Northwest Fishing Reports

I'm ready to move beyond the "Fred Meyer Special" rod and reel I picked up when I started fishing last year.

I was wondering what recommendations people had. I'm primarly planning on fishing for trout from shore/docks on lakes in King/Snohomish counties.

I've met some people at the lakes which have really nice long pools (around 10'), don't remember what make/model they told me they used. I'm envious of how far out those guys can cast w/ thier rods.

Thanks

Natenez It doesn't matter what people recommend it's what you like. I can't tell you what i like is what you'll like. In my opinion lamiglas and G loomis make great rods but only if you can afford them. There are other rods out there that perform in my opinion just as well for half the price. The other thing with such a long rod is casting from shore, sometimes a shorter rod will work better because of the amount of space required to cast a 10 foot rod. Shimano in my opinion makes great reels. Just make sure you get a quality reel that has an instant antireverse so when you set the hook the reel doesn't backspin a half a turn like most cheaper reels. I hope this information i've provided you helps. Good luck and tight lines.

for bait fishing off shore I prefer a long flexible fishing rod because you can cast further without jerking the bait off the hook. but if you plan on lure fishing it can be clumsy using a 8ft rod. so for bait fishing i would recomend a 6.5-8ft spinning rod that is light enough for 4lb test or 6lb. I own 3 fenwick trout rods and they all work great. I would recomend a 6.5 or 7ft fenwick eagle gt 2-8lb(50$) absolutely awesome rod i guarantee you will tell the difference in sensitivity. my favorite reel is a shimano sedona. you can usually find the old model for 35-50$ but the new one is 60$. shimano makes a great product even their 25$ reals work great. oh yeah when fishing off shore for trout lighter is usually better so try to use 4lb you can cast much further.

You can't go wrong with the Shakespeare Ugly Stik rod and reel combo from Wal-Mart. Good strong rod, solid reel, inexpensive set up.

I use between 7' and 8' for casting etc. The ones I use are a Abu Garcia Conlon with a Shakespere Spinning Reel ( can not remeber the model) and Diawa Procaster with matching Spinning reel both 7'6" and medium action. They have served me well for years and both cost me under $100 for Rod and Reel for the setup.

me and my dad have bought a number of rods and reel in the past couple of years. for reels we mostly have pflueger spinning reels. just about any cheaper reels we bought sucked. the only exception to this is the shimano that we had for 10+ years but its given out also. for rods we really vary, but i would say if you want a good rod that doesnt cost a whole lot for general purpose fishing go with a 6.5 to 7 ft ugly stik. do you plan on bait fishing most of the time or using lures?

for me my all-round rod is a pflueger 6'6" rod, medium action i think(might be medium-light), with a 35 sized trion gx-7 spinning reel. then i also have an okuma 4'6" ultralight rod with a pflueger 30 sized reel for panfish, and a diawa 6 foot baitcasting rod with a pflueger trion baitcasting reel. i also have a 9 foot berkley noodle rod with a pflueger presidential 40 sized reel.

How much are you willing to spend?

For reels: Shimano. They have $40 models up to $450 dollar spinning reels...

If you want one of those limber 10 foot spinning rods, my favorite is a 10 foot noodle/crappie rod I got from Ebay. They'll cost you about 25 bucks. Hard to find them in local stores. It's very fun to fish with, but a bit of a hassle to transport around since you've got to be SOOO careful with the long length and the fragile blank.

While that is my favorite trout fishing rod, for some reason I almost always grab my $10 Kmart special rod. Easy to use and haul around, and has no problem casting to and pulling in stupid 10 inch stocker trout.

When I saw this question, I was hoping no one would start naming or recommending super expensive rods and reels. Nicely done everybody! I definitely agree that you don't have to spend allot of money to own a nice rod and reel. I use Fenwick and Lamiglas rods ( 7' ) in fresh water with Pflueger reels on all three. Both Fenwick and Lamiglas are very nice well built rods that are affordable. I also have a couple Shimano ultra-light rod/reel combos that are fun to catch fish on and they are also affordable. For salt water I use Ugly Stick rods & Penn reels. The rod that feels good to you is the one you should buy if it's in your price range. Good luck.

i have a rod and reel set up that I use for trout and bass the rod is a Fenwick HMX 66 ML hooked to a Okuma Inspira reel. Its been some time but I think I bought them separate for a total or around 150$

Thanks, some great information.

