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Old 02-27-2021, 07:05 PM
Bushleague Bushleague is offline
 
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Default Pike/walleye shore fishing rod?

I've been gravitating back to shore fishing the last few seasons, so I've been playing with the idea of putting together a spinning rig with the sole purpose of throwing lures and rigs in the 1/4- 1 oz range as far as possible. I spend allot of time casting my way down wide open, rocky shores, where a fairly long rod wont be an issue. So I'm thinking a stiff, med power spinning rod around 9' or more, with a long butt and a fast action? Any suggestions?

Being a shore fishing rod its likely to see some fairly rough handling on occasion, so it either needs to be relatively affordable, or fairly tough.
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Old 02-28-2021, 07:08 AM
mlee mlee is offline
 
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I've been real happy with my fenwick elite tech musky rod. 8'6" heavy moderate fast 2 piece rod.....and I'm not gentle with my gear at all lol. 4 years old and have caught hundreds and hundreds of big pike walleye and Lakers with it and I even use it on the NSR for sturgeon. Mine is a baitcaster but I can toss a 12" long 8oz swim bait a mile.
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Old 02-28-2021, 07:31 AM
Bushleague Bushleague is offline
 
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Originally Posted by mlee View Post
I've been real happy with my fenwick elite tech musky rod. 8'6" heavy moderate fast 2 piece rod.....and I'm not gentle with my gear at all lol. 4 years old and have caught hundreds and hundreds of big pike walleye and Lakers with it and I even use it on the NSR for sturgeon. Mine is a baitcaster but I can toss a 12" long 8oz swim bait a mile.
Yeah, I already have a heavy rig for throwing big deadbaits around. Looking for a medium action.
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Old 02-28-2021, 11:20 AM
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Red Bullets Red Bullets is offline
 
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Don't know much about many rods. I can say I like using a medium fast action 7' Ugly Stik for shore fishing. Especially Alberta's shorelines and fish. It a good durable strong rod with a lifetime warranty. An Ugly Stik might be a little shorter than you are looking at but it is a good working rod.
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Old 02-28-2021, 12:15 PM
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pinelakeperch pinelakeperch is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bushleague View Post
I've been gravitating back to shore fishing the last few seasons, so I've been playing with the idea of putting together a spinning rig with the sole purpose of throwing lures and rigs in the 1/4- 1 oz range as far as possible. I spend allot of time casting my way down wide open, rocky shores, where a fairly long rod wont be an issue. So I'm thinking a stiff, med power spinning rod around 9' or more, with a long butt and a fast action? Any suggestions?

Being a shore fishing rod its likely to see some fairly rough handling on occasion, so it either needs to be relatively affordable, or fairly tough.
9 feet seems like overkill for river fishing pike and walleye. I’ve seen many fish caught from rivers on 7ft rods. I’ve used 6 foot 6 rods and caught piles of river fish on bait rigs.

If there are sturgeon in there, adding a little bit of backbone is a good idea. When I’m fishing rivers that have decent sturgeon numbers, I use an 8 foot 6 MH Ugly Stik catfish with a Penn Battle II reel. The rod is pretty much indestructible.
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Old 02-28-2021, 03:16 PM
Bushleague Bushleague is offline
 
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Originally Posted by pinelakeperch View Post
9 feet seems like overkill for river fishing pike and walleye. I’ve seen many fish caught from rivers on 7ft rods. I’ve used 6 foot 6 rods and caught piles of river fish on bait rigs.

If there are sturgeon in there, adding a little bit of backbone is a good idea. When I’m fishing rivers that have decent sturgeon numbers, I use an 8 foot 6 MH Ugly Stik catfish with a Penn Battle II reel. The rod is pretty much indestructible.
I'm not fishing the river, I'm fishing Lesser Slave Lake mostly, as well as others. Although some of the places I fish require some bushwhacking, many are wide open and I cant see a longer rod having a downside. I have the Catfish rod you speak of, I also have a couple 7' and 6.6' med power rigs too, and I catch plenty of fish on them. I want to get a bit more casting distance on lighter lures cause I cant see it being a bad thing in my particular situation.

