Salmon and Bottom fish rod

[Danny_Ocean]

Is there such thing as an overlapping rod/real setup? Any links and direction would be great.

I do have a couple old school mint condition Penn open faced reels.

 

[Whole in the Water]

Depends on how heavy a rod you want for salmon and/or how light a rod you want for bottom fish. You will have to make a trade off some how. Hopefully you can avoid the worst of both worlds. I can't think of on rod that can do both, nor would I want one. Fishing for salmon with a Penn multiplier geared reel with a heavier rod does not sound very sporting or fun IMHO as you just end up quickly yarding it in.

 

[Danny_Ocean]

Thanks, I really like these "center pin" reals I see up in Canada they use for "mooching". They look like a fly rod on steroids. Could you recommend any starter setups? I don't want the Walmart special, but I don't need the "guide series" either. I'm thinking a trip to a local store is in order.

 

[N2013]

Are you gonna be jigging or trolling for salmon?

 

[Danny_Ocean]

I think for the most part jigging as I won't have a down rigger.

 

[Whole in the Water]

This is about the cheapest new salmon mooching combo you can get. You can also jig with it as it has a free spool lever.

https://www.cabelas.ca/product/108328/daiwa-m-one-utdwilderness-trolling-combo

 

[adanac]

I think for the most part jigging as I won't have a down rigger.

Lots of stuck in their ways guys on here will tell you to jig with any old mooching setup or 9' + . This honestly works against the actual process of jigging as you dont impart near as much action / have as much feel .

6'6 shimano talavera slow J is what we use for double duty jigging on our boat . enough back bone to break 100 lb hali , but still fun on a 6 lb coho . very light paired with a avet SX , or a talica 8.

https://fish.shimano.com/en-US/product/rods/jigging/talavera_type_slow_j_casting.html

 

[eroyd]

You don't want a "mooching" rod if your primarily jigging. Something with a lot more spine and less than 8'. With bottom fish on the menu something a little heavier than what is ideal for salmon would be good.

A few years ago I picked up some inexpensive "Musky" rods from cabelas. They were one piece 7' and were only about $70. Don't know if they are still available but there might be something similar. I've upgraded to the Shimano trevala's since.

 

[Flashman]

If you aren't planning to troll with it, don't bother with a mooching reel, the "center pin reel" you referenced. I've done it in a pinch, it's very annoying. If you are going to be jigging for both bottom fish and salmon, a small reel like this is going to serve you well:

Okuma Tesoro Star Drag Reels

The Tesoro is a 2018 model reel, first shown at ICAST July 2017. The new star drag reels got a lot of attention from anglers, with the improvement in casting of leverdrags it seems there’s a preponderance of lever’s and less star drag reel options for serious anglers who are looking for a high...

charkbait.com

Go for a small light reel of that style, lever drag or star drag, doesn't matter, with 15-20lbs of drag. You don't need that much drag, but by getting a reel with that much, you will automatically avoid most of the junk that's not worth buying. A small reel with lots of drag will typically be well built. I have a couple of the smallest Tesoro reels (5NS), they're great. I use them for ling cod, halibut and jigging for salmon. They are more than strong enough for any fish around here. Light reels are nice, less tiring jigging.

You should be able to get a good, middle of the pack quality wise rod for under $200. Personally, I also prefer light rods. It does depend on what kind of lures you want to use. If you want to use big heavy jigs like these you will want a bit of a heavier rod:



A rod well suited to those weight of jig will be a bit too heavy to reasonably fish smaller jigs you would use for salmon. The rod tip won't bend and flick the jig much, which both feels weird and negatively impacts how the jig will attract fish. I would look for a rod that's suitable for about a 7oz lure max as a compromise between salmon and bottom fish. That should provide a reasonable balance between lures suitable for big bottom fish but still be able to reasonably fish for salmon. Give consideration to slow pitch jigging rods. They will seem unreasonably light, but if you watch a couple youtube videos about how to use them, they're more than strong enough to catch any fish we have. I use the same slow pitch rods for jigging coho and halibut. They work great for both.

 

[Rain City]

Man, who jigs for lings or hali anyway? Too much work

 

[Danny_Ocean]

Excellent information guys. I appreciate it!

I have a trip planned in May over to the island, and we will have some down time for fishing. I know salmon is a distant dream at that time of year, but I’m hoping to try for some bottom fish in the small protected bays we will be around. Thanks!

 

[Dogbreath]

Man, who jigs for lings or hali anyway? Too much work

Lower it down to bottom place rod in holder & wait!

 

[Rain City]

Lower it down to bottom place rod in holder & wait!

85% of the time, it works every time.

 

[Danny_Ocean]

We will be up in Nooka area, maybe over by fair harbour as well. Can hurt to try. Fish in secondary, but high on the list to do. I can’t wait.

 

[adanac]

85% of the time, it works every time.

Two bait rods in the holders , chum tube 10 feet off bottom on rigger , then we always have two guys banging big plastics off the stern corners . 9/10 times those always get hit first by fish coming up the scent trail .

 

[sly_karma]

I think for the most part jigging as I won't have a down rigger.

There's a good, albeit long, thread on salmon jigging: search for "hi tech jigging". The setup does double duty for bottom fish and salmon, but obviously makes some compromises. As mentioned by @adanac above, there are short, light rods around that have the power to handle salmon and halibut, another one is the Shimano Trevala series. The compromise here is the shorter length takes away some of the shock absorber function that leads most salmon fishers into 9' or 10'6 rods. I've hooked lots of salmon jigging on my Trevalas, but lose more around the boat than I probably would on a longer rod - that's a compromise. If I can tell it's a good fish, I back the drag off and let it have lots of time to tire itself out before bringing it near the boat. But if they're hitting and they're not big, or not open for retention, who cares if they pop off near the boat? One nice thing about the shorter rod is it's way easier to handle the rod and the net at the same time, as is the case when fishing solo.

I tried jigging with a mooching rod/reel setup. Not great, more compromises than with a jig setup. The rods are noodles, so much lift needed to get action on the lure. And while a single action mooching reel with a drag release function can be used for jigging, the release is awkwardly placed for frequent use. A short light bottom rig is better able to cross over for salmon fishing than vice versa.

 

[acrowe]

If you are jigging I would support the recommendation of the Shimano Talavera jigging rod (I have seen people say you can get decent similar other brands online cheaper). I have two (talaveras) and they work very well. They are a bit light for the heaviest ling cod and halibut jigs, but can handle bringing up any lingcod hooked and I assume a decent halibut (they are shockingly powerful when playing a fish). They are actually good with a fairly heavy jig even though they seem light.
I would choose a fairly fast multiplier reel, but good ones are expensive. I have a newer Penn, an Abu Garcia 5500 bait caster and an older Shimano I found used. I used old (50s) Penn star drag reels for a couple seasons. They work but are much slower retrieve. Slow is a bit of a pain when coming up and down for bottomfish, but if you are trying to jig for salmon in deep water slow retrieve speed is definitely less fish in my experience.