Short speys have been gaining in popularity over the last couple of years and today most serious fly rod manufacturers have offerings. The new popularity is certainly due to all of the short Skagit and Scandi lines on the market today. I feel confident saying today’s short speys are the easiest two-handed rods to cast for both beginners and experts alike. Along with being easy to cast, short speys are easy to fish, opening up tight spots previously thought impossible to fish with a 13’ rod.
One of the best-known manufacturers of short Skagit lines is OPST; they also offer running lines, sink tips and even hooks. OPST now offers a full line of micro speys and short speys. I got to demo the OPST Skagit Pure 8116, it’s an 8 weight 11’6” in length. I spent a few hours casting this rod and honestly, I liked it a lot but it is not an eight weight unless you want to put it in a line up with single-handers. In an honest line up with like two-handers this is a 6 maybe even 6.5 weight. The OPST Skagit Pure is somewhere between the IMX Pro 6111 and the 7111 (two very popular short speys).
Casting the Skagit Pure was a blast. I fished Airflo Skagit Scout 420, 450, and 480 grains with both T11 & T14 in 10’ lengths. Believe it or not this rod has a huge grain window and had no issues with any of these heads or sink tips. The tip on this rod is stiff enough to lift a 480 grain head and T14 with no problems whatsoever. I found this rod pretty snappy and had no problem casting 60’ of running line.
The Skagit Pure is good looking; it’s matte black with some blue highlights. The grips are full well on this model and the reel seat is uplocking. I paired the rod with a Hatch 7 Plus and it felt perfect.
Line combos on this rod:
420 gr Scout w/T11 or T14. This was my favorite line set up but I’m really splitting hairs here. The 420 generated higher line speed and tighter loops but you definitely lose some of the feel you get with the heavier heads. For me, I like casting pretty hard so I liked this a lot.450 gr Scout w/T11 or T14. I started with this line as a lucky guess and I almost stopped here - it’s that good. No issues picking up or casting, and you can feel all the goodness coming out of this rod. This is the right line for most anglers.
480 gr Scout w/T11, money. If you like to load a rod way up and go a little slower this is a good set up. T14 will go but it’s a bit too much.
I had limited time with this rod so I only tried Airflo Skagit Scouts, OPST line recommendations for Commando heads can be found here. I’m 100% positive the 8116 Skagit Pure will bomb with a short Scandi line (SA Scandi Lite), 390 grains is probably right in the sweet spot with this rod for most folks. Go 30 grains any direction to line it heavy or light. Like I said, I really like this rod and it was a blast to cast. I highly recommend it!
The Masked Angler
"The Gorge"
Gorge Fly Shop Team - 541.386.6977
I wish you had more time than a few hours to review this rod.
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