In search of a rod to drift live minnow.

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Tmeng
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In search of a rod to drift live minnow.

Post by Tmeng » Mon Oct 28, 2013 1:46 pm

In search for another rod to use wading in the rivers. Looking for a spinning rod in 8' to 9', light to med-light, 4 to 6lb line. I would be using this rod to fish live minnow drifting, setup with small split-shot weights. The rod I am currently looking at online is the St Croix Legend Tournament Walleye/Muskie series model LTWS80MLF2. Unfortunately no local tackle store around me carries this model. If anyone has this rod can you please provide me feedback on the LTWS80MLF2. Is this a well balanced light rod that will provide the sensitivity to feel the light bites?

Please also provide me any other rod recommendations within the same specifications.

Thanks,
Tony

daiwa lunatic
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Re: In search of a rod to drift live minnow.

Post by daiwa lunatic » Mon Oct 28, 2013 2:03 pm

Your looking at a noodle rod or salmon steelhead rod, they are close to the config your looking for, what I did was to build a custom rod from a fly blanks in 3 piece, bec I was always wanted a 3 piece travel rod in at least 9 ft, so I bought a 9 weight blanks to build it into a spinning rod, in your case you can get that readilly in a shop or you can start building it for your own use which gives you another reason to go in depth in the field of fishing.

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Tmeng
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Re: In search of a rod to drift live minnow.

Post by Tmeng » Mon Oct 28, 2013 3:21 pm

Your suggestion of using a fly blank seems to be interesting. You had mention using 9 weight for your rod, which fly rod weight would get me into a light to med-light for 4 to 6lb for 1/8 to 1/4 lure weight?

Thanks for your reply Daiwa Lunatic.

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Re: In search of a rod to drift live minnow.

Post by Mattman » Mon Oct 28, 2013 8:45 pm

That St. Croix you are looking at would be a good option in my mind. Knowing St. Croix's tapers, that would do a lot for you.

If you'd step up to a 9' rod, their lighter Salmon/Steelhead rods would work as well.


Tmeng wrote:which fly rod weight would get me into a light to med-light for 4 to 6lb for 1/8 to 1/4 lure weight?
My rule of thumb for using a fly blank as a spinning rod is to put a "/16" after the fly line weight rating to get the max lure rating. So, a 4 weight fly rod would give you 4/16 (1/4) ounce lure rating.

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Re: In search of a rod to drift live minnow.

Post by daiwa lunatic » Tue Oct 29, 2013 12:00 am

I think Mattman's suggestion is dead on, for me the 9wt was perfect for small salmon and steelhead, these are the pictures of salmon that I caught on that fly rod that I have build, and it was so nice on light tackle using 6lbs line on 1000 size reel, the fish is probably 4lbs to 6lbs, throwing 3/8 oz spoon flies.
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Re: In search of a rod to drift live minnow.

Post by bigreddog » Tue Oct 29, 2013 12:45 am

You might also want to look into some rods from G.Loomis:

Bronzeback SMR 1140S-FF
Classic Steelhead STR 1141 S (GL3, IMX, GLX)
Steelhead STR 1161 S

All of these rods are about 9'6" - 9'8" so they may be a bit long for you. I have a custom built ST 1141 S that I haven't fished in a long time. From what I recall, it's action was pretty soft, though not quite noodly. Still, I found that I preferred something with a little more guts - and wanted to use a baitcaster - so I went to a custom Sage Gear CT290F.

The new Gary Loomis Edge StR 862-2(IM) steelhead rod may also be worth a look.

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Re: In search of a rod to drift live minnow.

Post by Tmeng » Tue Oct 29, 2013 2:37 am

Thanks Daiwa Lunatic and Mattman for the information on the fly rod specifications. Looking online for the older 2 peice St Croix Legend Ultra fly rod.

Also thank you Bigreddog. I did not know Gary Loomis made the Edge rods. With the Str 862-2 (IM), does the (IM) stands for the IMX series? This rod meets my specifications, but need to see if others use this rod to help determine the sensitivity.

I actually do have a GLX STR 1141S, I'm going to give it a try as this is a very sensitive rod. I was looking for a rod the is a tad beefer.

