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Switch Rod on the beach.

3K views 22 replies 13 participants last post by  porterHause 
#1 ·
I've got an itch that needs scratching. I love the SRC fishery here in the Puget Sound, right up there with coho on the beach. This "itch" is using a 2-hander on the beach. So my question is, what line? I am not asking what grain, more what type.

SRC will hit your offering on your first strip 70' away to right at your feet. I need a line I can strip and not run a huge welded loop through my guides. Let's look at a Sage ONE 5116-4, would I look at a way over weighted Outbound? Is the welded loop connection all that big of a deal? I don't think a Skagit style head would work considering I would need to leave 20' plus 10' of leader in the water before my next cast...or do I?

I just don't know the line mechanics as it relates to my single hander. I fish Outbound now and retrieve till my welded loop is at the tip, I feel like I want to do the same on a two hander.

Thoughts, input?

Thanks!
Adrian
 
#7 ·
I don't think a Skagit style head would work considering I would need to leave 20' plus 10' of leader in the water before my next cast...or do I?

AND, can a spey cast still be achieved with relative ease?
The issue with executing any spey cast is that you need enough of line out to load your rod. If you're stripping all your line in you'll still need to get the head of your spey line out and your anchor placed so you can execute the cast. You can achieve a spey cast most anywhere, I imagine it's not popular on the beach because the disadvantages that spey casting overcomes (limited back cast space and quickly changing direction without a bunch of false casting) aren't really present on the beach.
 
#9 ·
Hi Adrian, like Steve mentioned I just went through this with a 6wt (TFO Deer Creek) for silvers this fall, I used a 8wt Ambush with a fast poly leader (when needed) and it worked great for saving my old shoulder. The things I didn't like was difficulty spey casting with such a short head, 20' I believe, of course some of that was my inexperience and you seldom need to spey cast anyway, but was fantastic with a overhead cast. The other thing was stripping in most of the head and leader each cast , because as we know thats sometimes when they hit, and having too wiggle out enough head to roll cast and shoot.

I personally think switches are overkill for cutts and rezzies, they will get the distance you sometimes need for rezzies but you're catching 4wt fish on very heavy lines and rods. If I was to use one for them it would be the lightest they make, which I think is a 4wt, that might be ok if the conditions dictate, but I'll stick with a 5wt single for them....

Hope this helps a little, good luck....
 
#10 ·
I'm two handed challenged so keep that in mind in regards to my reply.
I used a TFO Deer Creek 11' 5wt switch for a year off the beach. I used a Airflo 40+ 8wt line for overhead casting based on a recommendation from Mike Kinney who help design those rods.
I echo much of what Mark said. I found it a bit unyielding to fish and way overkill for the fish I caught. The thing that probably bothered me the most was the wiggle to get the head out, as I like to strip in all the way to the leader.
I've seen some folks fishing switches that stop stripping when the head hits the rod tip. That is lots of missed fishing oppotunity in that 25-40' of head and leader still out the rod tip. You'll miss a good amount of hook-up opportunities.
I was able to see how the switch is a great tool if you have shoulder problems. It saves lots of wear and tear on your body.
I scratched my itch as well and found myself going back to the single hander.
Hope this helps,
SF
 
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#13 ·
I use a switch rod for slivers last summer. All of my web work told me your head should be right at 3X the length of the rod and ruffly 2x the rod weight. So if you have a 11 foot 5wt rod a Rio outbound short 7wt line should work fine. If you want to use a 5 foot sinking tip a 7wt Ambush might be a better choice, or a Rio Switch Chucker. Or even a Airflo Skigithead. As far as Spey casting I would suggest you look into Skigit casting. Skigit casting can be done easier with a shorter head as well a shorter rod. Spend the money to buy a Airflo running line and buy the head you think you want and loop to loop them together. In the long run this will save you money on lines. I say this because your going to end up buying more then one head believe me I know.
 
