Mike (No Slack)

[Time Out]

Mike I am thinking about wrapping a Halibit rod what blank would you use?

Glass, Composit, graphite

I am thinking Graphite 7' ?

Sounds like the squid thing is over

I drifted around the power plant out of Dana point Sunday for a few hours one short very short nothing more nice morning. It feels strange running a boat at 50 mph not use to that anymore.

Russ

[NoSlack]

I like a 7" rod for 2 reasons. I don't have a place on the boat to store an 8 footer and a long rod puts the fish farther out of gaff range when you're fishing solo.

Take a look at some of the Steelhead rods. Look for something that has a good flex in the upper third. With 3 pounds of drag the upper half of the rod need to flex on every head shake. Most of the time that #6 trap hook is just hanging in a flap of skin with 1 barb.

All three of my halibut rods are old cast off paddy rods. 7' 15-30# glass rods with a Penn 500 reel loaded with #20 line. I think Graphite would be nice if you can find a blank with a light tip.

Mike

EDIT: Beware of rod ratings. The two 15-40# rods in the photo have the weakest backbone and the 12-20# is the stiffest. Pull on a blank with 2-3 pounds on it before you decide to buy it.

Here is a side by side flex test for the 4 rods I fish. All the rods have 2 pounds of pull on them and would need to load up 1 more pound before the drag will slip.

The closest rod is a Fenwick Pacific Stick PS870, 7' rated at 15-40#. No way this rod would fish #40 and 10 pounds of drag. (20 years old)

The second rod in a Penn Power Stick PC3721M, 7' rated at 15-40#. This rod works the best for me and has a little more lift power than the Fenwick.(20+ years old)

The 3rd rod in is something I bought at K-Mart 25-30 years ago and has a rating of 15-30#. This rod would be my second choice to fish.

The forth rod in is my only light graphite stick. It's a Seeker Black Steel G196-8' cork wrapped. This rod has almost the same action as the cheap K-Mart rod but it's a foot to long for getting the fish in gaff range. It's rated for 12-20#

[NoSlack]

Take a look at Clark Baits site http://www.charkbait.com/cs/csrodsSKRBLANKS.htm

The blank Seeker used on my cork wrap stick comes in 7' CLB704. The next lighter graphite 7' blank would be the CLB702.

[Time Out]

Thanks Mike

I will check out the site. I know what you mean about the eight foot being to long I have trouble enough with seven foot. I think I will go Graphite 7 foot just need to pull on a few more before I deside.

Thanks again

Russ

[DOGHOUSE26]

What pound test are you guys fishing? I tend to stay 20# and under with 15# on a Ambassador 6500 on a light 7-7'6" bass rod although it's alot of work at depths below 60-100'; seems like alot of large fish are snagged with 10# and alot more bites with lighter line.

[Time Out]

Jeff

I`m looking to build a rod thats in the 15 to 30 pound class 7 foot like you I fish with liter line than Mike I think. Of course he catches bigger fish than I do.
I would hate to try to get a 30lbs halibut off the bottom with 15 pound test I think you would loose a few so maybe a good 20lb would be the set up ??

Russ

[yellowfin1]

This is what I love about this site. Where else can you go to get this kind of info without paying for a seminar? Thanks for contributing the time and effort to demonstrating the rod differences.