What in the heck is a Switch Rod?

2009 will not be remembered as the year lots of new and exciting ideas hit the fly fishing market. When Mark and I attended the Fly Fishing Retailer show in Denver last fall, we found very few new and original products. You know, those "life altering" items like the buff, thingamabobber, gore-tex waders, zingers, graphite rods, and if you go way back, floating lines. Rod manufacturers didn't offer many new models or improvements either, but nearly every one of them had a new line of switch rods. For 2009, Headhunters will be carrying models by both G Loomis (by far the best and most expensive) and Echo (great price). Here's a little bit about them.

What is a switch rod? Well, it's kind of a cross between a modern two-handed (or spey) rod, and a traditional single handed fly rod. They are short enough to cast as a single handed rod (though they are a bit clumsy), and they have just enough length to execute several different spey casts. Nearly every model we saw was 11 feet, or within a couple inches of it. They have a handle similar to a two-handed rod, but in a smaller and shorter size. These are not lightweight two handed rods, which generally run around 12'6", and often have a traditional "spey" action which is too slow for accurate or powerful single-handed casting.

History

Switch rods really aren't new. I bought my first one in '98 or '99 (I can't remember). It was a new model from Scott, 11'3" 6 weight. The term "switch" didn't even exist. The guys from Scott described it as "a long single handed rod that we put this funny handle on so you can do some spey casting with it but we really like it for nymph fishing especially in pocket water but maybe not from a boat because it's so long it's hard to land a fish and it's a great streamer rod as well, especially if you're wade fishing and you might want to try it for light summer Steelhead on the Ronde and Fletcher White thinks it would make a great Bonefish rod too". In other words, they didn't really know what they had. Spey casting was getting popular,but nothing like in the last five years, so that element wasn't going to sell that many rods. Kudos to Scott, however, for being ten years ahead of the curve.

So why are they becoming popular now if they have been around for so long? Because while Scott (and a few others) had come up with a ground breaking idea, the line companies didn't have a line that worked very well on it. At the time, spey lines only went down to a 7/8/9 range, and really had too long of a belly for a 6 weight trout rod. This was back when Steelheaders were still doing proper spey casts with long belly fly lines (maybe I'll share that opinion at another time). Very few anglers were using anything short enough to use on an 11 foot rod. I tried a bunch of lines, and finally settled on a Rio Windcutter #7 line. It worked OK overhead casting, but I really couldn't do a very good spey cast with it. After a year, I decided the rod was just a novelty, and it spent most of it's life with me in the closet.

Fortunately, there were a small group of guys on the Skagit River that were hacking up lines and splicing them together to build custom spey lines for their Two handers. At the smae time, European anglers were developing their own shooting head systems. These eventually became known as "Skagit" and "Scandinavian" lines. Skagit (and Scandi) lines have a much shorter, heavier head than traditional spey lines. They are made for shooting line and turning over large, bulky flies. These lines are often used with a sink tip on the front. Because they have a shorter head, they work much better when spey casting with your switch rod. Last year, several line companies came out with "compact" Skagit and Scandinavian heads, which are even shorter. These are ideal lines for switch rods, and allow you to perform nearly any spey cast with your switch rod. They aren't perfect for single handed casting, but they finally give you a line that you can use for both situations.

Advantages and Disadvantages

Switch rods give you several advantages over traditional-single handers. They allow you to easily cast and mend tremendous amounts of line. You can also set the hook with as much as 50 (or more) feet of line out while nymphing. Once you learn a few spey casts, you will find that you have a whole new repertoire of casts that you can use when the wind is coming from the wrong direction or you have trees and shrubs immediately behind you (you can, by the way, make all of these casts with your 9 footer as well). High stick or Czech nymphing techniques are a breeze with these long rods. And anglers that like to swing soft hackles or streamers will find that they can cover a lot more water with a switch rod. Steelhead and Atlantic Salmon anglers get to practice their spey casting during the "other" season as well.

Sounds great, doesn't it? Why wouldn't I get one? Well, switch rods do have three big drawbacks. For the most part they are horrible dry fly rods, especially for spring creek like conditions like we have on the Missouri. The lines designed for switch rods do not present the fly delicately, and are generally very heavy. A 5 weight "switch" line is actually much heavier than a normal 5 weight line. Now, you can use a traditional DT or WF line on your switch rod, but then you'll find spey casting difficult (or impossible, depending on the rod/line).

Secondly, switch rods are not very accurate due to their length. Trying to make an accurate cast to a rising fish with an 11 foot rod that feels like an 8 weight may frustrate many anglers. This will depend on your situation. A switch rod may help if you are wading the Madison and searching with a Salmonfly pattern in high water. But when stalking a big trout sipping trico spinner in 6 inches of barely moving water (think Missouri), there are definitely better tools. Remember that Lee Wulff believed that no rod needed to be longer that 7 feet. Lee caught more fish than any of us, and did it with equipment that was way inferior to what's available today.

The third disadvantage comes when setting the hook. For tall, strong anglers who put lots of 'umph' into their hook set, a switch rod will be fine. But smaller framed or weaker anglers may find moving an 11 foot rod a chore. While nymphing, you can set the hook hundreds of times during the course of a day. An 11 foot rod will wear you out much quicker. Because they move slower than a shorter, lighter rod, you might find that you miss a few more fish, especially when tired. I've had switch rods in my boat and have seen it both ways. You need to try it out and find out if it's the right tool for you.

Should you get one? ( Absolutely, I love to hear the cash register sing!_ You'll have to determine that based on your skills, situations and techniques. If you're a Steelhead angler who likes to spey cast and swing flies for trout, or a deep nympher who like to high stick or needs a rod for big water, then yes. If you are going to spend the rest of your life casting at noses 30 feet away in a foot of water, then no. Decide what you like to do, and whether or not a switch rod is the right tool for you. We will have some around the shop this summer for those who would like to try before they buy.