Single hand or switch?

[k9mark]

I need some guidance/advise from you guys please. I'm looking to get a rod to fish bass, steelhead and lahontan cuts in pyramid. I've been kicking around the idea of a switch rod feeling I could cover more water and not have a painful shoulder at the end of the day. What say you? Which one we be the do it all rod?

[Morgan]

When fishing from shore for steelhead that 2hander is nice...whether nymphing or swinging. FOr pyramid I dont like my 2 hander. So it's really up to you. If you feel you need a 2 hander...buy one. Redington dually is cheap and a great rod for the buck.

[Idadon]

Bass usually means streamers or poppers thrown to tight targets so the two handed is probably not the best choice. Swinging a fly or fishing an indicator rig for steelies just sort of goes hand-in-hand with the switch outfit. All I remember about my one excursion to Pyramid was endless hours standing on milk crate and throwing as far as I could every cast to basically the same spot. I didn't own a switch rod back then but I think the extra distance would be nice. If I had to pick one rod for all three it would be my #7 that's 9 1/2'. It's caught smallmouth, stripers, surf perch, steelhead and a ton of East Idaho Cutts on hopper patterns. No pyramid fish but lots of Henry's Lake Cutts and Hybrids.

Good luck!

[Bill Kiene semi-retired]

You might like a 11 foot #7 line Switch rod.......getting the right lines will be the challenge.

On most Sundays Andy Guibord and Doug Duncan are working at Kiene's American Fly Fishing Company in Sacramento.

They would have excellent advise for you for a total package.


Two handed fly rods are best for medium ot larger moving water or wading in lakes or salt water surf.

Not very popular from a floating platform.

[k9mark]

Thank you Gents. I guess I'll be heading to speak with Andy or Doug then.

[Terry Thomas]

Switch rods work great for overhead casting on stillwaters. Rio's Outbound Short lines have been my choice the past several years. I'm sure the Airflo Sniper line would also be a good choice. From my experience, take your rod weight and up size by two. I have both the 5119 and 7119 Sage rods and the 7 and 9 wt. lines cast great with poly leaders or 10ft of "T" material.