Grandfather

[Freshy]

Hello guys, I just learned about this forum on another in Texas, 2coolfishing. I think yall might be able to help me. My wife wants me to build a rod for her grandfather who lives in Everett, WA. He fishes salmon in the Snohomish river. He took me a few years ago and I had a blast, he also took me fishing in Puget Sound and I must say the scenery left me speachless. He fishes the river most and uses spinning rods, but I dont remember what action or length the rods were. If yall could give me some info on what action and length that is common for this type of fishing I would really appreciate it.
Thanks for your time, now i'm gonna browse your site.
John

[SacTownRodbuilder]

Hi John,

I'm the guy who told ya about this site. Good luck.

[bigcutty]

what is he fishing for? salmon? steel?, for salmon, you could go 8'6"-9'6" i like my rods a little heavy, 8-17# or 10-20, with a meduim action, for steel, a 9'6" 8-12# is perfect for that river, you will want a fast action tho for more sensitivity in my opinion, some people go 10+ ft on their rods, but i fish in woody areas, so i stick with the 8-9fters, another thing to look at... is he a plunker? spoon fisher? bait?... all come in greatly depending on what style and type of fish hes targeting..

[Freshy]

Thanks for the info Sactown, it's always good to learn of another rodbuilding forum. Bigcutty when I was there we were fishing what I think he called "humpy's". He canned them and mailed them to me and my friends and I dont remember ever eating better fish. Speck trout is good, but those salmon were AWESOME. We were throwing some kind of pink jigs that he sweared by. I really dont think the rods were any longer than 7'. Is that normal? Or do you think they were longer 8' maybe.
Thanks for your help.
John

[bigcutty]

humpys are pink salmon, they only come around every odd year on most rivers here, they came this year and it was a record run, 50+ fish days in just a couple hours was not unheard of.. pinks average 3-5ish pounds, you dont need a super nice rod to fish pinks, you could use a trout pole if you wanted to...but thats the thing, when the pinks are in, so are the kings, and silvers, big ones will make you look like a dunce for coming out with that trout pole ... the lowest i would go fishing PNW rivers is 8'6"...that is the standard salmon and steelhead rod lenght for up here... 9s are nice as well tho, give you a little more power in some cases, and are easier to use while float fishing...keeping the line higher off the water..and if you thought the pinks tasted good, if you havent had it, eat king, coho, and sockeye, pinks are down with chum on table fare as far as the salmon in the PNW, they still taste alright, but cant match fresh king or sockeye... if your gonna build him a spinning rod, id go like 9'6" 8-15, with a meduim action... would make a great great rod for all species... what kind of blank are you using?

[SacTownRodbuilder]

I recommended the Batson XST 1263 or something shorter (the XST1263 is 10ft 6in) 9ft6 is common.

[bigcutty]

thats a rainshadow blank right sac? i need a custom rod someday..... if ya really want to go all out, get a sage blank from up here...depending on were and how you fish, in alot of cases a 10'6" will be too long , but, some know how to fish em... the easy determining factor here, would be, what kind of rods did or does he fish with usually? typical store rods? its hard to find 10+fters here in the store, but 9'6 and 8'6 are super common... so unless hes got custom stuff, go about 9'6 and your golden... sounds like hes an all around guy, id get it in the 8-15, or 8-17# range, so you can run heavier main fishing for kings... you could even go 10-20, my main fishing rod is a lami rogue river special, 10-25, but the weight is up to 2oz, so its a heavy rod, not super sensitive, but can muscle the largest fish, my brother uses an 8-17 loomis, and its night and day, you get alot more feel out of it sensitivity wise...and if ya got time, put a fighting but on it, the older gents like them alot....