Switch Rod

[albatross]

I'm looking for a rod that I can cast with either one or two hands. I'll use it for salmon and steelhead on the great lakes tribs, chucking streamers on big water like the Yough, and probably on an Alaska trip. I want good quality equipment without breaking the bank. So, high sticking, roll casting, and some fancies spey casting, however it doesn't need to cast a mile.

After a little research I'm leaning towards an Echo SR rod and a RIO switch chucker floating line paired with poly-leader sinking heads when needed. I have a reel that I believe will accommodate this rod and line, an Allen Alpha for 7-9 weight lines.

Let me know of other reasonable options in mid-range setup, or if you have something to sell that may suit my needs.

Hoping to have this for my birthday in late Feb.

 

[PennKev]

The topic of switch rods has been covered thoroughly and a search of past posts will provide you with a ton of info and every possible opinion on the subject.

To keep things short I'll focus on the following:

So, high sticking, roll casting, and some fancies spey casting, however it doesn't need to cast a mile.

This right here tells me you probably won't get much out of a switch rod. If spey/two-handed casting is low on your list of priorities and "you don't need to cast a mile," then you would be better served by a 10' rod designed for single hand use. Some of the newer light line weight switch rods might come close to doing it all, but they probably aren't rods you'd want to fish steelhead and salmon with in Alaska IMO.

With that said, a two handed rig is a good way to fish larger water for steelhead or salmon. I would recommend focusing on a rig for fishing flies on the swing with two handed casting, if it can do other things too, so much the better.

 

[CLSports]

I have been down this same road about 4 years ago. Here is my lessons learned:

Any rod is fine.

Do a LOT of research on shooting heads & running lines before you decide on one. This is the most important part IMO.

Any quality reel is fine although get a 10-11 wt. reel to hold the line for a 7wt switch rod. The shooting heads can be bulky.

 

[albatross]

Thanks guys!

 

[StudentofTheStream]

Hey Alby, I agree with PennKev on this one. I owned an Echo SR for a couple years. I never really got into using it as I thought I would for a few reasons. It wasn't a good 'do everything' rod (scandi, 2 hand overhead, high sticking) which I expected but to be fair I also didn't pair it well with a good line that worked for my casting style.

I've been debating on picking another switch rod up, but sole purpose is to swing flies at distance on some of the larger rivers in Ohio for steel this spring.

Depends on where you'll be going in Alaska, but the 2 times I've been there, only once did I wish I had a rod that I could bang out 100' plus casts with ease, which was the Kenai. Second time around we fixed that by renting drift boats. Problem solved.

Interested to see if you get one how it works out for you. Good luck.

 

[albatross]

Student,

Which model SR did you get?

I have the 10ft 10in model in 7 weight coming for my birthday in week or so. I hope this rod is short enough to really be a switch that can be fished either one or two handed. If it does end up a niche rod, that's OK. So long as I use it once or twice a year.