I posted a rod balance question recently and didn't get the direction I was hoping for so I'll ask a few more questions and decide what to do myself. I've been reading in the history and someone asked what was a switch rod. The response was;

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Re: Dan Craft FT Switch Rod Update
Posted by: Bob Crook (---.an2.sea18.da.uu.net)
Date: January 25, 2005 09:39PM


A switch rod is fly rod that can be cast one handed as a regular fly rod or used two handed as a spey rod. It has a butt that is usally shorter than that on a spey only rod.


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But I'd like to know why a switch rod will have less guides on it compared to a fly rod with conventional spacings and what that difference in rod sensitivety exibits. I asked Bob Meiser about guide spacings already and because he doesn't chuck n' duck - he couldn't help me. Any technical info on what a switch rod does with less guides would be appreciated. Thanks.

Tim,
The number of guides used on any rod is a trade off between more guides for better stress distribution and fewer guides for less weight and therefore better performance. I do not really understand why a switch rod is somehow different.

Just a guess, but it would seem like a switch would have a longer handel area than a conventional 1-handed, thus leaving less room for guides.

I have heard the term used to describe fly / spin rods as well. Using handle extensions to create a spin casting handle and guides that are spaced in such a way that both fly line and mono can be used.