[Sandy Nelson]

Cheers Iain

May just take you up on that sometime

Cheers

Sandy

[Rob Brownfield]

You can have a shoot of my weedy 5 weight too if you like. Ignore the build, it was a rush job!!..lol

[Iain Cameron]

Cheers Iain

May just take you up on that sometime

you'd be V welcome.
Just about to hit the river now with the switch rod.... i foresee another blank... I hate salmon fishing

[Sandy Nelson]

i foresee another blank...

This might also be my problem......

Sandy

[Mike Barrio]

But are you two talking about the same type of blank?      

Cheers
Mike

[Iain Cameron]

But are you two talking about the same type of blank?

Yup!

I enjoyed a couple of hours on the water, but I'm aware that I approach the salmon fishing half-heartedly. In comparison with some recent trout visits where I was 100% confident of catching fish....

But, the switch rod again proved to be a nice light d-hander - the water was running low, so having a 6wt line land was a lot less noisy than a 9/10wt line. And a lot lighter to handle too; it has a role.

cheers

[Sandy Nelson]

So then lets say i have a rod rated 430-470grns and its classed as a 6/7 wt.
I'm going to use in the sea/estuary and for the river.

I'm sure the Barrio Switch when it is released, will meet any requirements for a floater, but i want to have a multi tip line with an intermediate for the river and fast sinking tips for the sea. I guess this will meet the brick on a bit of string analagy
Bearing in mind its usually windy. (i'm assuming i have 2 reels so i'd use 2 lines, 1 being the Barrio floater)

Has anyone else crossed this bridge?

I can see Rio Skagit flight versitip in a 450grn, A Rio Scandi Versitip in a 425grn and a SA Mastery Skagit extreme Multitip in 440grn,

Any thoughts or experiences? Could be an interesting winter

Sandy

[Ben Dixon]

So then lets say i have a rod rated 430-470grns and its classed as a 6/7 wt.
I'm going to use in the sea/estuary and for the river.

I'm sure the Barrio Switch when it is released, will meet any requirements for a floater, but i want to have a multi tip line with an intermediate for the river and fast sinking tips for the sea. I guess this will meet the brick on a bit of string analagy
Bearing in mind its usually windy. (i'm assuming i have 2 reels so i'd use 2 lines, 1 being the Barrio floater)

Has anyone else crossed this bridge?

I can see Rio Skagit flight versitip in a 450grn, A Rio Scandi Versitip in a 425grn and a SA Mastery Skagit extreme Multitip in 440grn,

Any thoughts or experiences? Could be an interesting winter

Sandy

Hi Sandy,

What do you mean by fast sinking tips?  Are you talking about level T14 stuff or are you talking polyleaders?  The Barrio switch (to be called lite Spey) will carry polys and tubes just fine.  Revision I of the #7 will cast a 10' 7.0 ips Rio salmon polyleader and 1" Cu tube but is tamed nicely for full floating duties with a 15' thick butt salmon leader.  We should get a play with it and a DTX sometime soon.  I'm tied up for the next two weekends but should be free the following one I think.

Unless you are really needing to dredge the bottom with big flies & monster tips in a fair current a proper Skagit will be overkill.  I have tried a 500 grain Skagit on a #8 switch and it was OTT, rod would cast it but it was a bit on the lumpy side.  I use the Scandi Versitip in a #5 on a Helios 108, it is nice but, the 10' type VI tip does not get deep enough and Rio do not make a type VIII for such light lines.  Going to make something for my line or maybe try an Airflo tip.  See if you can make the Barrio carry the gear, if it is a problem for you then think about the Skagit, Skagits do not really overhead unless you are Rich Knoles.

Cheers

Ben

[Sandy Nelson]

The Barrio switch (to be called lite Spey) will carry polys and tubes just fine.  Revision I of the #7 will cast a 10' 7.0 ips Rio salmon polyleader and 1" Cu tube but is tamed nicely for full floating duties with a 15' thick butt salmon leader. 

Was kinda thinking you might say something like that
Cool, so two "Lite spey" lines with one cut to take polytips and one left full, might be the way forward then

I think a playing session is coming on, bit busy with work for a few weeks myself, so no rush.

I love Autumn, the nice crisp air definately gets my creative edge stimulated, some rather nice flies floating of the vice as well. More on that later

Sandy

[Marc Fauvet]

Skagits do not really overhead unless you are Rich Knoles.

 

[Mike Barrio]

A bit damp for playing with toys this afternoon Sandy but I think you had fun trying the gear

Cheers
Mike

[Sandy Nelson]

I rather enjoyed it, cheers.

Got the old mind working though Swine 

Sandy

[Rob Brownfield]

Wanted to revive this one.

Anyone else switched to Switch this year?

I was out with mine on the Lower Dee and had great fun popping size 12 salmon doubles into the fast run on the Beltie Pool. A difficult wind ment the Switch allowed me to cast off my left shoulder without any drama whilst I would have struggled with a single handed rod.

I want something a little more tippy/longer for "proper" sea trout fishing so I am seriously looking at the PacBay Quickline Switch blank in either #6 or#7. Getting great reviews in the US and at £99 for the blank here, it seems a really good deal.

[Graeme Inglis]

Hi I have been using switch rods for about 3 seasons now, I started with a guideline 11' with a Beulah switch line.  but got the option of a Batson 10' 6" kit which I built up and that suited me better than the Guideline until I found the reason why, I have long arms and the Guideline butt was a bit short for my normal grip space so last winter I added a few corks to the top and it was much more comfortable.

Most of my switch rod use is on the South Esk and nearly always for Spey casting, this year with the low water the fish were still coming in but only lying in the deeper pools, I was using the Guideline with the Beulah line and getting nothing.  I realised that the Beulah line is bright yellow, despite a longish cast and a clear braided leader.  A change to my Batson with its blue Airflow head saw me connecting with fish.  The Beulah had a waterproof felt tip pen over it when I got home!

But I digress, the switch rod is a favourite of mine, especially the little Batson a great wee rod that cost me £120 for the kit , you can cast all day with nominal effort, its ideal for the smaller salmon and sea trout rivers where tree cover means roll or spey type casts.

Graeme

[Eddie Sinclair]

Graeme,
unfortunately I do not fish many small rivers and although a switch seemed like a great idea for low water and small flies I test casted some at a gathering at Haddo and everything was going well until I started pushing it for long casts. Ben then informed me that these rods are not designed for this sort of distance which was a bummer as I thought I might have found the perfect summer combination for the sea trout and occasional grilse but not for where I usually fish. if you are on smaller rivers then the switch outfit would be my first choice. However where I spend most of my summers I would probably be asking too much of the switch in terms of distance.

Eddie.