what fishing ride should I get??

S

starcrafttom

Active member
what fishing rod should I get is a question that I am asked a lot around this site and else where. In the last few years I have tried a lot of cheap rods because I do not like to spend much money and I am cheap. Cheap in the way that I will spend the least for the most I can get. I also just do not believe that you need a $300 rod to catch fish. I would would rather spend the money on reels, and even then I will not spend more then $200. I just can't do it.

So when I find a GOOD cheap rod for a good price I get a few because the manufactures like to change the rods every other year for some reason. Sell more rods or try to make a stick look like a new stick.

So I found a great cheap rod a few years ago. Then they discontinued it. Next year they changed it a little, not as good. This year they changed it a little and I like it better then last year. They are about to discontinued it again so I have bought a few. Cabelas has lowered the price to $49 each from $99 each when it was first offered this year. That is a great price for a good rod so I thought I would post it here.

What do I like about this rod? Well it has a cork handle. I hate rubber handles, they feel and the look of them. It has a lot of guides at 15. More guides spread the stress of fighting a fish. The rod is rated for 1 to 8 ounces of lead but is still light in feel and provides for a good fight. I hate a stiff rod. It also is enough to fish for lings. I use 2 to 6 oz of lead for ling so this rod is great for that but still light enough for silver's to put up a great fight. Even pinks would be ok. I have used to for lings, downrigger for silvers and kings and even mooch trolling for silvers with 5 oz and a flasher and the rod has done it all. So if you can afford only one rod for the PNW and your proud to be cheap like I am then this rod is for you.

ROD MODEL:WMHD93C2

wright and mcgill.

http://www.cabelas.com/product/Wright-M ... 665847.uts
 
I used to feel the same way about fishing rods as you. Than Kathy gave me a G Loomis rod for Christmas one year and now I have four of them in the boat. They are Loomis 3's medium action. They are SO sensitive! I can see light hits so much better, and even on a down rigger it is easier to see if my line is fowled. Fighting even a small fish is so much more fun. And isn't that why we fish? With the rods I have now I can fish For salmon in the sound, cutthroat in Lake Washington, or change reels and flip egg clusters on the Cowlitz river for Steelies. And G Loomis does stand behind their product. Break a tip, and I have , take it to the dealear, they ship it to the factory and Loomis ships you a new one no questions asked. To me any other rod feels like I am fishing with a mop handle.
 
My buddy bought a nice 10' G-Loomis rod for the boat. It is very sensitive and it is a bit more fun to fish with. That said, the reel seat is too small to properly seat our Shimano reels so we have to use a zip tie to keep it in place. Also, while it is very sensitive, it also takes a bit longer to land big fish as it's so floppy near the tip. You simply can't lift a big fish up to the net until it's really tired out with such a floppy rod. He stuck it in the rotation a few times when we were trolling for tuna and then it's completely ridiculous - it probably adds 5-10 mins onto the time necessary to land a fish. I call it the noodle rod.

I use (and have purchased many) Okuma SST Graphite Casting Salmon/Steelhead Rods in the medium heavy or medium extra heavy weight. I get them for around $70-80. I buy 9' (actually 9'3"). The advantage of a longer rod is that you can get the fish close to the boat even with a fairly long leader. While these feel like "broom handles" relative to a Loomis, they allow me to land fish much quicker and release them in a healthier state if they must be released. Since they are fiberglass, they also make good downrigger rods. The stiffness is an advantage if I use them for diver rods and I have even used them in my tuna spread as they can handle that too. To be honest, the downside is that I probably lose an occasional salmon on them that I might have landed with a softer rod. The softer rod will keep the line more taught on short movements towards boat. Still, I never have a problem limiting where I fish so that's not a huge issue for me.
 
Yes I got the 9 foot 3 rods.

these rods are light enough to feel the bottom and the little shakers on the downriggers. They are not broom sticks thats why I bought them. IM7 graphite is good stuff.

I think rods have gotten a lot like computer and lap tops. You can spend more for a little faster, better, more memory. But in the end a $300 laptop will do everything I need it to do and a lot more. Like I said you can spend a lot more but this rod still catches the three fish I fish for the most in my area. Kings, silvers, and lings. Combined with Shimano Tekota 300 with line counter and you have all you need for fishing in the PNW. I even use this set up for back trolling plugs in the river.
 
Peter they are model 3's medium action . They have a good strong backbone on them but nice and light on the upper end.
Roger, yeah they are "noodle" rods and I would not use them for halibut, but would not hesitate to fish tuna with them. For salmon fishing I use bait casting reels anyway. For steelhead fishing I just switch to a left handed retreive reel. And if it takes 5 minutes longer to net a fish that is just a plus in my book. I never have been one to horse fish in the boat.
 
Spike":3tv48dfg said:
I used to feel the same way about fishing rods as you. Than Kathy gave me a G Loomis rod for Christmas one year and now I have four of them in the boat. They are Loomis 3's medium action. They are SO sensitive! I can see light hits so much better, and even on a down rigger it is easier to see if my line is fowled. Fighting even a small fish is so much more fun. And isn't that why we fish? With the rods I have now I can fish For salmon in the sound, cutthroat in Lake Washington, or change reels and flip egg clusters on the Cowlitz river for Steelies. And G Loomis does stand behind their product. Break a tip, and I have , take it to the dealear, they ship it to the factory and Loomis ships you a new one no questions asked. To me any other rod feels like I am fishing with a mop handle.
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I have a g-loomis 8'6 rod for fishing the rivers and small fish on the boat (flounders, etc). I love the sensitivity on that rod.

