spey or switch for north coast

[norcal tom]

iam still kind of new to the steellhead game i have been swinging a single hand rod all winter and ready to make a step up. so the ?? is spey or switch i fish the south fork of the smith as my home water and plan on learning some of the other rivers in the future. i really looking for some thing to give me more line controll and slow my swing down a little. most cast are 45 to 60 feet so 13 foot rod almost sound like over kill. can i throw 12 13 feet of t-14 on a switch what you opions thanks tom davis

ps. please pray for rain

[sfspey]

If that is your average distance then a switch would be perfect for that no matter what line you choose to fish with. The new compact lines that are out now would be good a choice. At that distance you will be casting with very little effort. Sounds like a perfect situation. Have fun.

[Don Powell]

Spey or switch just depends on how wide the river is where you're fishing and how much backcast, or D-loop room you have in back of you...
On big wide, open gravel bars, like the lower river or at Jed Smith Park, a spey is a great choice...you have plenty of room to form a D-loop which reaches back 15-20' behind you and you can rocket out a cast which will cover a lot of water.
On steep, brushy banked water, like the S. Fork, your backcast or D-loop options are limited...so, I like a switch rod for those opportunities. You can cast a short 20-23' belly line with 10-15' T-14 or LC13 very easily with a compact stroke.
I love both techniques and have spey and switch rods in a 6 and 8 wt designation to fit whatever conditions prevail.
For your potentially big Chinook and steelhead up there, I think you should demo both an 8 wt switch and spey rod, you are going to eventually want one of each I am sure.
Single hand spey with your single hander can work for many situations but it is difficult to cast T-14 with that set-up. (T-10 or 11 works pretty well if it gets down where the fish are...)

PM me for more details if you wish...

Don

[norcal tom]

yeah thats my proplem is i want both iam looking at the 13'3 8 decho 10'10 switch 8wt from echo or the 118 tfo deer creek just cant make up my mind iam leaning towards the switch because i spend more time above the forks then below them but i wound not mind hooking some of those guide boats on the lower river what size rod do i need get a 17 foot willies to the bank haha thanks guys tom davisw what your guys opinion on the 8/9 beulah switch rods?????

[FLGator]

Take a look at the recent Mike McCune videos that were posted by RickJ. Mike is fishing some pretty light rigs and his home waters are the rivers of the N. coast.

[Grampa Spey]

iam still kind of new to the steellhead game i have been swinging a single hand rod all winter and ready to make a step up. so the ?? is spey or switch i fish the south fork of the smith as my home water and plan on learning some of the other rivers in the future. i really looking for some thing to give me more line controll and slow my swing down a little. most cast are 45 to 60 feet so 13 foot rod almost sound like over kill. can i throw 12 13 feet of t-14 on a switch what you opions thanks tom davis

ps. please pray for rain


Have Bill contact Gary Anderson to make you a combo Z7110/7136 rod. I have one, and in one rod case I have maybe the best switch rod available and a great Spey Rod capable of handling large fish, which you can get into where you live.

For those really big fish, buy a used Sage TCR 9129-4. This rod will thrown anchor chains and small critters with the Skagit 750. When the Skagits came out, Bob Pauli and I couldn't overload this rod with Big Boy Tips, Stripper sinking tips, T14 up to 15' and whatever we tested it. It is too much of a rod with our Salmon Closures in other parts of California and non Smith River Steelhead. For that reason I have a great one, I will be selling.