:

• 96 Grain, 12 ft (T8) 132 grain, 12 ft (T11) 168 Grain, 12 ft (T14)
• Rod Size: 2-6 Rod Size: 5-8 Rod Size: 7-10
• Colour: 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