Back in September we told you about Airflo’s new Skagit Switch Heads – a potential solution to the “nobody makes a modern spey line for my switch rod” problem. Since the early version of the head that we got our hands on at IFTD, Airflo has gone through a couple more iterations. Last month we…
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switch rods
Top Steelhead Fishing Posts of 2010
It’s part 3 today in our series of ‘most popular posts of 2010’ articles. We wanted to make sure that you’re not missing out on any of the good stuff! Having already seen which trout fishing posts were deemed cool, and which bonefishing posts went viral, today you get to see which 10 posts about…
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Ken Morrish’s Steelhead Rig
As one of the fine folks behind Flywater Travel, Ken Morrish has had the chance to go steelhead fishing in some pretty fantastic places. Ken is also an innovative angler and fly tier, with an extensive line of signature flies by Idylwilde. If Ken was to step onto any given river in British Columbia to…
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Switch Rods, Scandi Heads and Polyleaders
In the world of spey fishing there seem to be three types of gear that generate a lot of confusion – switch rods, Scandinavian heads and polyleaders. Here’s our quick-and-dirty, way-oversimplified primer on each of the three. Look down below for a video from an actual expert, with an example of a situation where all…
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Switch Rods and Heads – Sage TCX and Rio Steelhead Scandi
Last weekend at IFTD we told you a little bit about two new products in the world of spey – TCX switch rods from Sage, and Steelhead Scandi heads from Rio. We thought they were both pretty interesting, so we asked George Cook, Pacific Northwest angling stalwart, to make a few casts at the spey…
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Airflo Skagit Switch Heads
We’ve told you in the past about how to cut back Skagit heads to match your switch rods – something we’ve had to do to get a good casting setup for rods like the Scott Fiberhammer or the Sage 5110-4 Z-Axis. Modern Skagit heads (with a real front taper) just weren’t available in lengths that worked well…
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Switch Rods – Different Uses
We’ve told you before that we think you should try out a switch rod if you haven’t already. We’ve also told you that we tend to think of switch rods as basically being little spey rods. They definitely can be fished like little spey rods and that’s maybe the use that’s most applicable in our…
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Spey Lines for Switch Rods
Today’s post is about using spey lines on switch rods, including some background on why you probably should cut a line for your rod, and the steps you can take to do just that. It’s written for people who have a bit of spey casting experience. Background First, a disclaimer that today we’re mainly talking…
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Scott Fiberhammer Review
Just prior to last fall’s Fly Fishing Retailer show in Denver, we heard about a new switch rod that sounded pretty unusual and awfully interesting – the Scott Fiberhammer. The Fiberhammer is not like most rods being made today. It’s a 10′ 6″ switch rod for a 7 weight line, but it’s made of fiberglass….
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Sage 5110-4 Z-Axis – Why We Like It
You can cast it overhead too, but we almost never do. If you haven’t noticed, we really like spey fishing for trout, and for swung trout flies in smaller water, we think switch rods are pretty cool too. One of our favorite trout switch rods so far is the Sage 5110-4 Z-Axis. Here’s why. The…
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