Line Selection for Switch Rods

[big south]

Every answer seems to create more questions. As some of you know I am rigging a 5wt switch rod and I am leaning toward a steelhead line for this rod. My thinking is that it will serve well as a nymphing line, roll cast well and spey cast acceptably. The SA sharkskin is the frontrunner so far. I am however trying to determine if the Rio Gold or Rio Nymph line would be a better choice. Mendability and line pickup on spey cast technique are my primary concerns. Any thoughts anyone?

[outdoorsman816]

I use the Rio Steelhead line on my switch, and it spey casts much better than a standard WF line. It's definitely not a real spey line, but it is considerably better than the Rio Grand that I also tried. Best of luck with the setup!

[big south]

Just to stir it up more I contacted Sage and they recommend Rio Outbound or Skagit. Anyone have any experience with these? The Skagit taper looks pretty clunky to me.

[outdoorsman816]

For just swinging streamers, I have a separate spool with the Rio Skagit short. When it comes to swinging the big and heavy stuff, I don't think you can beat a good Skagit head. You CAN nymph with it, but it's a little tough to mend the short heavy head and thin running line at any distance. That's where the Steelhead line comes into play. The Steelhead line is a great nymphing line on the switch, but like I said, its definitely not a line to swing big streamers and/or heavy sink tips with. It spey casts OK, but you can two-handed roll cast a freaking mile with the big rod and the long taper of that line, and long range mending is MUCH easier and more effective than it would be with the Skagit. The steelhead line is definitely my first choice for a nymphing set up on a switch.

[FK]

Big South,

I have the Sage 5110-4 Z-Axis, if this is your rod in question, here are my favorite lines for double handed casting.

Rio Skagit Short 325 gr (20ft head) with 7.5ft to 10ft sinking leader (polyleader or versileader) and 2ft of tippet.
Note: Skagit lines are designed for casting heavy flies on sinking leaders, not for longer distance.

Airflo Scandi Compact 330 grain with 12-15ft leader, excellent longer distance line.

Rio Steelhead/Atlantic Salmon WF7F, this line is a compromise for spey casting.

Rio Nymph line in WF6F or WF7F, this is for short line (high stick) nymphing where you are not casting a very long length of line.

This little 11ft 5wt Z-Axis is a great rod design, it will cast 80-90ft with ease.

Regards,
FK

[big south]

Thanks all for the input. I really do appreciate it. I have a couple of friends with some of these lines reeled up on other 5wts and will do some casting on grass before I pull the trigger. I am leaning toward the longer belly lines, ie steelhead lines, rio gold, windcutter etc. so I will let you know what I think after I fish it a bit.
I think this thread will be usefull for others as well, as I believe these rods will only gain in popularity.

[outdoorsman816]

UPDATE: This morning while browsing my favorite Spey forum, I came across a new line. (I haven't been looking since I THOUGHT I had what I needed.) It's called the Airflo Speydicator. It's specifically designed to spey cast big indi rigs, but has a special rear taper and handling line to allow you to mend the line at a long distance and do so very well. Everything I've read in the last hour or so of research has led me to believe that this is THE line for indi fishing with a switch or spey rod. Supposedly it spey casts VERY well, allows for great long distance mending and can be used to swing streamers with lighter polyleaders. It sounds like the perfect switch rod line and is the answer for us GL steelheaders that swing AND nymph! I'm sooo pumped to try this new line!!! While it won't replace the Skagit when it comes to swinging heavy stuff, I definitely think that it will take the place of the steelhead line for nymphing!

It only comes in 6-9 wt right now, but it MAY be coming out in lighter line sizes depending on demand. The 6 may be a little heavy on the 5 wt, but I think that with some adjustments in your casting and stripping in different amounts to change the head length, you will find that the line control more than makes up for any sacrifices made in performance by overlining the rod.

I can't seem to find it on the Airflo site, so here it is from a different site.

http://www.flyfishusa.com/lines/airf...ator_Spey_Line

I believe that the listed grain weights for the lines are incorrect on the above site due to a number of changes made to the line after the Airflo catalog was released. To the best of my knowledge, the correct weights are:

6wt ~480 grains @ 33'6''
7wt ~540 grains @ 35'
8wt ~600 grains @ 36'
9wt ~660 grains @ 37'6''

These measurements include the front taper, the belly, and 1.5' of the rear taper. This length (and therefore weight) can be varied based on your setup and fishing situation by simply stripping in line to change the head length.

Best of luck with the setup and line search!!!

[big south]

Just to let you all know, I did wind up going with the RIO 5/6 Windcutter Spey for this rod. I also wanted to warn people, most of us know but may not think of it, that any of these big belly lines will take up reel space. So much so that I had to step up to a Lamson Litespeed 3.5X for a 5wt spey line. Even with gel-spun I was only able to get 60 yards of backing on a Litespeed 2 with this line. The 3.5X accomodated 225 yards of dacron and the 5/6 Windcutter Spey just fine.

[outdoorsman816]

The Windcutter is a nice line! Best of luck with it!

Also, you'll find that the larger reel is not only needed to fit the line, but it will also help balance the longer rod much better than a smaller reel would.

[big south]

Also I wanted to let you all know that the reason I went with the RIO Spey line was that I decided along the way that I wanted to take Spey casting seriously. Everyones input was appreciated and I think these rods have numerous applications that can be greatly specialized. In the end I have always found Spey casting to be beautiful and intriguing and that I should immerse myself in it. The Switch rod, while not a true spey, gives me that ability in a rod that is also practical. In the future I do of course have the option of purchasing another spool for other specialized purposes.