I think what I'm looking for is a longish Steelhead rod with a fast action, maybe I should have just asked about steelhead rods.
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Old 02-28-2021, 08:23 PM
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Where are you located? I have a 7 or 8ft one piece rod that may work.i never use it, would trqde for a beer if your interested.
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Old 02-28-2021, 09:30 PM
Bushleague Bushleague is offline
 
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Where are you located? I have a 7 or 8ft one piece rod that may work.i never use it, would trqde for a beer if your interested.
Lol, only if we're blasting The Descendants while said beers are being consumed

I'm in Widewater, I make it down to Edmonton from time to time (as little as possible) but I usually have a big list of stuff to do while I'm in town. Would also need to have my truck to transport that rod, and I tend to use my car for runs to the city, tempting though.
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Old 03-01-2021, 03:19 PM
cranky cranky is offline
 
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I know you like Ugly Stiks. Why not a medium 9 foot 2 pce GX2. Cabelas north is showing some In stock. $60.
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Old 03-01-2021, 03:28 PM
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EZM EZM is offline
 
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St.Croix Wild River. Specifically a casting rod and built with the guides, offset, parabolic action to maximize your casting distance and still provide superior feel and sensitivity.

Checks all the boxes you mentioned.

More than double, maybe triple the money compared to the ugly stick, but will outperform it in every way except maybe the "run it over with the tank test".
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Old 03-01-2021, 06:25 PM
Bushleague Bushleague is offline
 
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Originally Posted by EZM View Post
St.Croix Wild River. Specifically a casting rod and built with the guides, offset, parabolic action to maximize your casting distance and still provide superior feel and sensitivity.

Checks all the boxes you mentioned.

More than double, maybe triple the money compared to the ugly stick, but will outperform it in every way except maybe the "run it over with the tank test".
Yeah, I do like Ugly Sticks but I'm not going with one for this rod. It seems like making an Ugly Stik longer doesnt always translate to better casting, often the reverse actually seems true. Collectively my family has Ugly Stiks from about 4.5' up to 8', the ones that are stiffer cast better, with length having very little effect. My theory is the flopping tip robs energy after the snap. I cant see a 9' soft action Ugly Stik being a great rod for distance casting.

Thanks for the suggestion, and I'll check out the rod, but I'm going to stick to spinning gear for this one. When I'm up to my armpits in Slave Lake sized whitecaps, trying to punch a spoon into a bad headwind, I definitely feel that the more simple I can keep things the better off I am. This probably sounds crazy, but I might try a vintage Mitchell 300 on it. I know that might not be the best for distance, but they have a grease port plug that can be used to easily drain out water and add fresh grease when they get dunked, and have become my favored reel for shore fishing.
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Last edited by Bushleague; 03-01-2021 at 06:43 PM.
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Old 03-01-2021, 09:42 PM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Bushleague View Post
Yeah, I do like Ugly Sticks but I'm not going with one for this rod. It seems like making an Ugly Stik longer doesnt always translate to better casting, often the reverse actually seems true. Collectively my family has Ugly Stiks from about 4.5' up to 8', the ones that are stiffer cast better, with length having very little effect. My theory is the flopping tip robs energy after the snap. I cant see a 9' soft action Ugly Stik being a great rod for distance casting.

Thanks for the suggestion, and I'll check out the rod, but I'm going to stick to spinning gear for this one. When I'm up to my armpits in Slave Lake sized whitecaps, trying to punch a spoon into a bad headwind, I definitely feel that the more simple I can keep things the better off I am. This probably sounds crazy, but I might try a vintage Mitchell 300 on it. I know that might not be the best for distance, but they have a grease port plug that can be used to easily drain out water and add fresh grease when they get dunked, and have become my favored reel for shore fishing.
They make the Wild River in both Bait caster and Spin Cast versions. I have the spin cast version and it will bomb a 2oz weight into space. It's great for getting way out there without too much effort or losing your bait.

They are pricey but a good quality rod like that that you keep for years is worth it to me. The sensitivity shows the tiniest of nibbles and soft pick ups.
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Old 03-01-2021, 09:49 PM
Bushleague Bushleague is offline
 
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They make the Wild River in both Bait caster and Spin Cast versions. I have the spin cast version and it will bomb a 2oz weight into space. It's great for getting way out there without too much effort or losing your bait.

