Fly Fishing: Introduction to SWITCH rods
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- Опубликовано: 22 ноя 2020
- This video serves two purposes -
The first to showcase two new fly patterns, the Pheasant Rump Swing, and the Bucktial Swing. If you are interested in tying along or learning those patterns you can find links to the tutorials below.
Pheasant Rump Swing: • Fly Tying: Pheasant Ru...
Bucktail Swing: • Fly Tying: Bucktail "S...
Secondly, the video ends with my impressions on fishing a Switch Rod - which is a hybrid between strictly overhead rods and two hand rods. These rods are becoming my personal favorite tool for Wade fishing and I hope you stick to the end of the video and see for yourself as to why I enjoy them so much.
Gear Used
Rod: St Croix Rods Imperial Switch 11ft 6wt stcroixrods.link/GunnarImperi...
Running Line: 25lb Rio Slick Shooter
Head: Rio's Skagit Max Short 400gr.
Tips: LIGHT Mow Tips - 5ft float/5ft T8, and 10ft T8
Leader: Saltwater Tippet 16lb, 10lb
You can find all the gear on my Amazon Shop page: www.amazon.com/shop/gunnarbra...
as an amazon associate I earn from qualifying purchases
Gunnar 's the real thing!!! and his fly recipes!!! which I'm a follower and he has NEVER LET ME DOWN... and I love Duluth!! I used to go up to Two Harbor's often thru the years....
Awesome,mate.I will get a switch rod after your video.Your are a very interesting person
Your the only dude that makes sense to me young feller, I like your fly's.
Well Gunnar ya done it again. You made me smarter, or at least better educated. My wife says I have too many fly rods now. Is that even a possible thing? Anyway keep the good stuff coming.
Dude, you are a whole new ball game! Keep up the schooling and let the good times roll.
I got my first fish on a switch rod a couple weeks ago, it was a nice hen steelhead. I absolutely love the casting and fishing style of the two handed rods. I will definitely be fishing with a switch rod more in the future!
Gunner it gets me pissed that you don't havre more subscribers because your Tye's are great because your flys work!!! and your knowledge is that of a guide and very wise your knowledge works...
You are an amazing caster! Your haul is awesome!
Great fly and tips. Always wanted to swing flies for smallies. Thanks Gunner
This was fantastic. Makes complete sense. I've had the same thoughts for my own waters. Even fishing the surf the few times a year I do. Look forward to more on this. Good job man.
Great break down on the switch rod and your flies are killer
Great episode, Gunnar! Keep selling my hometown rods--best on earth!
There is no denying Kelly's methods. But thanks for pointing out he is fishing a specific style that he has developed and honed over the years. There is plenty room for two-hand spey rods and swing fishing on the Madison and every good sized trout river in the West for the wading angler.
Nice to see you getting into the double handers. They are a great way to cover water looking for aggressive fish. Looking forward to the fly patterns you think up for swinging.
Glad to see more people SWITCHING over.
Great smalljaw! Phenomenal fishing part
I just started two handed swinging. Great video and explanation and defense of the time spent on the water. Thanks for posting your content.
After a few accidents ( neck bolted and sutch) and the luck of getting older I have now got a #3+#5 and a #8 switch rods and that helps me to fish on a lot longer than with my single hand rods.
I agree on everything you say, I really admire streamer fishing switch rods. My current favorite is an 11’1 with 300gr. The only bummer is that waterborne anchors (especially sustained anchors) do not work very well with big bulky flies like pike flies. A streamer that can be casted easily with 300gr overhead cannot be casted nicely with a sinking tip using snap-T type casts.
I've never cast a switch rod, but I have found myself swinging flies slower and deeper on a sink tip or a polyleader. It's amazing how "different" the fishing can become with a change in technique.
I bought a 6 wt, 11 foot switch rod for lake fishing. I wanted to fish the deep weed edge (12-15 feet) and cast larger flies a longer distance (figured that a longer rod would help with all that) and it has worked out pretty well. I found that my switch rod (Redington Chromer) loads differently than a typical overhand rod and took a bit to get used to. If I had to describe it I would compare the action to a fiberglass blank - slower and loads over its whole length. Being a switch rod, I had to try spey casting on the local river - found that swinging flies for bass to be a lot of fun and very effective.
Same here! I have a Guideline LPXe 11' #6/7, and it acts pretty much the same: very deep flex and what I would call medium to medium slow action. I am still in the process of figuring out how to spey cast the thing, overhand is no problem.
I'm not a good caster by any means, but I can single hand spey cast if the rod allows for it (deep flex and FAST recovery rate) and my full size spey rod would be hard for anyone not to cast fairly well, but I seem to struggle with the switch rod.
