Spey Rod vs Switch Rod
Hello all:
I have been giving serious thought to buying an Echo DH Spey #8. I have a Dec Hogan designed Fly Logic Spey (#9) and like the rod very much though it is a bit on the heavy side. I also have a #6 Echo Switch Rod which I got last year. The tip on this rod broke a few weeks after I got it and by the time it was returned from Echo it was time to put the rod away for the year. I used it again just the past few days and enjoyed it so much and found it so light and versatile I couldn't help but wonder if a #8 switch would be a better choice. Fishing would primarily be local waters like the Vedder, Squamish, Fraser etc.
Does anyone have any thoughts on switch rods versus longer spey rods? Can switch rods handle heavier tips (i.e. T-14)? Am I giving up anything significant in terms of line handling or distance?
All good questions Ralph, that I can't answer but I thought I would add one more question to yours. If somebody can answer the questions could they also comment on what makes a switch rod different from a spey rod? I understand that a switch rod is lighter and can be casted onehanded as well as twohanded. So when does a spey rod become light enough to be called a switch rod?
Hope you don't mind me adding to your questions Ralph.
I'm no expert but I do know a fair bit about switch rods. I personally own an 8wt z-axis switch and an older 10'6" single hander that in modified to fit the switch category. I quite like these rods for what i use them for, but I have yet to start throwing true spey lines with them so keep that in mind when reading this.
What is a switch rod?
To answer this question I'll tell you where I was told they originated. In washington steelheaders using single handed rods were expertmenting with using rods longer than 9 feet. They chose to do this for mending and roll casting purposes. When the rods they were using approached the ten and a half and eleven foot lengths they became a bit of a chore to cast all day. Since steelheading requires either a swing or a nymph type presentation there is a need to change the direction of the fly line before each new cast. The ground breaking idea was to add a lower handle to the ten and a half and eleven foot rods so the use of spey casts could easily be used to change the line direction before recasting. The motion is pretty simple, a snake roll or snap T or C cast is done to change line direction and a single hand cast is used to punch the line back out into the run. This meant that re-casting only took two or three motions instead of 5-7 just using single handed casting. Since this advent these rods have been used in a myriad of other applications with single hand and spey lines, which cloud their original purpose. So to answer the question of what a 'true' switch rod is; A rod that can facilitate short spey casts and overhead casts.
The thing that will really get you scratching your head is that not all switch rods are good for launching spey lines and have been tailored more to single hand approaches and the same is true vice versa. The way to attempt the tell them apart is by finding out where the rods load. Single handed rods usually load with the tip section of the rod (the first 4-5 feet of a 9 footer), but two handed rods load much deeper to ease casting. When looking at switch rods its important to see where the rod loads, as a stiffer rods that acts more like a single hander will be a little more difficult to cast. I would advise (as with any rod purcahse) to try out the rod before sinking a load of money into something you may not like.
As I said before I am a bit of a novice when it comes to spey casting but I think I can say a few things about casting head sink tips with switch rods. I have been told by a very good spey caster that my 8 weight switch can throw 10ft of T-17 with a fair degree of difficulty. I have read that 13 feet of T-14 can be used as well but longer than that magic number and you will have problems turning over. This weekend I tried out a 9/10 beulah 11' switch with a 30' skagit line (the rod owner was using the rod for the first time and didn't know what the grain weight of the line was). There was about 10' of what looked like T-14 on the front of the line. I could get the tip to roll out pretty easily but I found the 30' of line was a little long to have out while making casts and was tricky to control while setting up my D loop. I think a longer rod would have made the line easier to throw around and control. I also found that the rod didn't load as nicely as my switch did and my rod is very underlined. This could all be my casting stroke but that was my impression. That being said I was able to cast about 60' max and 50' feet without too much trouble.
On my z-axis switch I have a 9 wt rio versi tip single hand line. I am able to do short spey casts with this line pretty easily with a max casting range of 45 to 50 feet. The rod loads quite well considering how how underlined the rod is. I am going to try out a skagit short spey line on my rod in the near future. These lines have a 20 to 28 foot head and were designed with shorter rods in mind. I personally love my switch and am looking forward to start spey casting with it.
I hope I was able to answer a few of your questions. If somebody has found something different from what I have said above let me know as I am interested to see what others think as well.
Tieflyer, Thanks so much for that detailed explanation that pretty well answers the question for me at least. So what I gathered from that is except for spey rods being bigger rods in general, a spey rod won't be a one-hander and wasn't meant for that use. A switch rod can be used either one-handed or two-handed. I think that's what we should conclude from that? Also, interesting to hear where switch rods originated.
For anyone interested in bamboo, I'll pursue this a little further with Bob Milward and see what he advises for lengths and tapers for switch rods. Or, light salmon two-handers, which I contemplate building this fall or winter.
Thanks Tieflier for the info.
The Aug-Oct issues of The Canadian Fly Fisher features an article on Switch Rods by Paul Marriner. Marriner interviewed Bob Meiser who is usually credited for developing the 'modern' switch rod concept. Bobs' account of the name is that he was working with various rod blanks in the 10 to 11 foot range and he and some friends were swapping or switching the rods about on a days fishing and one fellow quipped the new rods should be called "Switch Rods" since he was not allowed to hang to a particular one. Meiser also was more interested in the longer rods ability to pick up a length of line from the water and deliver a relatively long cast without false casting. I don't think he specifically mentioned spey casts but switches seem to be associated with those casts more than overhead casts.
Glad to hear I could help yo guys out. I'll have to give that issue of Canadian Fly Fisher a good read, sounds like an interesting article. Thanks for the info RalphH.
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