Has any one tried this approach so they can increase the distance that can be attained from the shore of a lake?

Doc says I gotta walk, the hydrographic maps of my favorite lakes show "sweet spots" farther out that I can presetly reach with my current set up. I'm thinking of going with a 7-8 foot rod that I can put a spinning reel on but need ideas as to what will work. I would like the rod to be able to throw either lures or bait the farther the better.

Any ideas as to blank type and lengths, handle length etc. I've searched the forum
with the results not being the information I've been looking for.

All ideas appreciated.

darby

ps. I've gone over my back issues of RM but my collection is far from complete

d

What you fishing for? The 2 piece steelhead blanks work pretty well, and they store well. They also come in a variety of lengths and line weights. Another would be one the the match blanks that Mark sells at The Rod Shop, they throw gear into next week on a lake.

9’ 2 piece G Loomis IMX ST1084-2 for 8 to 12lb line. This is a sweet spinning rod blank that will cast lures and bait a long long way.

Darby,
All other things being equal, the length of the rod will be the largest variable in determining how far you can cast. However , the blank and the weight being cast should be matched well to get the maximum distance. How much weight do you think you will be casting and how far do you have to cast to get to your "sweet spots"?
With practice most will be able to cast farther will a casting reel than a spinning reel but you can cast a long way with a spinning reel and a spinning reel is generally less troublesome.
Without knowing what weight that you will be casting and how far you need to cast it is difficult to say but my gut feeling is that you are thinking about a rod that is much too short to be able to cast any distance.
I do not want to argue with Dave or Spencer but if you are going to be casting bait as well as lures I would look at a blank with a slower action than a Steelhead blank so that there is less chance of tearing the bait off during the cast.

You might want to look at the Batson line of Steelhead or longer spin blanks.
They are "moderate Fast", the new "BP" series is a little more "Moderate"
8 1/2 ' BP1024F
9' IST1084F or IST 1085F
Here is a link;
[www.schneidersrods.com]

In standard Graphite "SH" series.
[www.schneidersrods.com]

Hope this helps,


Best wishes,
Ron Schneider
Schneider's Rod Shop
Mountain Home, Arkansas
[www.schneidersrods.com]
mtnron40@yahoo.com
870-424-3381

Roger Seiders, owner of Flex Coat products, showed me a rod that he built for essentially that purpose. He made his from a 10 foot fly rod blank. I don't remember the line weight but I believe it was a 10 weight. It was a spinning rod that he put foulproof guides on since at the time most ceramics were too heavy. Roger sells a float that he calls "the launcher." Under the float he ran a mono leader to which he attached a curly-tailed soft plastic lure. He fished his rod from the bank in the tailraces of Texas lakes for stripped bass and was very successful doing it. He may still be fishing that way. While some folks were paying guides to ferry them within casting distance of the fish, Roger was catching them from the bank. I saw several of his catches and it was amazing how many fish he caught with his method.

Check out the "Hot Shot" blanks from "Rogue" or G.Loomis [beware of straightness].
I believe Rainshadow also has the Hot Shot Blanks. These finished rods will cast forever.
I was told by numerous customers that they have never had a rod that would cast as far,
either by cast or spin.

Tight Lines
Tight Wraps
Fishin'Stix by Fred

I live in Kansas and and occasionally fish wind blown flats on nearby reservoirs for channel cat. To get to productive water it takes a relatively long cast. I started with medium heavy steethead rods and they worked good but I needed a little more rod . Next i tried Batson 10 1/2` composite drift rods ( throwing 1-2 oz) and they were better. The next step was a Batson 1264-F surf rod blank. This rod can throw 2 oz. and green worms a long way. In fact a long way with very little effort. I use ambassadeur 6500`s. It has the power to set the hook with a lot of mono out and is a pleasure to use in my application. I`m no expert on surf rods but if I were you I would talk to someone who is. I think you could find a surf rod blank to fit your fishing situation to a tee. Good luck from the heartland.

Darby,

Go back to March 31st. A post by Marty Martin. Greatest Distance with 1 oz.

I had a shore casting distance problem to overcome in the Yukon. I just downsized Tom Kirkmans' surf rods that I saw at the rod building show. Worked great for me.

Emory has a valid point about casting vs spinning reels for this application.

Dan Miller

Thanks for all the tinformation. It seems that 7foot 6 is the length to go with. The past posts really helped


darby

Darby,

Just read your post. This is the exact question that I was asking last year and I'm still in process . I also confirm that indeed, casting a great distance sometimes allows me to reach trout that others can't reach from shore. However, this is not a guarantee as often, the trout is pretty close to shore so the distance doesn't offer any advantages.

