New Salmon Rods

[Rockin Randy]

We are looking to replace some of our downrigger rods. Thought about going to a faster tip, we had a lot of trouble hooking and staying hooked this year. We have Cabelas rods now but were thinking of finding some thing else. Any suggestions?

[tunrevir]

I like the Shimano Talora rods for the fishing that I do. I had some ugly sticks and they were just too soft for my liking. The Gander downrigger rods are pretty decent with a soft tip but plenty of backbone for fighting big fish or running boards and dypsies off. I typically run 8-6" to 9-6" rods in medium heavy.

Tunrevir~

[Surface Tension]

Can't go wrong with Taloras. They aren't your typical downrigger rod that'll bend over when loaded up. The rod won't have anything to do with hookups though. The hook gets set by the fish on the strike. Sharp hooks, 10 or 12 lb balls on a release set heavy do. Shaker style releases are nice for detecting strikes but on MI Salmon detection of a strike isn't any concern. For that reason I'd go with a inline release close to the ball. A strike will meet that instant resistance of the weigh of the ball. I'd not run any trebles hooks and switch up to Siwash hooks.

The power and length of fight will enlarge the hole the hook made.

A Chinook will work his jaws, when you have a treble in the upper and lower jaw, plus the enlarged hole, hooks get thrown. With a Siwash our still going to get torn hole but the jaws won't be working against it. Also the siwash aren't going to bend.

When the rod does come into play is on the fight. If you have a rod that is doubled over, picking up line on the pump is not very effective. Couple this with mono that is stretched and picking up line is like a rubber band. Next is the reel and its retrieve ratio. Take a Penn 209 or 309, it has a slow retrieve ratio. So now you have a rod bent over double, stretched out mono, and a reel with a slow ratio. This all adds up to a longer fight and a hooks hole getting bigger.

[Cheetah]

I agree with Surface Tension. Try swapping to different type hooks and be sure to sharpen them. You could also try modifying your flies with a trebel hook in the middle of the skirt plus a single stinger hook at the back edge of the skirt.

[Rockin Randy]

Thanks for the input guys. We will try the setups you suggested,especialy with the hooks.

Rockin Randy