Long - really long 9ft rods.

[slipperybob]

Yep, I've gone insane and decided to try out those long salmon rods. 9 ft baitcaster and 9'6" spinning (St Croix Avids '08).

To my surprise, both worked very similar to 7 foot rods. Let's just say the difference between a 6' rod and a 7' rod is like huge but compared the 9' rod to a 7' rod and it's not that much noticeable. I may have gotten a little bit more distance in the cast but the length advantage comes from lure retrieval and length leverage on fish. I don't know why I haven't gone this route before and I really do like the extra length being the shorefishing guy.

Well I guess the biggest difference is that a two piece 7' rod will still fit in the trunk of the car but those 9' rods don't. I guess I'm geared up for the North Shore salmon run, just gotta find time for my first trek this year.

[goblueM]

I like those longer rods for bobber fishing, or river fishing with live bait or plastics - especially when wading/shorefishing.

Musky guys are really going to 8 or 9 foot rods as well. I hear you on the transportation route - I have a very small car, so I have to get 2 piece rods - but there aren't many 2 piece musky rods out there, so I have a 7'2" ceiling on my rod length

[BobT]

I used to make the salmon river run in late September to early October along the north shore. We found that using a 9' or 10' fly rod (just a cheapy fiberglass) fitted with a single-action fly spool filled with 20 or 25 lb. mono worked very nice. This was an inexpensive way to go and we found it was much easier to feed line without birdnesting when the salmon would head downstream.

Bob

[Esox_Magnum]

I'm going to try the new 14' leadcore rods for next season. Muskie rods are all 8'+ already, bobber rods 8'+, trolling rods 8'- 8'6" salmon/stealhead rods. Even my jig rod for casting eyes is a 7'6". I love the long poles.

[Sandmannd]

9' rod would be good for trolling. I know Limit Creek has an 8'3" retractible rod that I want to get. It's an awesome deadsticking rod when riggin on the river.

[rodmaker]

I fish Mille lacs for over 90% of my Walleye fishing. So the longer rods for those 7-10 ft snells are a must!!!!

I tied up a G Loomis Steelhead IMX spinning rod three years ago, and it works great.

I also extended the handle on a St. Croix legend Elite 7 ft med light to 7'10".

Both of these rods also works well for slip bobber fishing.

[upnorth]

I built a pair of 9' 7 wt fly rod blanks as spinning rods and the work excellent for long leader rigging and or shore casting baits. Very sensitive and also long and limber enough to cushion the lighter lines I like to use, but yet enough back bone to wear a fish down rather quickly.

[rodmaker]

what would you say the lure/sinker weight would be for drifting for Eyes.

[upnorth]

3/8 oz works good, 1/2 is pushing it a bit, the rod gets a bit mushy with that much weight. If you want to go heavier you could step up to a 8 or nine weight. There is formula that will determine how much weight the fly line converts to.

Found it!!

FLY LINE CONVERSION CHART

To convert fly rod numerical line ratings based on weight in grains to terminal tackle weights in ounces, see the following table:

FLY LINE RATING ---------- CASTING WEIGHT (ozs.)

1 ----------------- 1/8

2 ----------------- 3/16

3 ----------------- 1/5

4 ----------------- 1/4

5 ----------------- 5/16

6 ----------------- 3/8

7 ----------------- 3/5

8 ----------------- 1/2

9 ----------------- 9/16

10 ----------------- 2/3

11 ----------------- 3/4

12 ----------------- 7/8 to 1 ounce

[rodmaker]

Thanks,

time to get up to Thorne Bros and see Lonnie, and give them a look. (g. Loomis IMX).I won't build until Winter.

Already going to build a G Loomis GLX HSR 9000 and extend the handle and make it a 8' 3" rod.

[croixflats]

There is a name for these 9 to 11 ft rods and its on the tip of my tounge. Anybody know what it is. Its used quite a bit in the fly fishing world. Or maybe I'm thinking its a style of fishing with these long rods

[upnorth]

Spey??? or Noodle rods??? That is all that comes to my mind.

[rodmaker]

I'll post in the next week or so and let you know what Lonnie @ Thorne Bros. had to say about heavier fly rod blanks for Eyes drifting 3/8 to maybe 3/4 .

[croixflats]

Spey??? or Noodle rods??? That is all that comes to my mind.

Yep, spey rods. Thanks. The little info Ive gatherd on spey rods sounds like they would be great rods for musky. They have a lot of back bone but with a soft tip.

[upnorth]

The one thing is with them as with all rods, it depends on personal preference. The one thing I can say is most fly rod blanks may be a bit slower than most are used to. If you like a really fast tip, you may not care for a fly rod blank. But then some(myself included) don't want an extremely fast rod for rigging, the softer blank is a little more forgiving, yet still sensitive.

[croixflats]

Very good point. I'm gonna have to do much more research on Spey rods. they sound like a different style to fish with them and I guess there are different versions also.

[rodmaker]

The thing I want to avoid is having one with a "mushy" feeling. It will be worth looking into. How do they compare to a steelhead rod.

[croixflats]

From my understanding the spay are becoming the go to rod in the north west for the mid size rivers and lakes for stealhead and salmon fishing. There great for getting distance when there is cover behind you because. you dont need a back cast when pitching lure. There great for roll casting. The lengh on theses bad boys start from a little over 10 ft and go up to 16 ft or so.

There is also another version called the switch rod , That excepts a real that lets you cast with a bobber on and bait smoothly realeses line with little grag like a bait cast real.

I gather these rods are going to be spendy. Of course the ones I looked at were Sage and beulah and GLoomis ,fell off my chair on pricing

[slipperybob]

That's a nice weight - fly line comparison chart.

No wonder I always felt that fly rods were kind of wimpy flexy feel. I was going to pull the trigger on a 9 or 10 wt fly rod as well - cost - I'll need line, line backing, and spey reel, and bag.

ho hummm.

[upnorth]

Rodmaker, it all depends, there are fast, moderate, and slow action fly rods and there are extra fast, fast, moderate Steelhead rods. And every manufacturer has a little different interpretation of the actions.

That being said if you get a fast action fly rod it will probably be similar to a moderately fast action Steelhead rod.

You seem to be in pretty good with the folks at Thorne Bros. See if they have fast action fly rod blank on the shelf and see what the action is like. Just remember the weight of the guides are going to slow things down a bit.