Advice on poles

[Angler of Repose]

I've been told I need a pole longer than 8'6" for bobbin' a jig, in order to mend the line. Can anyone give me advice on what is the best length? Do I still go with a medium (8#-12#) or heavier?
And as long as I'm asking, what about a good plunkin' rod for the Columbia or Willamette? Heavy rating? Length?
Thanks!!! graemlins/1zhelp.gif

[ampersat]

if an 8.5' is all you have, it'll work. seems most folks go for the 9' to 9.5'. evaluate how you fish. are you in a boat or on the bank? do you fish larger rivers or are you working smaller areas? it all plays into the decision.

[First Light Bite]

I use a 10'6" St Croix Fishing Rod (not pole) WC106ML2 mod-fast action 8-14Lb line rating.
The extra length helps alot when you need to mend your line when jig fishing. my .02

[ 03-05-2003, 07:44 PM: Message edited by: First Light Bite ]

[KingFisher85]

I use a Lamiglas Kenai King for a lot of my bobber fishing. Its just 8.5 foot, works just fine. But I really wanna get the Lamiglas Medium Heavy G1312-T 10.5 foot rod 10-20 line wt :bowdown:

Thats just me tho

[Dave Vedder]

I too use rods - not poles. Go with the longest rod you can comfortably fish all day. Mending line is important, as is keeping the line out of the water. In both cases longer is definatly better. Lamiglas has several great float rods in the 10 1/2 foot lenght.

[ultralight]

The length of the rod should reflect the size of the river you intend to fish. If you're fishing a relatively small rivers or creeks, then 8' 6" should be fine. On the other hand, if you're fishing the larger rivers, having the longer rod does aid in line control. I would consider something between 9' 6" to 10' 6" lengths.

As far as the action is concerned, I like to be able to gently cast light floats and jigs, so something in the range of 6-10 to 8-15 lb. test rated rod would work.

For a plunking rod on the Willamette or the Columbia, I'd go with a 12 ft. MH rod with 15 to 40 lb. test rated.

[salmurai]

For bobbering, the ten footers are my choice. Cabela's fish eagle II are OK for the money.If you got it, go with the 10'6" Lamiglas. I built mine from the Cabelas 10 foot XML blanks and they've been doing a good job. No input for plunking. Don't know a thing about it but I would like to learn. Can one "plunk" for a catfish or is that called something different?

[Stratocaster]

For plunking springers or steelhead on Columbia i use an 8ft to 8'6'' rated to 5 ounces. 20 pound maxima ultragreen. This has been my setup for years and it works great for me. Heck i use 20 pound for everything fall chinook included and have never broken off.

[Thumper]

I use a 10.5 ft. Lami Certified Pro, 6-10 lb., and I counter-weighted the handle with a stack of quarters taped in place and triple-dipped in Dip-It. A very nicely balanced set-up.

[crabbait]

Rainshadow 1143, 9 1/2 ' for bobber and jig. Uglystick Med/heavy or heavy 8 1/2' for plunking. The glass trip lets you reel down and get some bend in the rod without moving your rig like so many of the stiff graphites do and you can see every little thing that happens down there.

[Perfect Drift]

No one mentioned this, more important than the length of rod is what line you use. A floating line is so much easier to use. If you fly fish, you know that a double taper floating line is much easier to cast and use that a sinking line. Try Power Pro, it's great line and it floats. I pull all of the line off of the spool it comes on and double it in the yard, cut it in half then spool it on over some mono as backing.
Check out WallyWorld, Shimano's 10'6" rod, $55. Why do you need a sensitive rod using a bobber? You need the length to mend your floating line and a soft rod to move the fish. Remember Jim conway, he always used fly rods for pullin plugs and drift fishin with. Long, soft rods.

[ 03-05-2003, 10:39 PM: Message edited by: Perfect Drift ]

[Finschnitzel]

For steelhead bobber & jig fishing I use a St. Croix also. 10 1/2 foot 6 - 12 lb. med - lite power mod - fast action 1/8 - 1/2 oz. It's a wild river series rod # WS106ML2. Once that fish is hooked theres no getting off unless he breaks the line. 14 lb. fire line yellow so you can see it with line dressing on it so it floats. :grin:

[Get Bent]

a good rod for what you want to do is a allstarr esh1203S2 10 ft 6 to 12

and for plunking a esh1265-2 12 to 25

Scott

[Angler of Repose]

Perfectdrift---
I remember Jim Conway: "Fine fish, fine fish, oh...about four or five pounds"

[steelheadslayer]

Scott, what do those allstars run for price? I'm selling a couple Loomis rods I don't use much and was thinking of going to Allstar.