Switch Rod frustration

[Frank Roepke]

I have a Beulah 4/5 switch rod using Elixir switch 4 /5 245gr shooting head and a Rio Spey versileader 10' 7.0ips. *I have taken a couple lessons fro Jeff P and have been out a few more times Shad fishing. *By now I pictured myself *blasting 50+ cast but can't seem to get past the shooting head. *In fact, my snap T is starting to scare me because *because the fly is heading straight for me. *when I manage to pull off a decent T my D loop seems to anchor ok, but the line doesn't load *for the cast.*
This is becoming very frustrating and my progress is very slow. *Is this normal? *Is the answer more lessons? * Help!*
Any suggestions would be great.

Thanks,

Frank*

[TaylerW]

when i first got my switch i played with scandi for a while and found it difficult. then i put on a flight and it got easier way faster. get a flight!

[aaron]

Hang in there Frank. It took me a while to get any shooting/distance when I first started. A lot of people struggle with the initial snap. Starting with a heavy poly leader and shad fly isn't quite the easiest either. Keep at it and eventually it'll all come together. Timing is key.

[nrthcsteel]

Frank that 10' 7.0 sink polyleader weighs 118 grains! Thats quite a bit of tip to be throwing with a scandi head that weighs 245 grains. Tie on a weighted fly and oh man.. not saying it cant be done but just looking at those numbers doesnt look like a setup I would be wanting to cast especially if I was just learning. As Lstriper suggests if your wanting to cast tips you may want to look into some of the shorter skagit heads.
Also we all need practice time with our casting , especially when beginning. I found it was easier to make practice time practice time and fishing time fishing time. Its tough to try and combine the two. When we fish we should just enjoy ourselves and not have a bunch of other things running through our mind . Maybe fish with a setup you were comfortable with and using before and bring your switch rod down with a floating polyleader and spend a little while just trying to practice and get your technique down with that.
And yes being frustrated is normal. Take it slow and try not to work on to many things at once. Try and learn a couple of casts that will get you fishing from either side of the river and dont try and practice every cast there is for a few minutes each. And dont overlook practicing the switch cast. It will teach you a good SLOW LIFT! , a good achor setup, d loop formation and a good forward cast. Which is the basics of every good spey cast.
Hang in there and good luck. Kevin

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

Northcoaststeel has great advise......

I would buy a 10' floating Poly leader to practice with at first.

I would get my casting down first, then go fishing....

__________________________________________________ _____________________

It took me more years (4) than I want to talk about to get going but I finally got "over the hump" last year.


Last year I took the Deck Hogan class....powerful stuff.

Then I fished one night of Shad with Jeff Ching......inspiring!!

Then I fished the lower Yuba River with top two-handed guide Mike McCune....learned more.

Then I fished 3 days at Morrison's Lodge on the Rogue River with great guides......great experience.

Then I fished a few days with Jason Hartwick on the Trinity River....learned more.


I have really improved but it is been a long road.

__________________________________________________ ______________________________________________

If you really put in your time practicing at Watt Avenue with the other two-handed fans you will get going much faster than I did.

Once you get it all down it is easy because that long rod will really throw that line a mile.

[royewest]

I just started Spey casting, too. I highly recommend a bottle of no-doze and a copy of the Skagit Master DVD 1. Ward does a great job demonstrating how to learn and then practice some basic casts on a lawn (with a piece of hookless yarn).

[chapmag]

Great advice from everyone. I've found it much easier to cast my switch rod load with a skagit-ish line that exceeds the rod's grain window.

I have a Meiser switch rod with a suggested upper limit of 400 grains. But I cast best (after lots of practice and lessons with Jeff P.) with a 450 grain skagit head and a ~120 grain sinktip.

The rod doesn't seem to mind and I have more fun casting the heavier head.

I only cast my scandi line with a floating polyleader and small unweighted flies and a few split shot if I need to get down a bit. I've tried the scandi line with sinktips and it was too hard to cast.

[Frank Roepke]

Thank you for all the great feedback. First thing is start take off the heavy leader and replace it with a floating (Thats probable why Jeff P had me use the floating leader). Then rent a few more Spey casting DVDs from the shop, and practice, practice, practice. Then go fish.

Thanks again Gents!

Frank

[Tiger]

Either that or put a line on there that actually loads the rod.

[Mark Kranhold]

Nrthcsteel is right. I believe that the rio versa leader is to heavy for the scandi and a light switch like that. If you stick with the 10' airflo poly leader you should be fine, they are less grains than rio's and should work with a scandi. Good luck out there.