# Switch Rods



## Indybio72 (Nov 6, 2013)

Considering getting a switch rod. What weight do you guys use? I've heard 7wt is common, but have also heard that a 7wt switch is more comparable to an 8wt single hander. Do you then go down to a 6wt switch?


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## stak45dx1 (Jun 21, 2011)

Depends on a lot of things, are you going to be swinging with it? How big are the waters you plan to fish? Do you want to throw big, nasty flies on heavy, t-14 tips? You can get away with a 6 wt a lot if times, but to turn over some of the big nastier stuff you at want to go with a 7 wt with a higher grain window so you can use a heavier line. Just my opinion.


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

For OH tribs, an 11-11'6" 7wt is the perfect switch rod. The action is up to you. I use a 11'6" 7wt Scott L2h with a 360grain Airflow skagit head. Its very, very rare that I use anything more than 10' of T-8 line because I use mostly non-weighted tube flies. There are times in winter that I'll use a T-11 on the Grand, but thats it. Lately, I have migrated to Airflow Rage and Scandi head and 14' poly leaders for swinging flies. I prefer the touch and go style of casting than creating a heavy anchor point.

If you plan on going out to NY to the Catt or Salmon, a 12'6" would even come in handy.


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## ReelPower (May 18, 2009)

mdogs444 said:


> For OH tribs, an 11-11'6" 7wt is the perfect switch rod. The action is up to you. I use a 11'6" 7wt Scott L2h with a 360grain Airflow skagit head. Its very, very rare that I use anything more than 10' of T-8 line because I use mostly non-weighted tube flies. There are times in winter that I'll use a T-11 on the Grand, but thats it. Lately, I have migrated to Airflow Rage and Scandi head and 14' poly leaders for swinging flies. I prefer the touch and go style of casting than creating a heavy anchor point.
> 
> If you plan on going out to NY to the Catt or Salmon, a 12'6" would even come in handy.


That is dead-on good advice. I enjoy a Loomis GLX 11'6" 7wt it is stupid light and fast. My friends fish Airflow heads and love them. I throw a clouser head but it is marginal for distance. Close in its great. There are decent mid-priced rods on the market to check out prices get pretty extreme for our toys.


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## ReelPower (May 18, 2009)

Of yeah, no one ever said "I wish this was a six weight" when connected to a 12lb trout running into cover.


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## Indybio72 (Nov 6, 2013)

Thanks for the replies guys. I should add that I'm looking at the tfo deer creek 7wt. Comes as a combo with rod, reel, and wulf ambush line, and poly leaders for about $490. I know it's not the best gear but I'm a grad student so money is very tight. I have a pin and single hand fly rods that I use for chrome, but have always been interested in swinging for them.


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## stak45dx1 (Jun 21, 2011)

The tfo is what I've got, i really like it and some guys that I fish with who spend big money on their gear have casted it and have said it's a great rod. I have a SA skagit extreme 475 (might be 480? Can't remember...) grain head on it and it loads it nicely on skagit casts. Both my 13' Spey and 11' switch are 7 wt, I've never regretted it.


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## Rasper (Sep 6, 2012)

I have an 11ft. 5wt with 375gr. Skagit and (thanks to mdogg for the advice on MOW tips) I use T-8 with all unweighted flies. And honestly I have not had trouble with OH steel with it. It feels like a single hand 7wt to me.


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## Rasper (Sep 6, 2012)

Ohhh and I bought the Wild Water 11ft. 5/6 WT for $150 bucks... I already owned the Echo Ion 6/7 reel..... as a whole I spent 90 on the reel 3 years ago 150 on the rod... got the Rio Skagit head for 30 bucks on ebay. And bought the whole T-8 MOW kit for 125. And had wulff ambush line and cut the head off and welded the loop so I didn't have to buy shooting line but I will next year probably. So if you are on a budget and just getting started... it may not be perfect but look what spey guys had to do 2 decades ago..... lol


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

Another route to go as opposed to a prefab setup, is to get components separately that may be more versatile and work out a little better.

You can go with a Beulah Classic Switch 6/7 or 7/8 in the 10'6" range on sale for about $275, or a Cabelas LSi 11'6" 7wt switch on sale for $149. Surprisingly, the Cabelas rod is very good, stout, and reliable.

A great reel for the price is the Sage 2280 at $149. Its great for a 7 or 8 wt switch rod, holds the skagit heads very well, and balances out an 11-12' rod.

In addition, you can purchase your backing (30lb to fill up the reel) for cheap, get 50M of OPST 35lb mono running line for about $39, and the appropriate Airflo Skagit Short shooting head. This chart right here will tell you what line to use for each individual rod. http://www.rajeffsports.com/spey_chart.pdf A 480 or 510 for the Cabelas rod, and a 450/510 for the Beulah rods.

After that, all you'll really need is a 10' of T8, 10' of T11, and a spool of 12lb maxima for tippet to switch large spey flies.

Feel free to PM if you have any questions about anything.


