Fishing a 2 handed rod

[Lunch_box 0]

I am fairly new to the site, but definitely not tying or fishing with a single handed rod. I recently participated in a catch and release steelhead tourney and I won a switch rod and reel. Temple forks deer creek 11' 8wt switch rod and a temple forks bvk reel. I have it all set up with the correct line. My question is how much of a learning curve is there between a single hander and a switch rod. I have already watched a couple casting videos and it looks fairly simple. I haven't had it out on the water yet so I want to hear from guys (or gals) that are seasoned veterans. Also interested in trying my hand at tying some bigger flies to swing, intruders etc. Thanks in advance.

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[Piker20 0]

First off I'm going to guess you're using a shooting head with this rod. Skagit or scandi type. True Spey lines with rods under 12ft are a bit of a pain and not at all what these rods are really meant for.

On the Spey forums in the UK lines are almost constantly swapped or sold as people try to find the sweet spot.

If you enjoy a deeper loaded rod then look to the top end of your rods grain window and look to make casts that are more deliberate and possibly involve water based casting.

If you prefer a lighter load, faster cast then look at lower grain weight and touch and go casts.

 

Remember too switch rods are a halfway house. Not brilliant at Spey or single hand casting, indeed overhead casts will require a different weight altogether to avoid blowing up your blank.

But they offer you that flexibility especially with skagits and slightly heavier flies.

[Adam Saarinen 0]

I would say it's going to be much more eazier & fun to learn on a big gun first, like 14'9wt or 15'10wt then step down!

[FIN-ITE 34 0]

It's all mechanics. If you put the steps together in correct order and speed, you will get it. I am self taught and am fairly proficient with both the long and short two handers. I first learned two handed casting on a switch rod and thinking back the process may have been simpler with the longer rod but it really wouldn't have made it much easier to learn the switch rod cast. If you have access to a lesson from someone who is a good two handed caster, take it. It is not necessary but will shorten the time needed to master the to handed cast. Just don't expect a cast from an eleven foot switch rod to equal what you can get out of a fifteen foot spey rod.

[Lunch_box 0]

Thank you for the replies, I am not really super concerned about distance as this setup will be used primarily swinging flies on the salmon river in Pulaski, the river isn't that big so a super long cast is not necessary, at least I don't think it is.