[Kym Goldsworthy]

Hi
For what it's worth I thought I'd add my 2 bobs.
I just recently come back from fly fishing for golden mahseer in India. I used an 11' 6/7 switch rod for the first time and found it an incredibly useful tool. I ended up not fishing either of the single handers I brought along for the trip. Fishing deep, fast water with heavy tube flies I was consistently casting further than that I could have with a 9' rod and covering a lot more water swinging flies.
I'd brought along a Barrio Switch line but ended up fishing a 425 grain skagit short head with 10' of t 14 and a 10' 20 lb leader most of the time.
I spent half the time spey casting and half the time chucking the skagit over head. Man those things go a long way when you get the timing right.
I've attached a couple of pics.
kym

Golden Mahseer


Tube Flies


Fishing the rapids

[Jim Eddie]

Nice photos Kim thanks for sharing

 

Jim

[Hamish Young]

Awesome Looks like it would have been just superb fun 

H

[Mike Barrio]

Great photos Kym, that's big water and sure looks like a whole lot of fun! Cracking looking fish

Cheers
Mike

[Kym Goldsworthy]

Thanks Mike, Hamish and Jim
Yes it was an amazing adventure. It was right in the heart of Jim Corbett (the legendary man eating tiger hunter) country. We'd regularly find leopard tracks in the sand near the camp but never saw any.
Mike, your switch line worked really well in the smaller waters and with smaller flies. But because of the sheer size of the river I needed the skagit head to heft the T14 tip and big tube flies out into the raging torrent.
The biggest mahseer I caught was only 7 1/2 lb. I say small because one of the guides had caught a 40 pounder on fly a few months earlier. 
All in all a fantastic trip. Great people, great country and colourful locals
Kym

[Mike Barrio]

Awesome, I can see that you enjoyed a great trip, thanks for sharing your photos

Best wishes
Mike

[Rob Brownfield]

A teip of a lifetime...would love to fish for them. Beautiful fish.

[Mike Barrio]

OK ........ a year or so down the line, were Switch rods just the in thing, or are you still using them?

Now you've spent some time on the water with them, what are you using them for? What are the benefits of fishing with one?

Cheers
Mike

[Iain Cameron]

OK ........ a year or so down the line, were Switch rods just the in thing, or are you still using them?
Now you've spent some time on the water with them, what are you using them for? What are the benefits of fishing with one?

Yes, still using mine, but purely as a light double-handed rod for spey casting stuff. Never used, nor did I intend to use it, for overhead casting (though that probably seemed like an interesting option at the time of purchase).

Don't use it often - 95% of my fishing is with single hander & dries - but it's a useful tool for low water salmon/grilse expeditions.

Benefits - lighter, softer touch in low water.

still think the 'switch' thing of one rod doing double-handed work and overhead was a bit of a red herring, as the right line for one style won't be good for the other

cheers
i,

[Rob Brownfield]

My #5 has not been used for a while, but my#7 has been used at Sluie a few times. great for firing a small fly across the river and wioth a light running line I can hold it off the surface to slow the swing much better than a single hander.

It will come into its own in about a months time when I will be swinging small flies or stripping Sunrays.

As Iaon says, no overhead casting, all spey. I have strung it uop with a #9 Outbound as Rio suggest in there chart for the rod (Helios) but I did not like it. I found that with a single handed rod two double hauls and the line was away whilst the switch rod need more effort.

So, for me, its a light line salmon rod or a heavy sea trout rod.

They do make fishing very relaxed and easy.

[Irvine Ross]

I agree, it's a light salmon rod, ideal for the Dee in low summer water or for the upper Don any time when a floating line is needed. The main benefit for me is it's much easier to Spey cast off my left shoulder with a two handed rod than with a single hander. It casts with almost no effort so the wear and tear on my ageing shoulder joints is a lot less than a day casting a #7 singer hander.
It's an auld mannie's ideal rod.

Irvine