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What rod would you buy for casting to steelhead?


Rod Caster

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Ahh, okay. When I broke into steelheading a few years ago with a similar attitude to the old ironworker, I wanted the same thing. and honestly, I've had a bunch, but I'd reccomend the ugly stik lite steelhead/salmon rods. Near indestructible, competitively light, and can pretty well handle it all. I've had mine for 6 yrs. The only thing its not great for is speys, or float fishing. But will do those things.

 

I'd love to see someone try and spey fish with an ugly stick... That would be hilarious!

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LOL spey and ugly stick don't belong in the same sentence, you'll get the purists all riled up....ugly sticks are only good for swinging dee's ha

 

I'm not sure how spey got brought into this thread to be honest. It's on a completely different level then your typical spinning setup. It's not like you toss your Sahara on a Uglystick and start swinging flies with April Vokey :)

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A 9' xtra lite action ugly stik lite? Im sorry but the only unbelievable thing about swinging speys on that is that it's too long.

 

I think you should figure out what spey fishing is before you attempt it with an Ugly Stick... What you're saying makes zero sense.

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There's no reason why you can't bottom bounce, chuck hardware and drift floats with the same rod... That shouldn't be very difficult.. No need for 8 different rods to catch steelhead, lol.

 

NEED? heck no want heck YES... I spent the first 2yrs fishing for steel with the Catera I mentioned before and it did it all well. Then I got a deal on a couple of Swan Company noodle rods and they ARE still a blast to use. Athough they don't chuck spoons worth a crap they do the float and bottom bouncing thing quite well. Then I got gifted an old school Berkeley 10.5ft piece that has been run over, dropped, left behind twice but it still will do the trick.... I then decided to get a small river float rod 8.5 for crawling through the bush.... Then there are the "mistakes" I bought along the way, with too much handle or not enough sensitivity. Anyhow I learnt a long time back to always TAKE 2 rods on any trip, after seeing friends have to stand there for a few hours till I was ready to drive them home when something broke or got pulled in by fish who were quicker than they were... So having a few to choose from helps in that regard although it definitely does not help catch more fish though LOL.

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A 9' xtra lite action ugly stik lite? Im sorry but the only unbelievable thing about swinging speys on that is that it's too long.

 

Has such a rod ever been produced? Anything "Ugly" I have ever seen has been heavier when over 7 foot....

 

Burt :)

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I think you should figure out what spey fishing is before you attempt it with an Ugly Stick... What you're saying makes zero sense.

Lol.

 

Well I do it with a 6'6 baitcast setup and that works fine.

 

My bad. This technique only works in relatively small creeks. If your river is huge, for sure you need fly gear cuz nothing else will get the fly out there.

 

Flip, drift, strip. You do not need a fly rod.

Edited by Rich
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Has such a rod ever been produced? Anything "Ugly" I have ever seen has been heavier when over 7 foot....

 

Burt :)

The Ugly stik "lite" edition is much lighter. Yes still heavier than a lot of the rods out there but definitely light enough to float with all day if need be.

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Lol.

 

Well I do it with a 6'6 baitcast setup and that works fine.

 

My bad. This technique only works in relatively small creeks. If your river is huge, for sure you need fly gear cuz nothing else will get the fly out there.

 

Flip, drift, strip. You do not need a fly rod.

 

 

Ok, so what you are doing isn't spey fishing... I've toss a fly and split shot on my UL setup more then a few times. Great way to catch residents.

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Ok, so what you are doing isn't spey fishing... I've toss a fly and split shot on my UL setup more then a few times. Great way to catch residents.

Never got any residents doing it. Maybe cuz I dont use a split shot.

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Dude I know you steelhead 100x more in a year than me, but that doesnt mean there are black and white rules on how to do things. A spey on any line is still a spey, and if presented the same with a fly rod , or a stick and string, doesnt matter, it is still spey fishing.

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Dude I know you steelhead 100x more in a year than me, but that doesnt mean there are black and white rules on how to do things. A spey on any line is still a spey, and if presented the same with a fly rod , or a stick and string, doesnt matter, it is still spey fishing.

 

What you described would be refered to as 'swinging flies'..... The 'spey' in spey fishing refers to a specifc type of cast. Try using the correct terminology and you'll get less :dunno: replies.

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At least you guys get to debate steelhead rods with a chance to fish for them....damn you prairies.

 

The St Croix Wild River 8-10'6 have been my gear, bouncing, plug fishing rods of choice, they will work in a pinch for float fishing too.

 

On another note I would watch the heck out of a video of anyone spey casting with a baitcaster.

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Maybe that's why I never got into rainbow and steelhead fishing, I would never be able to afford all those rods. And I never knew the difference between rainbow and steelhead, very confusing for a simple walleye and bass guy. Besides I don't want to walk 10 miles chasing a fish down a river, hard to do with a cast on your leg!

You really only need 2 rods max, and really if you just want to fish a few times a year, you could find a medium action 6-10 rated 10.5 foot rod, and do everything with it, including float fish, bottom bounce and plug or spoon chucking! With the use of fluorocarbon leader material, gone are the days when we used the 3lb leads. My minimum is 6lb now, and I will use 8lb depending on conditions. There is no need for a boatload of equipment, unless of course you are into speys.........lol. Like anything though, the more involved you are in the sport, the more likely you are to spend a boatload of money. As far as chasing fish? It would have to be a mighty big fish to move me more than 20 feet from where I was standing!

Edited by porkpie
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What you described would be refered to as 'swinging flies'..... The 'spey' in spey fishing refers to a specifc type of cast. Try using the correct terminology and you'll get less :dunno: replies.

Oh jesus, i am SO sorry. Wow. What a huge messup I made here. Worst mistake of my life. I'll just slit my wrists now. Guess that old timer that taught me how to do it on the banks of the big just didnt have his terminology correct. Dont worry tho, next time I see him I'll knock his haggered patootie out for teaching me disturbingly incorrect terminology.

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Oh jesus, i am SO sorry. Wow. What a huge messup I made here. Worst mistake of my life. I'll just slit my wrists now. Guess that old timer that taught me how to do it on the banks of the big just didnt have his terminology correct. Dont worry tho, next time I see him I'll knock his haggered patootie out for teaching me disturbingly incorrect terminology.

 

You're such a drama queen.... You're like the little kid that can never admit he's wrong and will just go on and on arguing the point.

 

It's ok man, you're right... You feel better now?

Edited by BillM
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You're such a drama queen.... You're like the little kid that can never admit he's wrong and will just go on and on arguing the point.

 

It's ok man, you're right... You feel better now?

No no, i'm wrong. And your desperation to prove that everytime I write a word it is wrong terminology, spelling, grammar, all that stuff that is irrelevant; is ridiculous.

 

Grow up.

Edited by Rich
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