Looking at a site like Cabela's and seeing what seems like 100+ rods and reels makes it a little daunting.

These suggestions are great and will help guide my search. I'm looking to keep the rod/reel total under $150.

One question - what is a noodle rod? I've never heard of that before.

a noodle rod is usually upwards of 9 ft in length and very light action. These rods are usually in the one to 8 lb line class.

So many great answers, but only one person asked how much you wanted to spend, and no one asked how you plan to fish, at least not that I saw.

Rods are tools, and the wrong tool for a job does not make the tool bad, just wrong. I have about 20+ of those tools, for every type of fishing I have done over the last 40+ years, and each of those tools fit a particular need. So, what do you need your tool to do?

Are you going to be fishing light lures in small streams for trout? How about trout and panfish from shore? Perhaps you are fishing larger trout from a boat? What about Bass, will that be a major target, or just an occasional target? Each conditions can require a different rod, and while there is one rod that can do it all, it will not do any well. So, what tool do you need.

If you can make it to the Cabelas in Post Falls, give me a PM and I'll meet you over there. They have enough rods we can go through them all and talk about what you want. Keep in mind that price does often buy better rods, but not all good rods are costly. The same goes for reels. But, if I were to error on the side of caution, the more costly reels last longer, so if you are going to fish 30+ times a year, you will probably be happier if you spend $75+ for a quality reel. I am sure the $150 reels are great, but I can't justify them.

Additionally, I do not suggest buying a rod that you have not felt. Just because a rod is made of IM6 or IM7 or IM8 does not dictate that it will be stronger or more sensitive. I can show you how to test a rod for sensitivity, but I can't easily tell you how. Once you have found a rod, especially a name brand rod, and reel, go to the Bass Pro Shops and Cabelas web site and find that rod and reel. They have consumer ratings based on how users liked or disliked the product. Keep in mind that some people don't know enough to know what good or bad is, but if the product rates a 4 out of 5, it is probably a keeper.

Believe it or not you can get a very nice rod for under $40. The rod I use for trout fishing from shore and on my pontoon boat is a 6'6" Quantum Teton which also doubles for panfish and light duty bass fishing. You can get a rod in the Teton series as long as 7' and as short as 4'6". They look great, are sensitive and have enough backbone to drive home the hook or muscle fish in if need be. The majority of the money you spend should be on the reel(s) and line. If you get yourself a nice spinning reel to compliment your rod, ($40 to $60 will get you into a good spinning reel by Quantum, Shimano, Daiwa or Mitchell), get a second spool and load it with a different weight of line. This way you can go light or beef it up a bit and use it for bass, walleye and bigger trout. As far as line goes, just get a good, quality monofilament line. I like Maxima or Berkley and I'm sure there will be many other suggestions from other members but I'm sure they will all agree to stay away from the $1.99 bulk spool of store brand line. Later on down the road you may want to experiment with a super line, but for the type of fishing your doing now mono will work great.

The rod you want will be the one that fits your learning curve and abilities and the money you spend.

Don't fool yourself like tubs/boats, trucks, cars and more there is a reason there are Stihl chain/saws, Husky and a few more if you cut and saw logs.

Some will go to Sears#-o some will buy a better product but the product will only be better if your workbench is large from doing not reading words and if you dont know the impacts from fishing in every water, lakes, oceans, rivers, ponds it makes zero differnce.:cyclopsan

Noodle rods are fun stuff and in general
terms 10ft 6 and up the Noodle stick is my fav for this activity is a 14 plus footer for Kings in the summer local fishing it adds to the Pucker impact.

Anglinarcher is very close:cheers: a Rod is a extension of your body and your hand and arm even your fingers, faster tips, high grade blanks= do they make a mayor impact on technical sport fishing a big Yes!

