390 gr AIRFLO SCOUT head on left and 350 gr OPST Commando head on right.
Fly anglers fishing single hand rods with short head fly lines now have more options to choose from – thanks to the entry of AIRFLO’s new for 2016/17 Scout fly line.
These very short shooting heads have been my go-to last winter while swing fishing the coastal rivers with 6 wt and 7 wt switch rods of 11 ft to 11.5 ft also.
The AIRFLO SCOUT lines start at 150 gr and go in 30 gr increments up to 480 gr.
The OPST COMMANDO heads start at 150 gr and go up in 25 gr increments to 475 gr.
The two heads pictured above are both 15 ft long. The shortest heads in the OPST Commando series may be as short as 12 ft and the heaviest as long as about 18 ft long.
The shortest heads in the Airflo Scout series are 13.5 ft (150 gr) and the longest is 18.5 ft (480 gr).
Airflo decided to product their Scout heads in lengths that are 6″ to 18″ longer than the Commando heads – in order to reduce the instances of overpowering an anchor on the cast.
AIRFLO tip and butt (left and right) loops on SCOUT head.
The Airflo heads and the Commando heads have slightly different loop characteristics, and I think the angler will decide if either is better than the other.
COMMANDO head gr wt marking – The AIRFLO SCOUT will be similarly marked on the line for convenience.
My AIRFLO Demo head was only color coded to indicate head wt. but the retail SCOUT heads will have the gr wt printed on the line, like the OPST line designation shown above.
We are both blessed and cursed with the number of choices we have in fly lines (and all goodies provided by the Fly Fishing Military Industrial Complex) — So begins the challenge of sorting our brand loyalty versus deciding if either of these fly lines is superior to the other under particular circumstances.
OPST has proven the functionality of these Commando heads. AIRFLO has a proven track record of producing quality fly lines, and this is especially true for the Pacific Northwest and Great Lakes angler fishing two hand rods.
Now you have two brand options and yet one more topic for debate around the campfire in the evening.
JN
Somewhere in your review, it might be a good idea to mention how to use these heads. How was your rig was set up, what type of tips were used, and which shooting line was used. Even how much backing was on the reel.
been reading so much on the different lines and about commando,new too fly fishing,i have a hardy 10 foot jet 330 and akuma reel fish the alley Conneaut mostly theres so much too learn and I work really hard at it,could use some advice ,on a setup that might work good here,if you could please