They are pricey but a good quality rod like that that you keep for years is worth it to me. The sensitivity shows the tiniest of nibbles and soft pick ups.
How well does it toss a 1/4 oz jig?
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Old 03-03-2021, 09:09 AM
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i've had a rapala ripin' stick for a few years now and its been a great rod, especially for pike. i think its more of a medium/heavy rod, so its not the greatest for small lures and trout, but i've still managed to get a few with it.
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Old 03-04-2021, 06:44 AM
Freedom55 Freedom55 is offline
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Default Meat rod

While I do own several high end rods and carry no fewer than five in the boat at all times, my all-time go-to rod has been a Diawa 'Swinger', purchased in 1978 at Ribtor's on 11th. This is a two piece medium action fibreglass rod that has caught one pound Grayling to 15# Chinook salmon and everything in between, including my first Alberta walleye. Plus, the most expensive reel ever mounted on that rod was a 75$ Diawa reel purchased in Prince Rupert because the Mitchell 300 wasn't going to make it on Haida Gwai in Oct. 1988. Tough stuff with no ceramic inserts to break. Money well spent at $35.00

Plus, I have a 5 piece Okuma travel rod/reel kit that lives in the truck. You never know where there might be a trout stream.

Free
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Old 03-06-2021, 09:16 AM
Bushleague Bushleague is offline
 
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I was planning to pick up a 9' Fenwick salmon/steelhead rod when I go to the city in a few weeks, but at my local Crappy Tire I found a 9.5' "Trophy xl" rod hiding behind a bunch of other stuff. A little Googling informed me that these rods were highly regarded on the west coast, and were designed by former Sage employees, but seem to be discontinued now. Looks like an upgrade over a Fenwick HMX, and at a tad over $100 its tempting but I imagine warranty support would be pretty much non existent. Might give it a try anyways.
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Old 03-06-2021, 09:45 AM
Bushleague Bushleague is offline
 
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Freedom55 View Post
While I do own several high end rods and carry no fewer than five in the boat at all times, my all-time go-to rod has been a Diawa 'Swinger', purchased in 1978 at Ribtor's on 11th. This is a two piece medium action fibreglass rod that has caught one pound Grayling to 15# Chinook salmon and everything in between, including my first Alberta walleye. Plus, the most expensive reel ever mounted on that rod was a 75$ Diawa reel purchased in Prince Rupert because the Mitchell 300 wasn't going to make it on Haida Gwai in Oct. 1988. Tough stuff with no ceramic inserts to break. Money well spent at $35.00

Plus, I have a 5 piece Okuma travel rod/reel kit that lives in the truck. You never know where there might be a trout stream.

Free
Curious what Daiwa you had on that rod? I've got a few older Daiwa's and they are great. Performance is not too far off from a modern reel, but with the toughness and mechanical simplicity of a vintage reel. Fairly heavy though, some of them make a Mitchell 300 seem light.

For the price and time frame you listed I'd guess either a Black Gold or a Silver Series?
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Old 03-07-2021, 06:01 AM
Freedom55 Freedom55 is offline
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Default Black and gold trim Diawa spin caster

CX-265. That price was approximate and included having it spooled up with monofilament. It also included sales tax that I was unfamiliar with at the time.

I still have it but sadly, it lives in a basket. If I think about it in time, I might have to give it to Trevor D. the next time I see him. Hang it on the wall with the other vintage old-school bits and bobs
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Old 03-08-2021, 09:20 PM
Bushleague Bushleague is offline
 
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CX-265. That price was approximate and included having it spooled up with monofilament. It also included sales tax that I was unfamiliar with at the time.

I still have it but sadly, it lives in a basket. If I think about it in time, I might have to give it to Trevor D. the next time I see him. Hang it on the wall with the other vintage old-school bits and bobs
Picked up that 9.5' rod, hopefully it will get me enough extra distance to drop a lure on the outer edge of a few weed beds I have in mind. I'll do some extensive testing this summer and report back on whether using such a rod for "Freshwater surf fishing" is of any benefit.
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