I'd recomend using a 6/7 on a #7 switch rod, 7/8 on an 8 etc unless the rod happens to be a real poker. One thing to bear in mind with the Elixir, it is heavy. The new Snowbee looks similar to the Beulah. Welcome to Troutcatchers - Your local 'Worldwide' Fly Fishing Superstore - Designed to provide you, the discerning game angler, with a huge selection of the finest quality Fly Fishing Tackle, Fly Tying Tools, Fly Tying Materials, Trout Flies and much more at very competitive prices.
![snowbee magic line snowbee magic line](https://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/7KEAAOSweaBeQ~C3/s-l600.jpg)
I've not tried the Rio but it looks to me as if it is designed with dead drifting at range in mind. Nice for swinging small flies on lighter leaders in the summer, longer head & back taper helps line control on the water, there will be a long belly Orvis switch line coming in the future, exact head length escapes me. The Orvis line is a good compromise, longer rear taper and head makes it less bumpy overhead and it feels lighter than the Beulah, more stable overhead and less hard work to use singlehanded but does not have the pull & bang of the Beluah for two handed use. If I line the rod with a single handed line, it wil cast well as a single hander but, two handed it is awful, no feel or sensation of rod loading and a single handed line will only carry single handed size flies. This line gets very bumpy when overhead cast and feels very heavy to use single handed, although it is possible to overhead and double haul I would not want to do it for a long period but, for a few casts it goes a very long way, will hit 100' quite easily. I have settled on the Beulah Elixir line which has a short head and I fish this with either 6' or 10' Rio polyleaders, short rear taper so shoots and loads up well with Speys, quite large tip diameter so will turn over gear. It has a 30ft head and was designed to be used with 10ft poly-leaders, both floating. Everyone that tried it said it was the best switch line on the market. An 11' single handed rod just feels a little cumbersome to me and I find them tiring to use all day. We/many other guides/instructors tried the Snowbee line on the G.Loomis, and the Snowbee Switch rod (7weight). The rod is used in situations where space is tight and I need to throw bigger or heavier flies that cannot be cast easily on a single handed rod. Personally I view my switch rod as a small double handed rod and line it as such.
![snowbee magic line snowbee magic line](https://www-anglingdirect-co.uk.imgeng.in/media/catalog/product/cache/2ebeb3c3cedae4f4b71cb076d73d4e56/S/n/Snowbee_midas_magic_fly_selection_2.jpg)
When wade fishing a lake i find it useful to patiently wait on foot mostly out of the water until i see a fish to throw to - on the theory i can move around more quickly and quietly than if i am already butt-deep in the water.I've fished switch rods for a few years now and played with a lot of different set ups & lines and even after a lot of experimentation I'm not conviced that the whole US "switch concept" transfers well to our fishing situations but maybe I'm still missing something. I also notice that tubers, kayakers and pontooners are able to get much closer than i can in my aluminum boat.
![snowbee magic line snowbee magic line](https://www.troutcatchers.co.uk/Files/113587/Img/21/Snowbee_Monofilament_Leaders.jpg)
During a real hatch with multiple fish rising, it also helps me at times just to drop an anchor, and sit quietly while teh fish get used to the boat and come in closer. But sometimes when fish are rising and just a tiny bit too far away i push myself around with my cheap "emergency" paddle a quick, quiet stroke or 2 sometimes does the trick. More specifically i often fish out of a 15' aluminum Gregor with a 20hp gas motor and a good electric troller. If not it becomes more so after you consistently throw a fly 10 to 15 short of where the 20" fish is motoring past. The latter point may seem obvious to some. I solve the distance problem on lakes in at least two ways: 1. all of this is sort of beside the main initial point raised by the OP but: I fish a lot on big lakes with big, wise fish.