Switch Rods And Deep Stillwater Chronie Fishing

[creekside]

Hello all.

Just want to thank all that have helped with both deciding to purchase and leader design. Was out on Friday for the first time (Maligne lake) and the advantages of using a switch rod were pretty obvious. Longer cast using a scandi head which dramatically reduced effort and with the length of leaders we were using (on average 20') no tangles and the fly was in the water at least twice as long as my partners. Landed fish with a heaavy hand with no break offs reducing stress on the fish. All in all probably the best piece of equipment I've purchased in a long time. Can't wait to use it on the Bow for our annual 4 night camping trip in July.

 

Ray

[alhuger]

Hello all.

Just want to thank all that have helped with both deciding to purchase and leader design. Was out on Friday for the first time (Maligne lake) and the advantages of using a switch rod were pretty obvious. Longer cast using a scandi head which dramatically reduced effort and with the length of leaders we were using (on average 20') no tangles and the fly was in the water at least twice as long as my partners. Landed fish with a heaavy hand with no break offs reducing stress on the fish. All in all probably the best piece of equipment I've purchased in a long time. Can't wait to use it on the Bow for our annual 4 night camping trip in July.

 

Ray

 

That is cool, I would not have thought of using the scandi but that makes perfect sense. I will have to try that. Which switch did you go with?

 

al

[CDone]

That is cool, I would not have thought of using the scandi but that makes perfect sense. I will have to try that. Which switch did you go with?

 

al

Both the Elixir and Tonic heads work well as single hand lines, I'm tossing a 5/6 Tonic (320gr) on my 6/7wt single hander, distance and ability to turn large flies/indicator rigs is phenomenal.

 

6 or 7 years ago I had a chance to take a Beulah 10'6 4/5 switch rod up to the Chilkotin for a week of Chironomid and damsel nymph fishing. It ended up being a perfect rod for this type of fishing (especially out of a pontoon), was able to reach fish a lot further up on the shoals than the guys around me and it excelled at tossing an indicator with 20+ feet of leader.

 

Colin

[creekside]

Both the Elixir and Tonic heads work well as single hand lines, I'm tossing a 5/6 Tonic (320gr) on my 6/7wt single hander, distance and ability to turn large flies/indicator rigs is phenomenal.

 

6 or 7 years ago I had a chance to take a Beulah 10'6 4/5 switch rod up to the Chilkotin for a week of Chironomid and damsel nymph fishing. It ended up being a perfect rod for this type of fishing (especially out of a pontoon), was able to reach fish a lot further up on the shoals than the guys around me and it excelled at tossing an indicator with 20+ feet of leader.

 

Colin

 

Picked up an Echo SR 4. Was out again yesterday but we had a bit of a cold snap on Saturday and all the fish were off the shoals till it warmed up late in the day. I have both the eleixir and the Tonic heads but would never figured the Skagit head would work overhead. Would the Skait head cast betterin the wind than the Scandi head? I'll have to give her a try. One thing I've noticed is you realy can't spey cast in stillwater or at least I can't without current loading the line and rod.

[cheeler]

Skagit heads are shorter, which can affect overhead casting by twisting in midair, especially if your backcast is not 180 degrees to the front cast. You don't need current to load the rod - you can turn 90 degrees to your last cast or use a Perry Poke. But you may not want to be doing too much with sustained anchor casts because they can spook the fish.

[pkk]

Picked up an Echo SR 4. Was out again yesterday but we had a bit of a cold snap on Saturday and all the fish were off the shoals till it warmed up late in the day. I have both the eleixir and the Tonic heads but would never figured the Skagit head would work overhead. Would the Skait head cast betterin the wind than the Scandi head? I'll have to give her a try. One thing I've noticed is you realy can't spey cast in stillwater or at least I can't without current loading the line and rod.

 

you can definitely spey cast on still water. the main difference is that with flowing water the start of your cast is always downstream. With still water it is from wherever you decide to stop stripping your line in. If you are using a sustained anchor cast and feel you are pulling you anchor and not getting things to load, give a a little pause after setting your anchor. this will allow your fly to sink a little and give more stick. I like using the perry poke for casting on a lake. You could also use more of a touch and go cast (scandanavian style).

 

PK

[creekside]

you can definitely spey cast on still water. the main difference is that with flowing water the start of your cast is always downstream. With still water it is from wherever you decide to stop stripping your line in. If you are using a sustained anchor cast and feel you are pulling you anchor and not getting things to load, give a a little pause after setting your anchor. this will allow your fly to sink a little and give more stick. I like using the perry poke for casting on a lake. You could also use more of a touch and go cast (scandanavian style).

 

PK

Been working on my touch an go but without any current it's a bit tougher. What I find works best is a simple roll pick up back cast and let her rip. Awsome distance. Haven't tried the poke yet. Give her a go tommorow.

[zed]

Hello all.

Just want to thank all that have helped with both deciding to purchase and leader design. Was out on Friday for the first time (Maligne lake) and the advantages of using a switch rod were pretty obvious. Longer cast using a scandi head which dramatically reduced effort and with the length of leaders we were using (on average 20') no tangles and the fly was in the water at least twice as long as my partners. Landed fish with a heaavy hand with no break offs reducing stress on the fish. All in all probably the best piece of equipment I've purchased in a long time. Can't wait to use it on the Bow for our annual 4 night camping trip in July.

 

Ray

 

when is our annual bow trip? i've been e-mailing you, you must be too busy fishing...jerk.