Will 90 percent ever know or need it or even know the differnce probably not it depends on how far you reach and raise the bar.

I have at least 55 plus rods use 70 percent of them the ones I use.

Many were demo's to be rated and punished

Lamiglas
G-Loomis
Sage

There a many great sport fishing rods if your off a Downrigger= (9fter Glass only) and the list why is endless
Rivers high end= graphite
Back bouncing, baitdivers, plugs 9 ft Glass

All the others many great choices but if you can feel every condition in a river and why it reacts the way it does you need a Rod you can learn and grow into.
Education supports high end gear if your pressing for more

A Rod is a very great tool to hooking fish 1 of about 25 you need to finish

A pole is a great support to proudly hang your Flag or lights off of and if you dont understand the correct verbage who cares buy a Wally World Special:-$

A short river rod in BC and north is 12 ft 6 choices, freedoms and examples from kills, fighting and landing high numbers of fish or releasing them again choices:-"

I personally would own nothing less then a mid range Lami even trout fishing

If your trail is somewhere in the middle a shimano has many lines that would be fine as well as 50 plus others as well but each rod has its own game and not one does all sportfishing great:-$

Last year, I purchased a fenwick Eagle GT, Ultra Light, 6'6 action, and this year i got a 6' light action fenwick HMX, both rods are plenty big enough to handle four and five pound cutthroat, and they make it a lot fun too. if i were you, i would go with the lightest action rod possible. So, it depends what you are fishing for.

I almost exclusively fish for trout from shore. I use 4lb. test line on Okuma or Shimano spinning reels rated to hold around 110 -140+ yards of it. For a rod, I use a 7' light action spinning rod rated for 2-8lb. test or a 7' - 7 1/2' ultra-light action rod rated for 2 - 6lb. line. Cabela's, Bass Pro, Okuma, Fenwick and others are affordable choices. My favorite sinker weight is 3/8's of an ounce. With that setup and a brisk overhand cast I consistantly out distance cast the guys with shorter rods, heaver line and their BIG sinkers. I usually match the casting distance of guys using saltwater surf fishing outfits to fish for stocker trout.

If you use the above setup, you will not only be able to outcast the average bankee, but have fun with your average trout. A light drag setting and fresh quality line (I like PLine) will allow you to catch trout to 6lbs. or even more.

Natenez, Go with what your budget can handle as you spend more time on the water you will discover what rod will suit your purposes. About 10 years ago I was working at Silver Lake in Whatcom County and one morning after working the lake I pulled up to the dock and a fella was showing off his new $500 dollar rod and $300 dollar reel he was telling everyone what a great set-up he had, as I started to take all my gear out of the boat he asked me what I had I showed him my 7' Black Eagle, Eagle Claw ($30.00) and my Qantum reel ($25.00) he began to look down his nose at me so I asked him how he did and replied nothing not even a bite I pulled my stringer of trout out of the boat grabbed my gear and said yea it was pretty slow out their. I guess the moral of the story is as your time on the water increases and you learn the little tricks of the trade you will discover what rod works best for you just go out and learn as much as you can from other anglers and do your homework on different rods and reels before you purchase them, you just might find that big brand names are just that. Now days you will find me dragging flys around the NW, my fly rod of choice is a Sage not because of the name but because I like the feel of it, the reel is a Lamson. My back up fly rod is a Fenwick with a Prestige reel it was very affordable and when I take a guest out I can supply them with a good learning rod set-up. One other thing I will add is to do your homework on any piece of water you plan on working I think you will find that this will also add to your success. Best of luck to you.

Uncle Wes wrote:I guess the moral of the story is as your time on the water increases and you learn the little tricks of the trade you will discover what rod works best for you just go out and learn as much as you can from other anglers and do your homework

Couldn't agree more, the quality of the craftsman counts for more than the quality of the tools. Just look at what McGuyver could do w/ duck tape & a pocket knife. :jocolor: But nice tools do help (or at least can be more enjoyable to use).