Susquehanna Smallmouth and Switch Rods

[salvelinusfontinalis]

My birthday presents this year are a 11' Hardy Graphite De Luxe 7/8wt 3pc carbon fibre full/mid flex and a Hardy Invincible 10'6" 7wt 2pc glass fibre (converted into a switch rod.) Time to learn something new.

I do some spey casting with my single hand rods but think that a 2 hander could be useful on the Susquehanna.
Any of you guys do this? Think it could be a blast.

 

[Dave_W]

I use my 11' 7WT switch rod that I built for big river smallies a fair amount of time.

I've had mixed results with the switch rod and am not thrilled with it. It may be that I have not matched it well with the line. I can't remember the line, but I cut and shortened the head trying to match the grain weight with the rod. It may also be that I have not mastered the two handed stroke with this set-up. Most of the time, I'm confident that my regular 7WT allows me to reach further when double hauled. This is especially true with poppers. I don't like the switch rod when anticipating surface game.

With that said, the length of the switch rod makes it great for swinging streamers and even better for high stick nymphing. Put a big buggy helgrammitte nymph under a big strike indicator....this rod roll casts such a rig effortlessly and the length really allows you to get a good drift. If, like me, you do a lot of drifting big bass flies under big indicators, a switch rod is deadly.

It's also pretty good for early season trout fishing if you're fishing nymphs and streamers on big brawling water. I think the long, two hand grip system also makes the rod somewhat less fatiguing to handle than a regular rod of the same length.

Anyway, congrats on your new toys. Give 'em a try and let us know how you made out.

 

[jacob]

Sounds like fun - This idea has been floating around in my head for fishing bigger water ever since I waded the Delaware at the Lehigh confluence for shad last spring. Water was up and I was confined to a tight bank where it was tough to get to the waves of fish with a 1 hander and an extra fast sink poly leader to get down. A switch or Spey would have been a dream

I really want to get one

 

[moon1284]

It's probably because I'm a poor 2 handed caster, but I'm in a similar boat in that I can double haul a 9' 7wt further.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Dave,

I'm curious about the rod you built.
Are you trying to match normal 7wt grain?

I only ask because the grain weight of a 11' 7 switch would be 475 for skagit, 435 scandi, and 380 normal switch line.
If you are running the standard 185 that may be your issue.

 

[Dave_W]

salvelinusfontinalis wrote:
Dave,

I'm curious about the rod you built.
Are you trying to match normal 7wt grain?

I only ask because the grain weight of a 11' 7 switch would be 475 for skagit, 435 scandi, and 380 normal switch line.
If you are running the standard 185 that may be your issue.

The current line I'm using is designed for two handed rods, scandi if I recollect correctly. I believe that it is about 400 grains after I reduced the head. I put a good bit of thought and effort into trying to get it to match, as I had used my regular 7WT line on the rod initially and they didn't match very well at all...but this was several years ago and I can't remember the exact specs (I may have it written down somewhere, maybe in the reel pouch where I typically write this sort of thing).

Honestly, I usually don't pay a lot of attention to rod and reel details and often cut lines and rods up and re-piece them back together again with little concern for subtleties. If the gear works for me - and I'm easy to please - I stick with it.

 

[salvelinusfontinalis]

Was able to finally string up the Hardy Graphite De-Luxe 11' 7/8 weight today for some casting. What a rod it is. Besides being a beautiful piece of equipment it really casts like a dream.
Fortunately it wont need a skagit or scandi line at all. I tried it with Orvis Wonderline Hydros 3D in 7wt and was able to spool the reel, which was a real shock to me how easy it was to do. I will likely keep it with 7wt instead of 8wt. I'm thinking the flies I throw, which are heavy streamers, will likely had much more weight thus no need for the 8wt line. I'm really pleased with these results because it will also allow me to toss poppers with out any spool change.
I'm thinking that because this is a vintage rod, likely produced before switch rods were even a thought, is why it handles with out an added grain to the fly line. It does come with a 5" handle that unscrews to become a single handed rod but I'm not convinced its original. I found single handed casting with it attached is a breeze because it rests right against my forearm.

I cant wait to toss this rod and line at some smallmouth.