Switch and spey

[jake hamilton]

im thinking of buying a switch rod but i  only have the money for the rod. I was going to buy  5wt rod but i cnnot buy a reel. i have a reel for a regular single handed rod. Can i use my regular reel on a switch rod. Where do you use your switch rods on the potomac.

Jake

[Bryan Lanier]

You could always buy an extra spool for your reel if you want to you use switch line.

On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 5:21 PM, jake hamilton <jsha...@gmail.com> wrote:

im thinking of buying a switch rod but i  only have the money for the rod. I was going to buy  5wt rod but i cnnot buy a reel. i have a reel for a regular single handed rod. Can i use my regular reel on a switch rod. Where do you use your switch rods on the potomac.

Jake

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[jake hamilton]

so i could infaact use a regular reel instead of a spey reel

Jake

On Tuesday, March 18, 2014 5:22:51 PM UTC-4, Bryan wrote:

You could always buy an extra spool for your reel if you want to you use switch line.

On Tue, Mar 18, 2014 at 5:21 PM, jake hamilton <jsha...@gmail.com> wrote:

im thinking of buying a switch rod but i  only have the money for the rod. I was going to buy  5wt rod but i cnnot buy a reel. i have a reel for a regular single handed rod. Can i use my regular reel on a switch rod. Where do you use your switch rods on the potomac.

Jake

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[Steve F]

A reel is a reel.  Just note that spey and switch lines are considerably bigger than standard lines.  If you have a 5wt switch or spey, you'd likely want a 7 or 8wt size reel.  It's pretty common for guys to use their larger saltwater reels on their speys.  A bit bigger and heavier reel helps balance the long rods as well that are a bit tip-heavy without a bit of counterbalance. 

Before you buy anything tho, its usually a good idea to use what you have.  Test the waters before you take the plunge.  If you can fit a 5wt switch line with 30yds of 20lb backing on a 5wt reel, go for it.  The smallies and shad are a blast on rods that size. 

[Yambag Nelson]

I would wait until you have enough money for both.  Like the other poster mentioned, you usually use a much larger real with a spey rod.  I transferred  my saltwater real that I used with my 10wieght single hander to my 8 weight switch.  It probably depends on what type of line you want to use. I use a rage compact head with a running line and backing and it pretty much fills my real. 

 

I also question if a 5wt is the way to go for the potomac if you are only going to by 1 rod.  I personally would want something heavier if I was only going to use just one. 

[Eric Y.]

Changing lines can be a pain, so a new reel or at least new spool would be advisable. Realistically, you won't need nearly as much backing as most people think they need, so you can make a smaller reel work - even more so if you switch from dacron to gel-spun. For my 6-switch, an Orvis Access III holds more backing than I'll need, even with a Skagit head + tip. I think Dan uses a Mirage III on some of his spey set ups. 

Another option would be to cut the head off of your current line and make it a loop-to-loop connection. Then all you have to do to switch the reel from your single hander to your two hander is swap the head. I have a few lines like this and have found like I really like using those braided leader loops to make the connection. 

For what it is worth, my 6wt Helios switch is much more like an 8-9wt than a 6wt, so I think a 5 would be okay for most of what you'd be fishing for around here with a 7wt. 

[Danny Barrett]

I have a switch 6 weight.  It handles bass, NSH, and shad well.  I would be worried about finding heavy enough sink lines for 5 weight and being able to cast heavy flies and lines with a 5.

Thanks,

Dan Barrett

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[Bob Sivinski]

I have a 5/6 and an 8 wt switch.  The 5/6 will handle big fish, but I never use it for the shad run.  I find that to get deep enough I need to throw at least 10 feet of T-14 and the 5/6 just can't handle it.  But as to your original question, any reel will work but as others have said it should be in the 8-9 weight range so you can fit the line.  Those skagit heads are super fat.