Done to death switch question, but come on help a newbie :)

[SalaR]

The wonderful thing about Switch rods is their pleasure to use and their workability...however that is limited of course...a #5 Switch rod is not designed for large fish,rather for good size trout and fish in the 5 lb range...of course you can catch larger fish but there is always a greater risk of breakage. Luckily there are now on the market a few lines that have copied and adjusted their tapers to be similar to the Beulah lines,that includes Rio,SA and even AirFlo...that is a good thing for we fly fishers ...but don't expect these great lines to toss anything...my earlier suggestions and using heads such as the Tonic are bang on...and Tieflier is absolutely on the mark...Intruders are large and then they are LARGE!
C

I already have a line in mind will try the Beulah. Apparently it won't happen with a 5 weight. Which I find strange because alot of people, guides included use the same rod, and it works for them. And a friend that works at a fly shop in Van uses a 5 weight Amundsen switch, works for him.

[sagephreak]

I was more in line with nothing over 3 inch and little weight if any, but still use sink tips to get down, going to try the tonic have heard good things wanna see if it suits my rod better than the airflo

[btree]

I'm sure that there is a ratio for grains (head) vs. grains (tip) that will give you an idea for what sort of line you need to turn over your sink tips.

I find that my trout weight lines (#5-6) have a hard time turning over my heaviest 10' trout poly tips which I think are ~100 grains for the 6-7ips, perhaps 80 for the 4-5 ips. My 8 and 9 wt dry lines work very nicely for these tips though. So that's about 300-340 grains (head) for a ~100 grain tip with up to a #4 weighted fly, but best with unweighted flies or up to #6 with a bead head. I'm sure if you were to try a skagit or similar shorter belly line rather than a standard taper dry line that you'd see and improvement in performance, but I'm not the biggest fan of the skagit for trout - too much of a splash landing for my taste.

For my spey lines, I find that my ~500 grain 50ft spey line handles all my heavy salmon poly tips well if I get my technique right. So that's 500 grain (head) for a ~150-200 grain tip. I used to have a 550 grain skagit that would toss a 200 grain tip easily, with up to a #1/0 weighted fly.

So with those ratios in mind:

300 grain, 42ft head for a 100 grain 10 ft tip = 3:1 head to tip grain ratio; 4:1 head to tip length ratio.

OR

500 grain, 50 ft head for a 150 grain 12 ft tip = 3.3:1 head to tip grain ratio; 4.2:1 head to tip length ratio.

SO in general, you should look for about a 3:1 grain ratio and about a 4:1 length ratio, but if you go higher on the grains end for your head and lower on the length end for your head, you might find that casting becomes much easier depending on your style and demands. They invented the skagit line for a reason probably getting nearer to a 2:1 length ratio and a 5:1 weight ratio if you follow the math.

This is very general and doesn't take into account the head taper, the size/weight of fly and one's casting style, let alone rod length/performance. But I hope it helps give you an idea.

[sagephreak]

I don't plan on using it for anything over 5 pounds I got it for rainbows, dollies, bulls, and cutties. Will be fishing the Tompson in the summer, the Squamish and upper Pitt spring and fall and the Harrison spring and fall. I have a 7 weight and a 8weight spey for the larger stuff. I only want a skagit style line for swinging flies for dollies ,bulls and cutties. the Rio switch I have is good for dry fly and nymphing. I am not a big fan of heavily weighted flies I prefer to use tips but thats me. btree I like the way you laid out the thread above its plain and to the point thanks for that. Well guys have a good and safe long weekend I'm going to the upper Pitt sunday.

[btree]

I'll be interested to hear how your casting goes. I have a 12'6" 7/8wt spey, and then an 8wt single hander for that sort of work, as well as a 10' 5/6 single hander, but have been musing about entering the world of switch rods to fill the void of a 7/8 wt single hander but in the form of a 5/6 or 6/7 switch. Sounds like it takes a while to get things dialed in depending on what you want out of a line. I'll probably start with a 9wt single handed line and then graduate to an elixer or AFS type line...probably an elixer though.

[sagephreak]

Well the Beulah Tonic is a nice line, a little longer head, less in the grain weight, cast as good as the airflo maybe a little better on the rod I was using. Hmmm I guess I will be flipping a coin on which to buy.

[sagephreak]

Got the Airflo skagit switch head 18ft 390 grains with 115 ft of slick shooter running line.Casts nice, running line is slicker than snot on a door knob though

[BH_flyfisher]

Just casting the 5/6 trout switch we bought from courteney is a dream. It was hard to cast the switch line we bought on a lake, so we used an 8 weight sharkskin line. That would be my dream setup. Casting that line with the rod is effortless and casts nicer then any rod i've ever had paired up with a different line!

Definitely going to be putting some hurt on the pinks this year with that rod.