@@WeldingForJesus I live in a warm-water fishery area so there are very very few fly fishermen and even less spey casters. So I have to learn from watching videos - my casting is no hell, its improving and is good enough to catch fish :) After a morning's fishing I set aside an hour to practice spey casting (without a hook LOL! ) I'll get there eventually. Cheers!
Went to two handed 6wt 11’6” switch four years ago for salmon and steelhead in Alaska wow . Use Skagit line with versa tips because I like throwing large flies and I have found this to work best for me . Living in Montana gives me lots of options as far as rivers go and now when I fish the Missouri, Madison, Jefferson and a bunch more I will always bring the switch , some holes are just perfect for swinging flies . The thing I really like also is you can use the switch either single handed or two handed from a drift boat . Needles to say when the big lake browns are running up the Madison in the park you will see a lot of two hangers being used . Good video :-)
Gunnar, please check out OPST, they have a micro-skagit setup that you can use on any single handed fly rods. I hope this can be a solution for you if you want to do some micro-skagit fly fishing on your single handed fly rods.
Pureskagit.com
They have a mono running line they call it a lazer line, and they use what is called a Commando Head. They have a chart that shows what micro-skagit head would go with your single hand rods. They also have a Smooth Skagit line setup where the running line and head is all combined into one. I own a 175 grain smooth for the 3WT micro-skagit 9’9” rod I bought from them, a 225 grain smooth for my single hand 5WT 10’, a 300 grain smooth for my single hand 8WT 10’. They are awesome. Everything you described on this video is exactly what I am experiencing. I can’t wait to start fly fishing again when it warms up here in Illinois.
I really enjoy your videos! Thank you for taking the time to make these videos. God Bless!
Mini review on the St Croix 6wt switch - for the price it’s a pretty good rod ($350 at Bass Pro). I will never pay a grand for another rod (have a Sage 2wt trout Spey) when there are so many great mid priced rods (my go to rod is a Jerry French Renegade 6wt). I was looking for another Renegade or OPST so I thought I would give the St Croix Switch a try. (Used with a 275g OPST Skagit line, 7.5’ tip and skagit casts (pokes, double Spey). The good - I love the finish on the rod (a deep red), it has good action. This thing is a bomber! I can blast out a Chosen One a long way. The OK - it does feel a little bit heavy in the stroke, it feels like you are casting like a 7 wt. It’s not a bad thing, just a little more power needed. But with that little extra effort you get a cannon, a Chosen One just flies a good distance. The ehh - The reel seat is some kind of plastic. But again, it’s a $350 rod so what do you expect. Overall it’s a solid rod that didn’t break the bank and I will enjoy fishing it 👍. Now it has me thinking about getting the 5wt version 🤔
Great Intro to swinging! I hope there’s a tutorial for the 3D Swing Fly in the works...could see that being modified for steelhead!
Love It !!!
Yeah - youre good - and you know your stuff. Impressed (and subscribed)
Gunnar….great to see you getting into the 2-handed world! Excited to see what you come up with.
Been tying trout spey mini-intruders.
What I was thinking….could Gunnar (with his imagination and pike fly tying skills) come up with a Pike-truder!
Same shank and stinger construction but scaled-up for Esox action!
Hope you will consider.
PS: thanks for the Ahrex weedless hook work…they are fantastic!!! Well played. Have a great 2022 on the water!
Snap -T
Great intro, with the obvious still green Spey casting skills, hey no body it’s perfect, overall you did good , Switch rods are great tools, I personally use it in the open NE surf with excellent results as you can see in my channel, but I suggest you to get a conversion kit to a Switch with any of your “ old “ single hand fly rods and dressed with a Skagit short head, give it a few fishing trips and tell us about it please. I’m sure you’ll be glad you try.
Best
Mag
Gunnar, I see you have truly come over to the dark side! Luckily I learned about skagit and switch rods early on and will not do anything else (I would rather not fish if I had to nymph fish like everyone else here in Colorado). A couple suggestions for you: first is look up Dave Pinczkowski (facebook) in Milwaukee. This guy is a switch rod casting guru. I had a guided trip with him last Christmas. I learned so much from him that day. Can’t believe how effortless he makes all kinds of casts (check out opskagit on instagram Oct 28 for him doing an incredible cast with a big musky fly). Second is OPST skagit lines. They are shorter than your normal skagit (only around 20ft). Makes it easier it tighter spots.
And thanks for the video! I was actually looking for another 6wt switch rod. I’m gonna give the St Croix a shot and just placed an order for one!
