Northwest Fishing Reports

I am looking for suggestions on a good all around setups, if there is such a thing, for my wife and I.

I grew up trolling for salmon from a boat but never fished much other than that. I got my wife started by borrowing some gear from a friend and I took her fishing for rainbow trout from docks. She enjoyed that so we picked a couple 6' Shimano Sojourn light rods and spinning reels. I went with light rods just to make trout fishing more fun for me. That worked out great for the first year of fishing for rainbows and a few walleye from shore. Now this year we got a small boat so I picked up some downriggers, Daiwa Wilderness trolling rods and Penn 209 reels and taught her how to salmon fish in the Puget Sound.

Now she is really hooked and wants to fish more but each time we fish for something different I feel like we don't have the right gear. We have been trolling for trout with the light gear which works okay but I wished we had longer slightly longer\heavier rods. We have also been fishing the Snoqualmie river for pinks using the same light weight trout gear with 8lb test line. Its been fun so far but I don't expect my rod to hold up to the stress much longer especially now that the Coho are coming.

I'm happy with the cheap rods we purchased for their intended functions but I don't think I looked far enough ahead at what else we might fish for and should have paid more for setups that would have been more versatile.

Here is how we fish today.
Saltwater - Salmon trolling with downriggers, mooching and jigging.
Lakes - Trolling for Trout, Kokanee and Walleye. Bottom fishing for trout and perch.
Rivers - Mostly casting from banks for salmon and steelhead but waders and drift fishing may be in our near future.

I've considered getting just some baitcating reels to use on the downrigger rods for when we need heavier freshwater gear and maybe upgrading the trout poles to something longer with a ML action.

Does anyone have any thoughts suggestions? I'd prefer not to spend a lot of money partly because I am poor right now and have to buy everything in pairs and partly because we have a bad habbit of finding a new expensive hobby every other year and I am not sure yet fishing will be something we do long term.

Cabela's has a 7' DepthMaster Kokanee rod that I think is rated 8-17lb. I picked one up on sale a week or two ago with a level wind line counter reel for $49 to have as a back-up salmon downrigger rod and I love it. I could not find the exact model on their website. It is black and gold like their other depthmaster rods but it says Kokanee on it. It has great sensitivity and a even rod flex all the way to the butt. So far, I have used it for 10-12lb cohos, bunch of 5-8lb pinks, and a few trout and kokanee. It felt responsive yet plenty strong for all these fish.

Another fairly inexpensive rod that I like is the new Ugly Stik GX2. They offer a 1 piece 7' (8-20lbs) or a 2 piece 7' (6-15lbs) and both are good rods.

I think 7 feet is the ideal length for a do-it-all rod because it is long enough to work well in a downrigger, provides adequate casting distance, and gives you plenty of shock absorption when fighting a good size fish while remaining short enough to be manageable and easy to transport.

Good luck finding one that will work for you!

Thanks for the tips Cascadian

I was eyeballing the Shimano TDR 8' 8-17 rod as my light weight trolling rod but for the same price including a reel the Cabela's combo is worth checking out.

I'm getting anxious for the Coho to start showing up in bigger numbers near me on the Snoqualmie but still don't have a proper rod for them yet. I tried using my 9' downrigger rod on the river last week and it didn't work well for me at all. Too long for shore casting and the action is real slow.

I like cheap fiberglass rods for trolling. I have a feeling I am going to end up with 4 rods soon. Light trolling(possibly that Cabelas combo), my existing med\heavy trolling and light spinning plus a med or med\heavy casting.

I was just having this convo with a buddy the other day. He recommended a medium power rod with a fast action tip. Somewhere in the 8' to 8'6" range in 8-15 lbs, or somewhere close to that. That should cover most situations.

You can get a Lamiglas X-11 medium power 8'6" for around $80-90. Here is a link to the spinning version.

http://www.fishusa.com/Product/Lamiglas ... nning-Rods

There are also shorter versions if you want an 8 footer.

Thanks Mizm,

The X-11 looks nice and is one of the rods that popped up on my radar while searching. For about the same price I was also looking at the Shimano Clarus. The lifetime over the counter replacement warranty has a lot of appeal to me.

I think a big source of the trouble I am having making this decision comes from browsing manufacturer websites. Each manufacturer lists 100+ rods each of which is designed for a very specific species and technique. Under salmon\steelhead you see rods designed for floating, drifting, side drifting, bouncing, plunking, etc. Has me nervous I am going to pick up another rod that just doesn't quite work for what I am doing. Shakespeare seems to market their ugly stick rods pretty generically which is also tempting to me. Their salmon rod is rated for 8-20lb line and the technique=Salmon\Steelhead. Sounds good, that should cover everything, can't go wrong with that, right?

Probably time for me to stop worrying, just hit the store, grab a couple rods the right weight, call it good and get fishing

I was going to get the Clarus. Called Sportco in Fife, gave the guy the serial number, he tells me they have one left and he'll hold it for me. Drive from Kent to Fife on my lunch break and he hands me the rod and I tell him I want to find a decent reel to go with it. He takes me to the bait casters and then I notice the small rod guides on the pole. He messed up with the serial numbers and they actually didn't have the spinning version in stock. So I went with my backup choice, the Fenwick HMX. Was recommended to me by a fishing buddy and I'm loving it. It also has a lifetime warranty, just not over the counter like the Clarus. Once you get a decent rod, it's a whole new ball game. Been breaking it in on the Green over in Auburn. Been slaying green and purple pinks...yuck...but I keep the hens for eggs. Come October me and my new steed will be bringing in silvers on the Puyallup and the Green. Loving my new rod and reel (got an Okuma RTX 35 for the reel and I absolutely love that too).

Good luck finding the right one for you!