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Hi Experts - I need some advice on buying a couple fishing rods.
1) I want one rod for trolling for Wipers and Walleye. I will be trolling cranks and bottom bouncers with side planer boards. Fish size is up to 5 lbs. What power, action, and length do you recommend? What line guides do you recommend? What makes and models would be the best quality for the buck? By the way I also need to use this rod for bait fishing for wipers off the boat.
2) I want another rod for jigging for large macs at Bear Lake. Big fish, long line, subtle bits (requires sensitivity and ability to set the hook). What power, action, and length do you recommend?
Thanks
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[#0000FF]I make most of my own rods, so I usually have a range of lengths, powers and actions from which to choose on any given trip.
Trolling for wipers and walleyes: Two options. One is a 6.5 to 7 foot rod...medium to med. heavy...with a moderate to slow action. Fast actions are better for casting. More flex in the rod helps absorb shock on the strike. A second option is an 8-9 foot trolling rod with similar weight and action. The longer rods are good for fishing out to the side...to help spread the lures out further from the boat. Also good if you are fishing side planers.
No need for roller guides or anything beyond good Fuji style guides.
The quality standard for many anglers are the St. Croix rods. But, unless you are experienced and sensitive enough to know and appreciate the difference you will be spending more than you need to in order to catch fish. However, if you are doing a lot of casting and retrieving on cranks...or working plastics...then you want all of the sensitivity and quality you can afford. Touch is everything.
Deep jigging for macks? Lots of different opinions on this one. Some of the "mack pack" prefer 7 foot med. heavy rods with fast action...for sweeping hooksets and fish control. In recent years a lot more deep jiggers are moving towards shorter rods of 42 -48 inches...on a medium action blank. Fishing with these rods from a boat is almost like ice fishing. But it is less tiring over a long day of working jigs in deep water to be holding the shorter and lighter rods. And if you build them right, there is both plenty of sensitivity to feel the bite and power to hook and battle the fish effectively.
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I prefer a 7' medium action spinning rod with a 30 or 40 series reel my favorite right now is the Okuma Caymar; Field and Stream rated them the best reel for the money last year they are $40. I have always had to fish on a budget. I can not afford St. Croix or lamiglas rods so, I buy rods on clearance when possible some less expensive rods I have had good luck with are Berkly Lightning Rods, Quantam Affinity and the mid-range Cabelas rods. You can cast, troll or fish bait with them. The medium action has a stiff backbone for setting hooks and also has a sensitive tip for detecting bites. I like to use my kokanee light action down rigger rods for trolling cranks for wipers and flat lining for other species, they are Okuma 7' Celio kokanee pro paired with Abu Garcia black max bait casting reels. they are slow action and are a hoot to fight feisty Wipers on.
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Hey Pat - In your last paragraph on the Mack Pack, you said some are heading to jig rods at 48". You said they were "medium Action". What power are they? Are they Medium-Heavy power with medium/moderate action? or are they medium(moderate) power with medium action? thx
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Hey Obifhish - Thanks for your response and good information. I have another question. You said you like a spinning rod for casting and jigging that is a 7' medium action. I got the action=medium, but what is the power? (medium power or med-heavy power?). thx
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[#0000FF]It is really a matter of personal preference...based on how heavy your jigs will be, how deep the fish will be and how large the fish are likely to be.
Captain Jim, at Flaming Gorge, makes his rods about 42 inches...from 5 or 6 foot blanks cut down to size. And he cuts some off the tip and some off the butt to get just the action he wants. He starts with a medium light power but probably ends up with something closer to medium.
There are plenty of other mack chasers that believe in going big...using med-heavy or even heavy. The most important thing is to have the sensitivity to feel the lightest nudge, and the power to set the hook a long ways down and to handle the fish in the shortest amount of time to reduce stressing it.
Below is a picture of a set of 3 rods I made for a fellow BFTer...with three different colors of all the same blank. They were 48 inches long and had fast tips for touch and plenty of beef in the butt. Started out with 6 foot medium power fast tip blanks.
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So if I buy a single "off-the shelf" rod for jigging and casting at Willard and also deep jigging at Bear Lake; would you suggest a 6' rod medium-heavy power with a medium action or a fast action? I am not sure about the relationship between "action" and "sensitivity" in medium quality off the shelf rods. thx
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[#0000FF]That would probably be a good rod for you. As you get more experienced and proficient you may find that you would prefer differences in your setup.
Having a fast tip is not necessary for casting light lures in vertical jigging. However, a big part of your success will depend on being able to watch the tip of your rod for any minor tweaks...in addition to being able to feel the solid takes. Even though macks are large fish (hopefully), they do not always smash your jig. Sometimes the bite is registered only as a slight sideways twitch of the line or a minor dip in the rod tip.
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TD - So is a fast action going to be more sensitive to the feel and also tip movement than a medium action?
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[#0000FF]Not necessarily. Sensitivity...feel...is determined by several things. First, the composition of the rod. High quality graphite is more sensitive than lower quality graphite...or glass. Next is line. Braid will give you better feel than mono...especially in deeper water. Third is gloves vs no gloves. Obvious.
The fast tip allows for better visual cues. If there is just a slight tick on the rod you can see it...even if you don't feel it. Serious mackers tune out everything else in the universe when they are holding a rod and trying to finesse a fish. They not only go for feel but watch the line and the rod too. Any change in the "force" is worthy of a hookset. Hooksets are free and if you learn to anticipate and react quickly you will hook a lot more fish than someone who waits for a hard strike every time.
For that reason...and that reason alone...some mack specialists use lighter rods. They would rather have greater sensitivity and visible indicators of strikes...and sacrifice a bit of power for the fight. It is possible to battle in a pretty hefty mack through the ice on even a medium light rod. Not as good for the fish, because they exhaust themselves more during the battle and need more resuscitation if you plan to release them.
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So if I understand right, a good general rod, off the shelf, for jigging for macs would be a graphite, 6', medium power, fast action?
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[#0000FF]And that same rod would be good for casting or trolling for wipers and walleyes. A good multi purpose choice. The only remaining problem would be the loose nut on the handle.
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I resemble that remark.[shocked] thanks for the info. I do have another question. If jigging for macs, should I load the reel with braided line and just have a certain amount of floro-carbon leader (10' ?)? If so, how much braid and what weight and how much floro-carbon and what weight? thx.
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[#0000FF]I do not jig for macks, but I know a lot of those who do prefer braid for the main line with a few feet of fluoro or their favorite mono as a leader. 15 to 20 pound braid and 10-12 pound fluoro will get the job done if you have good line and tie good knots.
The braid is so much better for deep jigging because there is no stretch and no coiling memory as with a lot of mono.
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