A sensible line of thought Leo, is that a switch rod is the one to reach for when your conventional run of the mill double hander's are just too much rod- in terms of line weight, strength and length.
I see my trio of switch rods as smaller version's of my run of the mill rods. I reach for mine in times of low water or on much smaller more intimate rivers where I don't need a lot of rod.
This dosen't mean in any way at all they are lessor rods, if any thing they have to be that bit better as they demand some extra sophistication than that offered by the 15ft barge poles ( only joking! ) I might normally use. When the water drops away, it gets low n clear, fish get spooky and just plain hard to find, I want a rod that will respond to tiny flee's, smaller diameter ( and thus maybe lighter BS ) leader material. However, I like to be in a groove when I fish, I Spey cast and I need and indeed want to continue Spey casting, no swopping and changing because this rod's a single hander, or that lines not long enough ( and other Myriad excuses! ), we Salmon Anglers Spey Cast, leave the overheading to the trout fishers and those who can't do it!.
When I fish my pair of Airflo NanTec Switch's I do so with 40+ trout lines. I have all the Spey casting distance I would ever need, with all the associated ease of being able to Spey cast from either bank or shoulder I could want, I have the ability to exploit excellent finesse in presentation with my 6 weight if it's hard going down to size 16's and 11lb Seaguar, but have enough character in the rod should a surprise crop up ( up to high teens worth on that particular rod ). If I need that bit more rod, I switch up ( no pun intended! ) to the heavier 7 weight rod, which gives me just a bit more of the same. Thing is here, at sub £100 of the Kings pounds, I can afford that and it's no big hit!.
Now I have to say these two rods are for floaters and the odd bit of sink tippery, by no means of the imagination are they heavy duty items, treat them with due reverence within their design briefs and they reward in spades. This bit it has to be said is best decided in the chair of a cold winter's night rummaging the tinter web and deciding on the right purchase for you and your circumstances before you even splash the cash!.
My last Switch is a Sage One 8 weight- a true salmon line rating at that, 510 grain makes it sing. No bones here, it's a shorter 2 hander, but it will do and cope with anything if I need it to, Scandi Compact, Inty and a tip, SSVT with T stuff off the front, size 14 dressed terrible or a 2" copper tube off a heavy leader. Yes it's an expensive rod ( especially here in Blighty! ) and a pair of them would take serious surgery to the wallet, but especially for being able to fish with the same lines as my bread n butter small 2 handers it shows that degree of versatility that I need and that is reflected in the price tag.
At the end of the day, it's just a different length of carbon with another fancy name tag, as long as you are pleased with your purchases and they work for you, that's the name of the game for us all.
Yes I love my switch rods, I even went trough a phase of fishing them when perhaps I could have made a more fitting choice!, but by n large I'm more than happy with all 3 of mine.
Interesting line of thought for you, I fish the Tay in Scotland, usually with a powerful 16ft or even 17fter, when it's low water I drop to the std. 15fter. However in low warm water this year, to get a quieter more delicate presentation I dropped to my 13fter., might this be seen as the new 11ft for switch rod afficionado's?. As I often say when asked " what's the difference between my 13ft 8/9 and my 11ft 6ins. 8 weight" ?, 18" of carbon is the reply!.
Tight lines folks, Yorkie.

 

My last Switch is a Sage One 8 weight- a true salmon line rating at that, 510 grain makes it sing. No bones here, it's a shorter 2 hander, but it will do and cope with anything if I need it to, Scandi Compact, Inty and a tip, SSVT with T stuff off the front, size 14 dressed terrible or a 2" copper tube off a heavy leader. Yes it's an expensive rod ( especially here in Blighty! ) and a pair of them would take serious surgery to the wallet, but especially for being able to fish with the same lines as my bread n butter small 2 handers it shows that degree of versatility that I need and that is reflected in the price tag.
At the end of the day, it's just a different length of carbon with another fancy name tag, as long as you are pleased with your purchases and they work for you, that's the name of the game for us all.
Yes I love my switch rods, I even went trough a phase of fishing them when perhaps I could have made a more fitting choice!, but by n large I'm more than happy with all 3 of mine.
Interesting line of thought for you, I fish the Tay in Scotland, usually with a powerful 16ft or even 17fter, when it's low water I drop to the std. 15fter. However in low warm water this year, to get a quieter more delicate presentation I dropped to my 13fter., might this be seen as the new 11ft for switch rod afficionado's?. As I often say when asked " what's the difference between my 13ft 8/9 and my 11ft 6ins. 8 weight" ?, 18" of carbon is the reply!.
Tight lines folks, Yorkie.

Interesting. The Sage Sonic some claim is the Sage One tweaked in some way or another.

Leo

 

Spey, trout spey, switch......... whatever! They are all two handed rods designed primarily to make some sort of "spey" cast. The switch rod did have some marketing BS about casting it overhead but you never see it done. I have cast a "switch" rod overhead, I have also cast a 16' overhead. Neither is something I would do regularly and I didn't find I was casting any farther than with a single hander, at least with the "switch" rod. If the size and weight of the rod make you happy then I say fish it! Ignore all the marketing hype and names and enjoy yourself.

 

I’ve sold every “switch” rod I had for longer and longer real speys with actions suited for it. Length is one thing but action is really important to me. They were always sorta lacking- not great overhead rods and not great two handed rods. But- you application may be great for it.

