Gerry, I've tried a few tapers and switch lines. If you plan to do more single hand Spey and simple snap-t's with 2 hands, I'd suggest uplining one weight with a Salmon/Steel taper. Orvis makes a very good one. Rio has a switch line that is very similar. Uplining one weight usually will suffice to work within 60-70 feet and cast flies from 6 to 2/0 with ease. A nine wt. head on the S/S taper will come in right around 400 gr. The Ambush lines have a VERY short head- 20', which puts it out of my use range. The heads too short to make effective mends. You can shoot alot of line, but you can't do squat once it's there. Not for me. It's why you need to upline it by 2 to make enough weight for it to load the rod. Though I pride myself on casting and love flyfishing because of the art and skill involved in it, the ambush is more of a "toy" taper, to me. It's very good for firing off a quick cast to a tarpon. DEC hasn't stocked them yet, so I'm SOL.
A 9 or 10 wt. Double Taper would also fill the bill. I use a 10 wt. on a 9 for salmon, and have no problem putting flies across the river. Long belly lines excel at mending, in other words, they're great for steel. You can find numbers of DT's on sale in heavy weights. The switch and Spey lines are starting to take their place. Personally, I hope they stick around awhile. I have an old 8 wt. Orvis S/S
that I can send you to try. It's cracked, but would make an excellent lawn line.
You'll be able to judge alot from it. It was exceptionally good on my 11' 7 wt. (I use a 10' now) You can send it back when you're done. Maybe swinging some large articulated sculpins on the Housy with that rod?
(I've fished around Cornwall in the winter).
PM me your addie.
Charlie