I am trying to avoid spending too much $$$ on rods and also trying to get gear that overlaps. I know some fishermen that have 20+ rods and tons of reels that they never use but keep nonetheless. I would rather have better quality but less of it.

Also, I would prefer that my personal gear be of top quality. The other gear aboard for guests usage can be of slightly lesser quality :)
 
I have an older fennwick glass rod that I absolutely love to use for the downriggers. I think its 9'3" and its light enough I can see the action of the gear while trolling, so I know everything is working right.

I liked it so much I bought a lammiglass copy last year for around $100. Lammiglass bought the molds from fennwick when they went out of business and continues to make them. These have cork handles, which is a must for me. I also prefer glass rods over graphite for saltwater fishing, but thats just a personal preference. Not many choices left in glass.

I tried to switch to a longer rod last year to add some tension, but they dont fit up in the berth. I prefer to store them up out of the way instead of leaving them in the elements or in the eyes of potential theives.

I see some people using really light rods for fishing with downriggers and although its nice fighting the fish on those rods, I also think that with that much line out and so far down in the water, they dont have the tension to set the hook as well. A medium action rod has the stiffness to set the hook when it comes unclipped from the downrigger ball leading to alot less lost fish.

My go to rod for the river is a g loomis 9' in medium light action, I love that rod. So sensitive and it really does seem to magically land more fish in the river. I can't explain it other then possibly the action of the rod makes the plug or lure more desireable? No clue but it catches more fish 3 to 1 on the river then other rods. I cant justify spending 3 or 4 bills on a downrigger rod. Ive seen people break their $400 G Loomis rods in half trying to release the clip.
 
PaulNBriannaLynn":ay4onsja said:
I have an older fennwick glass rod that I absolutely love to use for the downriggers. I think its 9'3" and its light enough I can see the action of the gear while trolling, so I know everything is working right.

I liked it so much I bought a lammiglass copy last year for around $100. Lammiglass bought the molds from fennwick when they went out of business and continues to make them. These have cork handles, which is a must for me. I also prefer glass rods over graphite for saltwater fishing, but thats just a personal preference. Not many choices left in glass.

I tried to switch to a longer rod last year to add some tension, but they dont fit up in the berth. I prefer to store them up out of the way instead of leaving them in the elements or in the eyes of potential theives.

I see some people using really light rods for fishing with downriggers and although its nice fighting the fish on those rods, I also think that with that much line out and so far down in the water, they dont have the tension to set the hook as well. A medium action rod has the stiffness to set the hook when it comes unclipped from the downrigger ball leading to alot less lost fish.

My go to rod for the river is a g loomis 9' in medium light action, I love that rod. So sensitive and it really does seem to magically land more fish in the river. I can't explain it other then possibly the action of the rod makes the plug or lure more desireable? No clue but it catches more fish 3 to 1 on the river then other rods. I cant justify spending 3 or 4 bills on a downrigger rod. Ive seen people break their $400 G Loomis rods in half trying to release the clip.
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Yeah, no G-Loomis down rigger rods for me. I am going to use Toms $49 special. The G-Loomis is for the flounders and river fish. I may give it a go for Ling Cod just to see how it responds. its the 12-18lb GL-2 Medium Heavy, Fast Action that I got from Ebay used for around $150.

Do you think this could be used for Ling Cod or should I go heavier duty on the rod?
 
redbaronace":dg7nw5o3 said:
PaulNBriannaLynn":dg7nw5o3 said:
I have an older fennwick glass rod that I absolutely love to use for the downriggers. I think its 9'3" and its light enough I can see the action of the gear while trolling, so I know everything is working right.

I liked it so much I bought a lammiglass copy last year for around $100. Lammiglass bought the molds from fennwick when they went out of business and continues to make them. These have cork handles, which is a must for me. I also prefer glass rods over graphite for saltwater fishing, but thats just a personal preference. Not many choices left in glass.

I tried to switch to a longer rod last year to add some tension, but they dont fit up in the berth. I prefer to store them up out of the way instead of leaving them in the elements or in the eyes of potential theives.

I see some people using really light rods for fishing with downriggers and although its nice fighting the fish on those rods, I also think that with that much line out and so far down in the water, they dont have the tension to set the hook as well. A medium action rod has the stiffness to set the hook when it comes unclipped from the downrigger ball leading to alot less lost fish.

My go to rod for the river is a g loomis 9' in medium light action, I love that rod. So sensitive and it really does seem to magically land more fish in the river. I can't explain it other then possibly the action of the rod makes the plug or lure more desireable? No clue but it catches more fish 3 to 1 on the river then other rods. I cant justify spending 3 or 4 bills on a downrigger rod. Ive seen people break their $400 G Loomis rods in half trying to release the clip.
Click to expand...



Yeah, no G-Loomis down rigger rods for me. I am going to use Toms $49 special. The G-Loomis is for the flounders and river fish. I may give it a go for Ling Cod just to see how it responds. its the 12-18lb GL-2 Medium Heavy, Fast Action that I got from Ebay used for around $150.

Do you think this could be used for Ling Cod or should I go heavier duty on the rod?
Click to expand...

That rod I believe is rated for 1-6oz of weight. It will work for using jigs up to 6oz. But when we fish with live bait we sometimes go up to 10-12oz of lead. That would be too much weight for the rod. I would feel better using the w & m rod for under 70 dollars and having a rod that is rated for 8oz of lead.
 
I like the ugly sticks.

They come in many different models to suit your fishing needs and are reasonably priced and seems to be durable.

I gave up on the more expensive rods as they would loose eyes and become unusable. Even my first ugly stick is still fishable.

I don't buy the less expensive rods as I think value and quality are proven to me on the ugly stick.

For really cheap gear you could go to garage sales.
 
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