 

I love my Method 7119 as much as any Spey. Although I do have a Burkie 8121-5 on the way…

 

Burkheimer 7117-4 is all the rod I need anymore.

 

I've got two handers from 9'8 to 15'4, and after many years going though a bunch of rods, I don't have a single rod I don't love. Which I choose to fish largely depends on where I am/which river, but swinging on the Clearwater last week I realized I could happily fish there with my James Reid Steelheader's Favorite. I'd be missing the most distant lies, but that doesn't bother me- there are plenty in closer.

At my casting level, there's probably 30 ft distance between what I can hit with my shortest vs my longest, but I'm having fun fishing no matter which.

 

If I were casting over head out of a canoe I would go with a traditional one handed rod. I’ve tried casting over head with a switch and I find it clunky… just my opinion

 

Although I am having a great time getting acquainted with my newish "summer rod", a 13' 5/7 CX, I am always happy to pick up my "winter rod", a 11'7" 7/9 Highlander S, and that rod remains my first and favorite Meiser. My love of winter time in general might play in there, but I do like fishing big flies when the time comes.

 

It's like anything, there is a trade-off.

Longer rods:
Can handle longer lines (and therefore can be cast further). Can pickup longer sink tips more easily (without rolling them to the top). Are more tiring to cast over a long day. Require more space to cast. Worse leverage when fighting big fish.

Shorter rods:
Can't handle long lines as easily (and therefore can't be cast as far). Don't pick up long sink tips as easily. Are easier to cast all day. Do better in cramped quarters. Better leverage when fighting big fish.

 

I'm casting a 46 foot scandi with 10' tips on an 11 footer. I think the extra 29 feet of the above mentioned WA-70 w/tips would be unmanageable. Not a problem on a longer rod. Length has a quality of its own. I love switch rods and they are my meat & tater tools but, if I want to consistently cast 90 feet, I'll grab a longer spey. 95 feet with my switch requires my cast to really be in the groove while I can do that sloppily with a 13' spey.

 

I prefer to use 4 to 6 wt., 10 to 12 foot cane switch rods for grilse, and sea trout fishing. I find their casting and fishing performance similar to single hand cane rods in most circumstances. I tend to reach for them for their casting pleasures and especially when the wind picks up.

I like 7 to 9 wt., 10 to 13 foot cane switch rods for steelhead and salmon angling. I like casting and fishing all of these switch rods with silk DT or continuous taper TT Scandi style 30 to 40 foot shooting heads, paired with a floating ridged running or a mono line greased with muscillin floatant. The zero stretch and narrower diameter enhances the sensitivity of these silk lines, as their water resistance and current drag are minimized. A modern Wulff TT spey line is another favourite line as the longer 70 or 80 foot head reduces the need of stripping, coiling, and shooting line for 100 foot plus casts.

The vintage Sharpes Scotty switch rods with their individual swelled spliced joints are modeled after the traditional Grant greenheart Vibration Spey rod. These versatile sturdy rods can handle a variety and weight range of Spey lines and has the added strength to extend the distance that you can mend them during the swing. I regularly use them for roll, switch, and traditional spey casting and for overhead and under arm side casts with dry flies for precise presentations.

There are two disadvantages of graphite or cane switch rods compared to the traditional 16 to 18 foot spey rods. As advised by Jock Scott in his spey fishing account of Alexander Grant in Far and Fine Off, the length of a spey rod determines the distance of the cast. The shorter length of these switch rods do limit their casting distance, but more importantly, it also reduces their ability to mend the length of the spey, and running line on the waters surface, or a with a subsurface presentation.

As the presentation of the fly, trumps everything else in importance while spey angling, this is an essential consideration. I can adequately mend up to 75 feet out with my 12 foot Scotty and so I tend to cast and present my fly within an 80 foot range. I’ll make longer casts to ideal flows when I can combine mending while leading the fly with my elevated rod tip above troubled surface waters.

This was the reasoning behind Scott’s reflection that it was better to spey cast and fish with a longer rod than one which was too short. For most of my spey fishing while wading chest deep on the Restigouche or on the Niagara, I rely on a 16 to 18 foot graphite spey rod to cast and control my presentations.

Regards from the Niagara Gorge...Jim

 

The world needs heathens too.

 

Been using 6 & 7 weight switchers mostly at Pyramid lake for many years. They overhead cast sinking and floating lines with one back cast farther than I can double haul with a single hander. The ease of casting and less strain on my old bod are real advantages. And they spey cast just fine. I find them shorties very useful. Just one man's view.

 

I love my 11'9" Igniter switches, but they really are short double-handers. I fish mostly smaller waters with lots of overhanging tree cover and they're just that much easier to work around the brush over even 12'6" rod, and they don't lack distance. On bigger water I'll reach for a 13-footer, but I don't own any rods longer than that because I like my shoulders where they are thank-you-very-much.

 

Switch should be dropped from the name IMHO. Aside from maybe a 4wt or (in a pinch) 5wt "switch rod" you don't see anyone casting these single hand. Not fun. I had to use my 5/6 Beulah Classic switch to cast to some silvers the other day on a river in AK and it was not fun. The water demanded a cast-n-strip technique due to flow. I didn't bring a single hander in my raft or I would have used it. If it needs a lower grip, it's a two-hander.