Dave Pinszkowski fishes with Ed Ward who is the founder of OPST. A lot of great youtube videos of those two fishing together using the OPST Commando Heads for micro-skagit casting. Micro-skagit is the way to go in my opinion.
@@terrhian677 yep, I mentioned Dave because he is in Gunnar’s area. If you want to get better at Skagit he is the one to see. I had a couple good instructors/guides in Colorado but when I took a lesson in Seattle (where it’s their bread and butter) my casting improved exponentially.
@@chrisroberts3963 That means I should be looking for instructors on micro-skagit casting.
I hear that weight class for two handers vs single handers are very different. I want to replace my single hand 5 WT 10’ skagit setup with a trout spey two hander, but which trout spey would be an equivalent to my current setup? The 3WT trout spey, 4WT trout spey, or 5WT trout spey?
I heard a 7 WT two hand rod would be equivalent to a 9-10 WT single hand rod. Would a trout spey two hander be 2 to 3 weight classes different to a single hand rod?
How would switch rod fishing work from shore? I fish from bank a lot with a bit of foliage around. Also is a skagit line something that can be used on a traditional single hand 9’ rod? Thanks for all the great content!
Why not try single hand spey with OPST heads? Meiser makes some great rods to check out also.
Please keep "blabbing forever." It's great!
Welcome to the two-handed addiction. There are no 12-step programs that will save you. You’re done. You’re life, as you know it, is over. :)
Skaa-jit, not Skaa-git. Pronunciation of that is my pet peeve because the Skagit system is my home river. Great video as always Gunnar!
Check out what Rick Kustich and Nick Pionessa do with switch rods fishing for musky
Hi, I am novice in the sport and that is the reason for my stupid question: I have Fenwick Aetos 11'1'' ft 5/6 wt switch rod. Which line could you recommend for heavy indicator rig/streamer fishing? Would it be OK with regular 6 wt lines or should I go with more heavy lines? Thanks.
Mr. Beammer, I own an 11ft. 5wt. switch rod. Which tips would you recommend? Thanks.
Gunner what was the line you are using on switch rod. I have a 10 ft 6 weight. And not sure where to start. Not to many people in Missouri using switch and 2 handed rods.
Is your 10 footer a double handed rod, or single handed 10ft? Often times 10'ers are designed as Stillwater Rods with the intend being to throw a long bellied dry fly line overhead. It can certainly still get the job done - but if that is the case I'd recomend the Sunray Short Head - which is a 30t condensed head in a spey taper design for roll casting. If it is a two hander, you are looking for the shortest head you can find, usually being a Skagit Style. I am fishing the Rio Skagit Max SHORT at 400gr for the 6wt Switch. But a 2 hand Switch will be rated differently than a Single hand Long rod - so double check with the manufacturer.
It is single with butt section.
Sorry fighting butt section.
So are the switch rods weighted for lines like the same weight as spey rods or are they rated for overhead wf lines?
Is your 6 weight switch the same numbering system as single hand, or is it the European system?
how did you learn to cast a two hand rod? i’ve been having issues from videos off of youtube.
find a local shop that carries a variety of 2 hand rods and take a lesson. they'll teach you the basic ways to cast AND you'll get a chance to cast a variety of rod makes and actions. they cast very differently and you'll find that if you have a good instructor (which is rare) and you have a casting style you'll likely gravitate to a specific rod. of course after you get your first rod and use it for a while that may change but that's what I did and I highly recommend it if you can afford a days lesson on a local river with the right rods and instructor.
@@willgoubert5877 thank you
So whats the difference between a Switch rod and a trout spey?
Trout Spey are generally the 3, 4, and 5 weights.
ORVIS just started selling “Trout Spey” two handed rods of 3, 4, and 5 weight. OPST also make “Micro-Skagit” two handed rods which are 3-5 WT. What I noticed is the butt (cork) of the rod seem smaller than the 6+ WT two hander rods. I own a 3WT version of the OPST Micro-Skagit rod. Its very light. I can cast it as a single hand, but when spey casting on my non-dominant side I use the two-hand to get the line out further.
Can I use this system on a lake? Out of a float tube or pontoon? From shore? Is line management an issue with the mono running line?
Maybe it's because I'm an old man........are you going to cover switch rods?
Catfish 🦦🦦🦦🦦
The sound echo in that room is a little harsh. A lapel mic or a USB cardioid mic might be a worthwhile upgrade to videos you film from your den.
OMG I like your thoughts but please for God sake stop bringing kelly gallup up in every youtube you have. Be yourself.