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

Rasper said:


> Ohhh and I bought the Wild Water 11ft. 5/6 WT for $150 bucks... I already owned the Echo Ion 6/7 reel..... as a whole I spent 90 on the reel 3 years ago 150 on the rod... got the Rio Skagit head for 30 bucks on ebay. And bought the whole T-8 MOW kit for 125. And had wulff ambush line and cut the head off and welded the loop so I didn't have to buy shooting line but I will next year probably. So if you are on a budget and just getting started... it may not be perfect but look what spey guys had to do 2 decades ago..... lol


Hey Rasper - how do you like that MOW kit? Pretty nice and versatile for Ohio waters, no?


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## fly_ohio (Oct 31, 2014)

I picked up a Deer Creek 6wt over the summer and love it. Paired it up with RIO Skagit Max 450gr. I went with the 6 so I could use it on some western trout streams as well as GL steel, great rod for the money. Casts t-8 and t-11 tips with ease.

Also if your looking to save some money on running line, 30 or 40lb berkley big game mono works great as a running line. In fact when using lighter heads, the pvc running line adds a significant amount of drag so switching to a low drag mono can make casting effortless.


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

There are alot of good guys on Speypages.com forums that can help out with rod/reel/line setups as well. They have a really good classified section that I have bought/sold from with no problems at all. It may be a good way to get a nice rod, use in really good condition, at a lower price. Just a thought.


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## phishyone1 (Jun 27, 2008)

What running line you guys like? Im thinking about Rio connect core .032............. Any body use or like


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

phishyone1 said:


> What running line you guys like? Im thinking about Rio connect core .032............. Any body use or like


I used to use Rio ConnectCore and Airflo, but have since switched to OPST Lazar Line in 35lb. The mono line casts further because it does not have a poly exterior. The OPST is also memory-free, which is a huge plus.

http://www.opskagit.com/lazar-line-running-line.html


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## Rasper (Sep 6, 2012)

mdogs444 said:


> Hey Rasper - how do you like that MOW kit? Pretty nice and versatile for Ohio waters, no?


It is amazing...have not had a compliant. And also I was extremely surprised how perfect they feel.


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## phishyone1 (Jun 27, 2008)

Mdogs444 how do you like the thickness when handling the running line? Im thinking about going 40lb for a little more thickness.........


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

phishyone1 said:


> Mdogs444 how do you like the thickness when handling the running line? Im thinking about going 40lb for a little more thickness.........


There is really isn't much difference between the 35 and 40lb. I useall the way up to 50lb on my 13'6" 7/8 Burkheimer w/ a Peerless 4A Spey reel for west coast/BC steel.

The 35 and 40 are both easy to handle. But as with any of them, thick gloves in winter makes stripping and skagit casting a pain.


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## lorainfly24 (Jun 21, 2014)

Chagrin river outfitters has a great price on the reddington duallys right now. I believe real close to $200. Im completely satisfied with it as a starter rod. and the customer service at redington was great. I broke the rod tip off it after thanksgiving picking ice off it(never do that again). But all I had to do was pay $30 send it to there warranty place and I got it back within 10 days with a brand new rod section no questions asked. This made me a lot more comfortable spending the money I did. 

As far as a reel. to save money I just used my ross cla 4 stripped it then put gel spun backing on and it gave me just enough room to fit all my running line and rio Skagit max head. Eventually Ill replace the reel but for now It works great. and saved me enough money to at least be able to start Skagit fishing.


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## lorainfly24 (Jun 21, 2014)

I don't want to steal this thread but since you guys are talking tips. what is the difference between the iMOWs and MOWs? besides the obvious that one is floating and one is intermediate. I was advised to fish the iMOWS from day one they work fine, but I've never used the floating ones and it seems like the more people I run into the more people I see using them. I just want to know if Im doing something wrong or is just personal preference?


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

The only difference between iMOW and MOW are that the green poly section is (i) intermediate sink instead of floating.

Essentially the entire iMOW section is sinking, but the poly section sinks slower than the tip section.

The entire principal of the MOW (and iMOW) tips versus standard T-8 (11, 14, etc) sink tips are that you can use a shorter section of sinking tip, while using the same length and same grain weight. 

If you have a 10' section of T-8, it weighs 80 grains (8 grains/ft). If you have a 5' section of T-8, then it is only 40 grains. However, if you use a MOW with 5' float/intermediate and 5' sink T-8, you have a full 10' tip that allows you to keep your anchor point consistent as well as being able to turn over the fly with ease because the entire MOW is 80 grains (the floating/intermediate section still weighs 8 grains/ft). Turning over a fly with a 40 grain tip is not as easy as turning over a fly with 80 grains.


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## lorainfly24 (Jun 21, 2014)

thanks mdogs. I mostly understand what you said. its just I guess I don't understand the need for a floating piece of line when theres a portion of sinktip welded to it. Is it done to match a floating head? Im just wondering under what situation and why would I use the floating mow tips instead of the intermediate mow tips?


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## mdogs444 (Aug 29, 2012)

That is pretty much the reasoning. If you're using a floating Scandi/Rage line, then you would want to use a floating section. If you're skagit casting, then an intermediate would make more sense.


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## lorainfly24 (Jun 21, 2014)

ok got it. makes a lot more sense now. thanks again


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## stak45dx1 (Jun 21, 2011)

Ultimately, with the MOW tips, or any tips, for that matter, it comes down to preferance and learning to control and work your line for a nice swing. I believe they'll all work when you work them. But, of course, things are easier when you have "the one" that was designed for what you want.


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