Rod for big pike

[SirCranksalot]

Well, we are booked to go to the Nakina area for the first week in Jun---thx to Mike Solo for his great advice.

 

The rods that I have are a bit on the light side. I'm looking at buying a spin rod with a bit more backbone for fighting the bigger pike that we've been "promised". Also hope to land some bigger walleye but I think they will be less demanding on the rod than the pike. I have never paid much attention to spin rod quality---bought stuff on sale at Can Tire etc.

 

Any recommendations? The Ugly Stick seems to be the most popular 1 out there. Any good?

Thx

[davey buoy]

It has to be a spinning rod?

 

If he hasn't used a bait caster,that could be one of a birds nest week for a while?

[BillM]

I used a custom built 10-17lb Rainshadow XST spinning setup for pike up in Nakina a few times and had zero issues... You don't need extra heavy gear up there.. A medium heavy outfit (casting or spinning) will work just fine...

 

As for the casting setup I used, it was a 7ft St.Croix Avid MH with a Shimano Calais 200 spooled with 20lb Suffix. 6 over 40 inches in the boat that week

Edited April 20, 2012 by BillM

[yakpiker]

Well, we are booked to go to the Nakina area for the first week in Jun---thx to Mike Solo for his great advice.

 

The rods that I have are a bit on the light side. I'm looking at buying a spin rod with a bit more backbone for fighting the bigger pike that we've been "promised". Also hope to land some bigger walleye but I think they will be less demanding on the rod than the pike. I have never paid much attention to spin rod quality---bought stuff on sale at Can Tire etc.

 

Any recommendations? The Ugly Stick seems to be the most popular 1 out there. Any good?

Thx

 

I've done the Nakina trip 3 times and took spinning gear with me. A two piece 6'6" medium-heavy St. Croix worked great for pike up to 45" and 20+" walleye in current. The 7' heavy St. Croix that I also took was too much for most of the fish. 30 pound braid with 80 pound fluorocarbon leaders also worked for me.

[mistaredone]

7' med heavy shimano has always worked for me.

[OhioFisherman]

If you`re not looking to sink a ton of money into a rod Ugly sticks are the way to go. I have a couple of 6 foot one piece ones I bought years ago for the wife and kids to use up north. Nice heavy action spinning rods, the wife landed a cat about 25 pounds on it. I am guessing they would be fine for about any big fresh water fish.

[DRIFTER_016]

I too used rods in the MH range 6 1/2'-7'.

 

A 9wt fly rod works well up there too!!!

 

[pics]

A 7 foot medium heavy two piece. I say two piece because a 7 foot rod is too hard to transport. Fishing Nipigon we used 8-10 lb mono sometimes with no leader mainly because we were trolling for trout. Only a few break offs...lol

[chris.brock]

just curious, what lake are you going to, Abamasagi?

[solopaddler]

Harold Bill's choices are solid. I also use two rods for pike, a custom 7' XST rated 10-17lb, and a m/h baitcaster rated 10-25lb with a low profile reel.

 

You could easily get by with just the spinning rod imo.

 

No need to get a custom rod built. A similar action St. Croix Premier for around $100 would be perfect.

[bare foot wader]

do you plan to target trophy pike, casting big lures and heavy line? or just want to have the backbone in case you incidentally hook into a big one?

 

a MH spinning rod will do just fine with good line and leader. if you want to chuck big lures for the week you should look into a H or XH rod.

 

you have enough time to online order, penn and okuma have affordable saltwater spinning rods that would work well for you

[solopaddler]

just curious, what lake are you going to, Abamasagi?

 

Marshall actually. It's just N/W of Abamasagi. It's a similar sized lake with similar walleye fishing. IMO it's a much better pike lake than Aba though. Overall it's much more fertile, there's way more pike.

 

The big added bonus of Marshall there is only one outfitter operating on the lake. It's rare to find a single cabin outpost lake on a lake of that size.

[DRIFTER_016]

Dave, blur the background, would ya!?

 

Geez it'll be a zoo thus weekend!!!

 

 

Actually the background is altered.

This fish was really caught at the foot of Cherry Street!!!!!

