Switch Rod Rundown

Switch rods are all the rage this day. Some of it's for good reason. Some of its not. These rods can be a great tool to add to your arsenal, but may not be the do it all rod that they often are thought to be. Here is a rundown of what is a switch rod,some of the great uses for them,  as well as some of the downsides:

Simply speaking a switch rod is a rod that is designed to be used with either one hand or two hands. They bridge the gap between single hand fly rods and true spey rods. Switch rod usually range from 10' 6" to 11' 6" in length.

Switch rods  do not single hand cast as well as a 9 ft single hander nor do they spey cast like a 13' spey rod. But they are a great tool for versatility. Here are some of the many uses we find for using a switch rod.


Beach Fishing:
A Switch rod's additional length is great for keeping your backcast off the rocks. Another great reason to have one is for those times when you are fishing near high tide with restricted backcast space, a switch rod gives you a better ability to spey cast than you would have with a single hander keeping your fly in the water and not in the trees.

Nymphing:
The added length of a switch rod is a great asset in line control versus that of a single hand rod. Switch rods are now available in lighter line sizes making them a great rod for big water nymphing for trout, as well as for steelhead in the stouter line sizes.

Streamers:
A switch rod is a great way to wade fish streamers for trout, think of them here as a mini spey rod. You can spey cast streamers and catch all day and hone your game for steelhead at the same time!

Swinging flies for steelhead:
Switch rods are great for swinging flies in smaller water: Now that they come in such a variety of sizes, you can easily skate dry flies or fish heavy winter sinktips and big flies with a shorter rod than your traditional spey rod. I really like them on small confined waters where a big rod is up in the trees.


Other things to consider:

Two Hands or One?
Pretty much every switch rod Ive handled and cast I liked much better using two hands to cast it as opposed to one. Using one hand is usually very physically taxing except at very close range. So basically switch rods should be considered ultra short spey rods.

Lining a switch rod:
Simply put, the ideal line to spey cast on a given rod is much heavier than the ideal line to overhead cast the same rod. Something in the middle can do both decently but not optimally. Another blog post may dive into this further, but more importantly, this is why we are here at the shop to help you choose the correct line for what you want to do.

Learning to spey cast:
Often much easier with a full length spey rod than a single hand rod. So if spey casting is something you really are serious about, starting with a full spey then adding a switch rod is my recommended path.


A couple of my favorite switch/short spey rods:

Scott L2H 11' 5wt. 
A great little rod for trout nymphing/streamer fishing as well as our new favorite switch rod for the beaches of Puget Sound!

Winston BIImx 11' 6" 6/7 wt. 
My favorite all round short spey rod. This rod is as at home on a winter steelhead river as a summer river. My favorite lines are a 480 grain Airflo skagit switch or a 440 grain SA Scandi Extreme.