#12 ·
Its hard to find a line that casts well over hand as well as spey. Spey lines are way too heavy overhand, so if you want to spey cast look for an integrated head. and if you want a good overhand line the dont go quite so heavy.
Also, all 4 or 5 weight switch rods are not even close to equal. A friend of mine has the 4wt sage one with a 9wt ambush line 350 grains, spey casts excellent. He was using it on the beach for salmon this year. Where as my echo sr 4wt felt better with the 6-7 wt ambush line and I wouldn't trust it for pinks, too mushy.
Good luck deciding, cast it before you buy it
Oh yeah dont do the wiggle, just perry poke once, then rip the line off the water and launch it
 
#15 ·
I like the combination of a 4wt Reddington Prospector switch rod and the Airflo Rage Compact Skagit for cutts and coho. I fish it with 10' polyleaders and 3' of tippet. I spey cast with it and find it to cast almost as far as I can single handed (I sold my Echo SR switch as it seemed to top out at a 65' cast). I have a surgically repaired neck and this allows me to fish when my neck and back are angry. A great benefit of a switch from the beach is that areas you can fish at high tide are not at all limited.

It was mentioned earlier that it's difficult to fish all the way in to your leader using a head. When I'm stripping line and get to a foot from the shooting head I simply pinch and hold the running line and continue stripping. Then when I'm done stripping I simply wiggle or dump the line out for a circle spey or perry poke cast. Very simple and if you're casting to moving fish it can be faster than hauling with a single hander.
 
#16 ·
I''ll chime in here since I enjoy using a switch on the beach. Some of the benefits I like are:
  • Versatility of overhead or spey casts. Most days I use overhead, but when the wind picks up and is running over you casting shoulder, it's super nice to dump some line in front of you and keep launching line. Whereas if I were using a singlehand I might call it a day. Also, when the tide is high and your fishing close to the trees, it really helps.
  • Ability to change sink rates on tips. Most of the time a floater or slow intermediate covers it. But every now and then, a heavier sink tip does the trick. With or without heavily weighted flies.
  • Can cast all day. Not having as many false casts means I can fish a lot longer than I normally would be able to. It's also fun to switch up casting styles just for shits and giggles too.
Some things I don't like are:
  • The clunkiness of a skagit head. I use a skagit short with a 14' poly leader for most of my situations. But stripping the head into the guides is less than desirable. I do see that RIO just came out with an integrated skagit short head, which I might just have to pony up to. I've just gotten used to this over the years, but it would be nice to not have it there on every cast. Stripping into your leader is a must for coho or SRC. I've tried the longer heads, but for me the short head with the longer tapered leader works. I'm hoping this integrated line solves my only negative about using switches from the beach.
I would agree with those that have said you don't want overkill. It's easy to outgun your targeted fish. I think having a sensitive rod helps too.
In any case, enjoy the journey. It's what makes this whole thing fun.
 
#21 ·
I have a salty 6 single hander that I thought would be my beach rod for evermore. Bought a 4WT switch after using my buddy's on some dirty worthless PS river with no fish. Lined it up with a 350GR Ambush and 10FT int poly. After a couple of sessions with it on the beach...I found that the perry poke is an amazing cast for the beach. Strip in to the poly...sweep across the body, roll out the head, dump...and launch effortless 100FT casts all day.

Only twice in 3 months of near everyday beach fishing did I ever feel that, during extremely vegetative circumstances, MAYBE the single hander would have been nice. Then again, there was really too much salad for a single hander as well. Under this circumstance, I could still overhead cast...the 350GR line was overkill, but still manageable. I started realizing that the flies I had tied were starting to stockpile. I started realizing that at the end of a day of beach casting, that my flies still looked brand new. I started to realize that, for me, this was a MUCH more efficient way to fish the beach.

I brought my single hander out once for shits and giggles, and felt severely handicapped. Not only was I working way harder, but my casts averaged a good 30FT less. Still good range, and still fishy, but I felt lost without my switch rod.

So...to your original question, Adrian, the Sage One 4116 is my go-to beach set up for salmon. The Wulff Ambush 350GR is the only line I would use in the salt (for spey casting). It casts just like a Skagit (20FT head), but with integrated running line...so you avoid those connections picking up salad or sticking in your guides. I tried 5, 10 and 14FT poly leaders, and settled on the 10FT. If you're sustained anchor casting, and it sounds like you are, this is the route I would go. It allows you to strip all the way in to the leader.

For overhead, a 7WT Rio Outbound works well, but I find sustained anchor casting to be much more enjoyable.

I do, however, much prefer beach casting to SRC with a single hander, as I find myself casting to specific targets more often than blind casting. For this, nothing beats a single hander.
 
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