[Moosebunk]

Medium to medium-heavy 6 1/2 to 7 1/2 foot rods rated 8-15lb test line are pretty much the perfect choice. For spinning reels, a "good" 2500-3000 series with 20-30lb test braided line. For baitcasting reels, preferably 40-50lb.

 

Used Shimano, St.Croix, Kistler, Loomis, Berkeley and Fenwick over the years. Happiest with the St.Croix and Shimano sticks. So far, no troubles with 1-piece rods to 7 1/2 feet in any plane or train. If you have a price range, check out a few options and post them up... Surely a few OFC'ers will give ya some insight into what they like.

[Muskieman]

Berkley Gorilla Stick M/H 6'6" = 50$ well spent and Esox in the net .

 

Randy

[esoxansteel]

You have a pm

[cynmar]

:Believe it or not, caught a 41" northern on the French with my little Daiwa medium light rod and light spinning gear. Now I got lucky and was out on a deep weed line and it did take a while but still got the brute in. Edited April 20, 2012 by oldbassguy

[chris.brock]

Marshall actually. It's just N/W of Abamasagi. It's a similar sized lake with similar walleye fishing. IMO it's a much better pike lake than Aba though. Overall it's much more fertile, there's way more pike.

 

The big added bonus of Marshall there is only one outfitter operating on the lake. It's rare to find a single cabin outpost lake on a lake of that size.

that's cool, drive to also, if I'm not mistaken, should be an awesome trip, give us a report when you get back

[SirCranksalot]

Thx for all the advice folks.

 

I'm leaning towards an Ugly Stick. Like I said earlier, I've never been to fussy about spinning rod quality. Gord Deval(aka 'the old guy) used to say that any old rod will do(except when it came to fly rods when only a handcrafted split bamboo would do----but that's another subject)

Not that he was right about all that stuff.

Marshall actually. It's just N/W of Abamasagi. It's a similar sized lake with similar walleye fishing. IMO it's a much better pike lake than Aba though. Overall it's much more fertile, there's way more pike.

 

The big added bonus of Marshall there is only one outfitter operating on the lake. It's rare to find a single cabin outpost lake on a lake of that size.

 

Shush already! We don't want everbody going there, esp before the first of June and catch all the bigguns before we get there.

 

I don't know how to do the old multiquote trick, but to barefoot---no, we'll just be doing reg fishing, trying mostly for walleyes but maybe doing a real slow retrieve if a small wally gets on.

 

"Dave, blur the background, would ya!?

<br style="font-family: tahoma, arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(249, 234, 191); "><br style="font-family: tahoma, arial, verdana, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; line-height: 19px; text-align: left; background-color: rgb(249, 234, 191); ">

Geez it'll be a zoo thus weekend!!!"----yeah, really. I'd recognize that piece of the boreal anywhere!

You're not saying that you caught that monster on a flyrod, are you?

 

 

 

 

 

 

[DRIFTER_016]

You're not saying that you caught that monster on a flyrod, are you?[/left][/size][/font]

 

 

Yes I am and yes I did.

Ask Solo, he took the picture. :good:

[solopaddler]

that's cool, drive to also, if I'm not mistaken

 

Well yes and no. It's kind of a long story.

 

 

Yes I am and yes I did.

Ask Solo, he took the picture. :good:

 

That was a pretty impressive feat.

[Fisherpete]

I have two 7' Shimano Compre MH musky spinning rods - they can cast anything you will ever need for big pike, and I have landed some big skis including my pb 48" on them. They retail for around $130 - if you want one of mine it's yours for $80. I use baitcasters primarily now. Send me a pm if interested!

 

Pete

[gordy28]

I bought a 7 foot daiwa pro series combo I got at bass pro for my dad-he won't use baitcasters

MH rod and a "3500" size reel with 50 lb power pro

Awesome set up for pike and for small muskie (lake we fish a 36 incher is huge)

$89 for the rig

[Dave A]

Any medium-heavy 7-1/2 ft ropd will be great. Look for something 12 - 20 lb capacity. The longer rod will be easier to cast.

[SirCranksalot]

30 pound braid with 80 pound fluorocarbon leaders also worked for me.

 

YP, I'm curious about your choice of lines. The std recommendation seems to be to use a leader lighter than the main line so that the leader breaks first.