I had just purchased a Gloomis Salmon & Steelhead series STR 982S last week think it was the perfect rod. I used the rod over the weekend fishing for walleye/sauger/white bass, and I was not able to feel the bites, the only time I was able too was when the fish ran with the bait. The setup was using 6lb on 1/8 to 3/16 splitshot with live minnow. A friend next to me was catching them using a St Croix Avid AVS80MLM2 with the same setup, telling me the fishes were hitting the bait on the drop. I was a frustrated from re-baiting as I couldn't feel it as they was nibbling away my bait missing the set.

I received an email from the St Croix rep this morning explainning to me the action of the rod has nothing to do with the sensitivity, it's within the quality of the graphite. I thought with a moderate action rod it has more flex, which would cause less sensitivity, and that a fast action this would give me a better hookset. I am in the search to find a high end graphic 8' to 8.6' spinning or fly blank, or a complete rod that is light to med light power, sensitivity would be the key. :D

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Re: In search of a rod to drift live minnow.

Post by bigreddog » Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:03 am

If you're willing to consider some JDM options, I'd also look at some of the longer LRF (light rock-fishing) rods. They typically have extremely light & sensitive tips for light plastic presentations and are surprisingly tough. Although the ones in my arsenal are shorter than what you're looking for, the Megabass XOR Shoreluck SLM-74UL and Shoreluck XX SLX-78L have landed plenty of 20"+ walleye.

Two more options from Megabass worth considering:

DirectZ F3-710XSD
Destroyer F2 1/2-710XS

I have the DirectZ, which is an interline rod. I've found it to be extremely sensitive (as all my interline rods are) with excellent range and excellent backbone. But it's probably not the best if you are looking for drag-free drifts (all that direct contact with the inside of the blank makes it extremely sensitive, but it does add friction if you're just paying out line and not casting).

I haven't tried one, but to me the specs on the F2 1/2-710XS make it an extremely versatile finesse spinning rod for wading. If it only separated 50/50 instead of at the handle...

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Re: In search of a rod to drift live minnow.

Post by bigreddog » Tue Oct 29, 2013 5:21 am

Oh yes, and the Olympic Graphiteleader Vittoria GVTS-7112ML-PE looks really interesting (and expensive) too:

http://www.olympic-co-ltd.jp/enfishing/ ... -7112ML-PE

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Re: In search of a rod to drift live minnow.

Post by QUAKEnSHAKE » Tue Oct 29, 2013 7:39 am

Tmeng wrote: I had just purchased a Gloomis Salmon & Steelhead series STR 982S last week think it was the perfect rod. I used the rod over the weekend fishing for walleye/sauger/white bass, and I was not able to feel the bites, the only time I was able too was when the fish ran with the bait. The setup was using 6lb on 1/8 to 3/16 splitshot with live minnow. A friend next to me was catching them using a St Croix Avid AVS80MLM2 with the same setup, telling me the fishes were hitting the bait on the drop. I was a frustrated from re-baiting as I couldn't feel it as they was nibbling away my bait missing the set.

I received an email from the St Croix rep this morning explainning to me the action of the rod has nothing to do with the sensitivity, it's within the quality of the graphite. I thought with a moderate action rod it has more flex, which would cause less sensitivity, and that a fast action this would give me a better hookset. I am in the search to find a high end graphic 8' to 8.6' spinning or fly blank, or a complete rod that is light to med light power, sensitivity would be the key. :D

I have the AVID 8 ML Mod 2pc its an awesome rod and my favorite to fish with it has "IT". Small cranks or nightcrawler on a #4 hook and even 5" senkos the rod is just fun. Id say the moderate action a bit better for live bait than a fast would be. Its 3.6oz with 1/16-5/16 lure rating vs the 1/8-3/8 rating of the LTW ML F rod but no issue going a tad over as mentioned the 5" senko or even 3/8 spinnerbait.
Ive only used 8-10#braid and 6#nanofil with it so sensitivity is up there and dont think it lacks even compared to LTB rod I have in ML/XF cant say how it is with mono sorry.
Also I dont catch walleye/whitebass so dont know about their bites just crappie,gills,perch bass little cats. With small crappie minnows 2" can feel them swimming around or little perch nibbling at crawler.
Id suggest asking your friend tell him you might be interested in that rod can you try it out.
I wouldnt call it high end though just great.
Here a thread of other ML rods and it has a few pics of some catches Ive had.
http://forums.tackletour.com/viewtopic.php?f=46&t=41910

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