Echo classic 6wt switch and shooting head

[Bulldollyhuman]

I bought one setup from WFF member and love these! A little bit heavy but that's ok since I am practicing skagit casting.

Two different shooting head I tried: OPST commando head 300gr (15ft) and Airflo skagit scout 360 gr (16ft).

Both works well but, in my opinion, the heavy and intense one (Airflo) would be even more suitable for this rod.

I followed the line recommendation chart of OPST homepage. Am I missing some important point for OPST head?

Sinktip of density (8gr/ft) is working well with commando head and it's easy to cast but casting distance is not that long.

 

[HOG]

“recommendation” being the keyword. I start with the rod/line recs but will vary my shooting heads due to a multitude of variables, such as fly, tip, etc. I have some rods that I am +\- 80 grains from line or rod companies rec. if you have a friendly shop, may haps they will let you demo some heads so you don’t have to waste a lot of money to figure out the sweet spot. I know one of my 6 wt spey rods (6120 gass) I like a 390 skagit intermediate (rip) and a 360 grain rage

Edit : your casting style, speed, stroke, anchor, etc. will also be important in what line you enjoy casting. Everybody’s a wee bit different.

 

[Bulldollyhuman]

“recommendation” being the keyword. I start with the rod/line recs but will vary my shooting heads due to a multitude of variables, such as fly, tip, etc. I have some rods that I am +\- 80 grains from line or rod companies rec. if you have a friendly shop, may haps they will let you demo some heads so you don’t have to waste a lot of money to figure out the sweet spot. I know one of my 6 wt spey rods (6120 gass) I like a 390 skagit intermediate (rip) and a 360 grain rage

Edit : your casting style, speed, stroke, anchor, etc. will also be important in what line you enjoy casting. Everybody’s a wee bit different.

I spent whole day watching spey casting instruction videos and realized that my anchor point was not set consistently. Maybe I can improve the distance after practices again. Thanks for comment!

 

[honer]

As intermediate casters or for those that are just earning Skagit style casting these very short heads paired w/shorter Switch rods can be challenging to get the distance you may be trying to attain.
It's easy to blow or partially blow the anchor (reduced power transfer) and it's somewhat harder to control anchor placement consistency. You may want to try a little longer head say 18'> 21' head in the 400 grn. range.
The OPST Commando heads are great if you are casting in a really confined environment and because they are so short, they are generally recommended to be quite a bit lighter for any given grain window.
I'm not saying they cannot be cast great distances; I think it can be challenging for the new Skagit caster to learn to manage these very short heads for distance specific casting and learning to set up anchors and cast without blowing anchors.