Thoughts on a Travel Rod/Gear for Fall River Fishing?
Posted: Tue Aug 21, 2018 12:40 am
First time poster here, so if I'm doing something wrong here, please let me know.
I'm taking a five day trip to Washington in the middle of September with my family. The details haven't been hashed out completely yet, but it looks like we'll spend two days near Northern Cascades National Park and three days further south near Mount Rainier National Park. Most of the vacation houses we've been looking at are on or near rivers (Skykomish, Nooksack, Wenatchee, etc.), so I was planning on getting a three-day license so I could do some fishing.
I live in California and while I've done some surf fishing and lake fishing, I've never done any river fishing before so I'm looking for some advice. I like to travel light (i.e. no checked luggage) so I was thinking about getting one of the four-piece St. Croix Triumph travel rods specifically for this trip, then pairing it with a small spinning reel spooled up with some 4-8 lb braid. I have some small spinners, spoons, and bucktails leftover from a trout fishing trip to Lassen National Park in far Northern California, and was planning on trying my luck with those.
Now, from my preliminary research, it seems like my proposed setup (5' 6" to 6' 6" rod with light tackle) is not what most people use for fishing Washington rivers. Will I have any chance at catching something with a travel rod? If so, any suggestions on action, line weight, lures, etc.? And if not, any suggestions on an alternative?
My goal here is to just have some fun; I'm not going to spend the whole time fishing (it's a family vacation, not a fishing trip) and I'm not trying to land "the big one" or put food on the table. But it would be nice to at least have a fighting chance and I'm all ears for whatever suggestions you have. Thanks in advance for your advice and expertise!
I'm taking a five day trip to Washington in the middle of September with my family. The details haven't been hashed out completely yet, but it looks like we'll spend two days near Northern Cascades National Park and three days further south near Mount Rainier National Park. Most of the vacation houses we've been looking at are on or near rivers (Skykomish, Nooksack, Wenatchee, etc.), so I was planning on getting a three-day license so I could do some fishing.
I live in California and while I've done some surf fishing and lake fishing, I've never done any river fishing before so I'm looking for some advice. I like to travel light (i.e. no checked luggage) so I was thinking about getting one of the four-piece St. Croix Triumph travel rods specifically for this trip, then pairing it with a small spinning reel spooled up with some 4-8 lb braid. I have some small spinners, spoons, and bucktails leftover from a trout fishing trip to Lassen National Park in far Northern California, and was planning on trying my luck with those.
Now, from my preliminary research, it seems like my proposed setup (5' 6" to 6' 6" rod with light tackle) is not what most people use for fishing Washington rivers. Will I have any chance at catching something with a travel rod? If so, any suggestions on action, line weight, lures, etc.? And if not, any suggestions on an alternative?
My goal here is to just have some fun; I'm not going to spend the whole time fishing (it's a family vacation, not a fishing trip) and I'm not trying to land "the big one" or put food on the table. But it would be nice to at least have a fighting chance and I'm all ears for whatever suggestions you have. Thanks in advance for your advice and expertise!