Casting Rod Questions

You might take a look at this:

http://www.tackletour.com/reviewokuma711mhsb.html

Okuma's Guide Select swim bait rods were compared favorably to others costing 3x as much. Lifetime warranty. $109($119)??? retail

The XH model is rated for lures from 2-10oz

Ben

You might take a look at this:

http://www.tackletour.com/reviewokuma711mhsb.html

Okuma's Guide Select swim bait rods were compared favorably to others costing 3x as much. Lifetime warranty. $109($119)??? retail

The XH model is rated for lures from 2-10oz

Ben

hey thanks, Ben.  That is exactly what I'm looking for...especially the price.  Home run.

Dave,

The passing around the bow "feature" is highly over rated IMHO for rockies/lings/butts. As in I've never once needed it with a fish on. So it boils down to what you gain in casting distance, you are really going to pay for with additional rod weight and extra fatigue on your arms and back. Salmon/Steelhead rods are more moderate in action and power than what I personally prefer. Since it seems you'd really like to use the longer rod, I suggest that you start out with one 8 feet long, rather than 9.

Regards,
Scott

Dave,

The passing around the bow "feature" is highly over rated IMHO for rockies/lings/butts. As in I've never once needed it with a fish on. So it boils down to what you gain in casting distance, you are really going to pay for with additional rod weight and extra fatigue on your arms and back. Salmon/Steelhead rods are more moderate in action and power than what I personally prefer. Since it seems you'd really like to use the longer rod, I suggest that you start out with one 8 feet long, rather than 9.

Regards,
Scott

Scott, I think you;re right about the bow feature.  I've been fishing rockies and lings from a yak for a long time and I've never really run into that problem.  I just want to launch 3 - 6 oz swimbaits.  I was just out sand-dabbing with Norm today and he says many times he can do the same thing on a party boat.  Folks aren't catching much jigging, but he's launching fishtraps and killing it.

The above rod that Ben pointed out seems to be the answer - and as you suggest it's 7'11" and made for NASA style launching. All I need is a countdown.
 

50 fish days rockfishing are not too uncommon as they are plentiful and don't need much coaxing to bite.  They also don't pull very hard in general so the issue of more strain on the body that comes with a longer rod, like the reaching around the bow issue, doesn't really come into play up here unless you are catching all 20 plus pound ling cod.    

I would agree that a long rod can wear you out when fishing for fish that pull really hard, like yellowtail (not the rockfish variety) and larger tuna species.  Long broomstick rods (jigsticks), used for casting distance with surface iron for big yellowtail is best reserved for the young and strong, but I digress.  The nine foot rod I use for swinbait fishing is a light graphite blank with a cork handle and hardly weighs more than a bass rod.  coupled with a high quality, high speed reel, usually either a calcutta 400 or a newel (even lighter), 50 and more fish days are not a problem.  When drifting accross a relatively flat area, casting up drift so that you are working the swimbait without dragging it, doing a slow crank and freespool drop back to the bottom is what makes the difference.  If the drift is faster than very slow, a shorter rod is a very big disadvantage for this type of fishing because you just can't get the distance while sitting to make this technique work effectively.  I realize that not many folks use this technique up here in the north, even on the party boats which I thought was strange, but then the rockfish are so plentiful and usually hungry up here, you don't have to employ much in the way of technique to catch some.

I just like swimbait fishing more than jigging when possible.  Like rod lenght, it's a preference thing and some techniques depend on different weights and lengths.  Give it a try before condemning it, you might be surprised.

Norm

Here's a pretty good explanation of power and action from the St. Croix website.

http://www.stcroixrods.com/content.asp?id=70

Lure rating is another term that requires context.  A rod rated to cast 1 to 5 oz lures may perform optimally with a different range of lure weights when fished in a jigging application.

Why would you want such a long rod for fishing for rockies from the kayak?  There are lots of advantages to a shorter rod (7 to 7.5 foot) for jigging applications as opposed to a longer rod.  Particularly when casting distance doesn't really matter, as in the case of rockfishing.

EK

Thanks for the great info KZ.

When I was out with Norm (Nawm) on a number of occasions, he had this 9' stick that could literally mission control style launch a 3-4 oz fishtrap.  He would then do a real slow retrieve, using the end of the rod to lift up the fishtrap periodically then let it settle back to the bottom.  It is the most effective rockfish and lingcod catching method I've ever seen.  On at least 4 different occasions he out fished me and everyone else in the group.  He has at least outfished me by no less than 3 to 1 every time I've been out with him.  It's not just luck; this thing works.

In general, I've always liked casting for rockies and lings.  I feel like I can cover more area.

this is a great way to go in santa cruz I have found. if there is a big drift or it's super snaggy, then this method loses lures. otherwise tho, it is great!

I've had days were a "horizontal" presentation just flat produced, to the tune of almost a fish a cast, when vertical jigging was sloooooow.

I've had a bunch of days like that.  I just thought my jigging technique was poor.   One day when Norm was really outfishing me, he was also really out-casting me - like 2x as far.  And I was using a big spinning setup.


Thanks for the info, Scott.  I was thinking of a big "steelhead/salmon" rod?

The custom rod EK made for me (8' rainshadow blank, extended to 8'3") casts a fishtrap or 3.5oz megabait a long way easily.  it has a moderate action, very sensitive. it is a 2 piece rod so it's no big deal to store or stow.

a steelhead rod would work, but most of them struggle with much weight and the slower action is easier to cast and handle with braid.

I like the long boats (15'+), I like to cast way behind me and then troll, I'm not that tall (5'9"). short rod is great if you are in a big pile of fish, but if you are searching for them, I will take the longer rod.

John

For casting 1-3 oz swimbaits I use a 7' Lamiglas CG Inshore rod. For throwing 4-6 oz surface iron I use a Calstar GF 750 ML which is a 7.5' rod. I have a Loomis 8.5' hotshot rod which I used to use for rock fish but found it too long for my likes. 

if you are still looking for a good rod, should check this out.  they are having a sale and $5 shipping fee for $150 or more purchase.
http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/templates/links/link.jsp?id=0042468121625a&type=product&cmCat=SEARCH_all&returnPage=search-results1.jsp&Ntk=Products&QueryText=salt+striker+ti&sort=all&_D%3AhasJS=+&N=0&Nty=1&hasJS=true&_DARGS=%2Fcabelas%2Fen%2Fcommon%2Fsearch%2Fsearch-box.jsp.form23&_dyncharset=ISO-8859-1
i have one of SSTiC-704 and love it.  the rear grip is about 10" long and very light in weight.  very sturdy.  i had fished sturgeon with this rod, and it handled the weight of a 50" sturgie w/out any problem.
it also comes with 25yr warranty.  i recently broke one of the guides (it was my fault) and sent it back in for a replacement.  they replaced it with a brand new one,,,no questions asked.

one bad thing about the okuma rods. the rear grip is too long for fishing while sitting down..

on the bow thing... I like to fish on the left side of the boat if I can, but I like to land the fish on the right side if I want to keep it.

means you need to go across the bow at some point.

Also sometimes you are fishing and drifting and need to get the line from one side of the boat to the other.

lastly another horizontal technique is to cast way behind you, then troll slowly, here again, a longer rod to move the line from behind you to in front of you is easier with a longer rod.

One of my kayak rods is a $40 8.5' shakespeare catera IM-8 graphite 10-30lb 2 piece steelhead (or something?) rod. Not as nice as my EK rod although compa did re-wrap it with spiral wrap ceramic guides which is a huge improvement, but it works great for the horizontal presentation styles and well enough for the vertical presentations.