Here's where I am currently. Please note that I don't know what lure weight you are looking to cast so my suggestions are more for the 1/8-1/2 oz Kastmasters and such. I'm thinking this through as a system rather than just the rod so here are some observations. I hope they are of help.

1. Spin reels. For distance, Daiwa beats Shimano. The best 'modern' (also expensive) would be the Daiwa Luvias & Aegis style. These are available only directly from Japan or on @#$%&. The spool are 30% wider than the current crop of Daiwa reels including the $500 steez which has the same spool design as the value priced USA Daiwa Exceler at $60. These are very lightweight and a pleasure to use. They are reverse taper which allows you to load the line right up to the spool lip. The cheapest is around $200. Not cheap.

If you don't need a modern reel with all the refinements, check out the Daiwa SS Tournament Whiskers. (not the version II.) These have a FORWARD taper spool which I believe is the best design for distance casting. However, they lack some refinements such as instant reverse or wobbleless retrieve. Their durability and drags are worldclass though. These are $90-100 and have a great reputation.

2. Line. Use 4 lb Fireline. Breaks at 7+ lbs. I use 3 lb Fireline and they are still fine. Fireline casts an amazing distance . I'm even outcasting everyone using this line and a tiny size 500 Daiwa reel just for kicks. This is using the same rod length as others. It's always fun to impress others unintentionally. You may want to use a clear leader for fish that is line shy.

3. Lures. Some lures cast further than others. Pretty obvious I guess.

4. Rods.

I agree that longer is better. However, there's some odd relationship that I still don't understand where sometimes, a short rod is done just right where it will out cast most rod a foot or so longer. I think there are line oscillation issues that I do not have capacity to figure out. (Emory.....want to take a stab at this?)

Now, for fishing while hiking, I found an absolutely amazing rod that's available only in Europe. (We picked up 10 units just to reduce the shipping cost per unit with friends. It's that nice a rod.) It's a Shimano telescopic that is nothing like the USA telescopics. High quality, packs down to 13 inches, extends to 8' 9", SIC guides that looks exactly like the Fuji SICs but without the logo. It can handle 4lb to about 20 lb test. This puppy casts, figuratively, 'a mile' and is absolutely amazing. I have more than one fisherman standing by me just amazed by the distance. The good thing is that for hiking around the lake, it's very nice to have a rod that packs down into the short supplied tube and then just unpacks for fishing. We sometimes just talk around the lake with this rod with reel mounted in the shortened configuration and knowing that it can really reach out there when we find a spot people are catching fish at. I've stripped one of these rods down to upgrade by changing the handle configuration and titanium SICS. This is a rod where I can push it a bit and feel comfortable with 4 lb test, all the way up to perhaps 20 lb test with a good drag.

If you want more conventional 2 pieces, I suggest that you look at Lamiglas' XMG series. ESH-114-2L. 9'6" 2 piece. I really believe that Lamiglas is by far the best bang for the buck in high end blanks. I got specs from some of the finest and greatest here and in many comparable models, Todd Vivian's thin and large diameter XMG material blanks beats them all in terms of weight for the power. They really offer unmatched value for the dollar in some of their series. Lamiglas recommend this as the longest casting blank for 1/4 oz and I believe them. I have one but have not built it up yet.

Mo

"I would like the rod to be able to throw either lures or bait the farther the better."

Darby,

I agree with the others that mentioned a longer blank. Can you go longer than 7'6"? I didn't see line/lure weight mentioned anywhere, but I'm assuming it's light. I've had great luck with inexensive Fly blanks in this application with New Concept set-ups. 904's, 905's & 907's more than anything. If you've got to stay at 7'6' as you mentioned, maybe a IM6 (RX6) 763 depending on the weight of your lure/bait. Getting an economical spin blank in a longer length that will still load up correctly with a light lure has always been a challange, which is what made me turn to the cheap fly blanks.

"The Launcher" that Ellis mentioned above can be deadly too depending on your actual application. My Son uses those up North with Mini-Tube Jigs on a 907 to get to a "hump" on his favorite lake that's WAY out there. No boats or float tubes are allowed on the Lake, so he's got to get there from shore. He slays 'em with that set up on 4lb. line. I have Launchers in stock, but they're not on our site. They're a couple of bucks each. These are foam floats with a lead weight at the bottom, ranging from 3/8oz to over 2oz.



Mark Griffin
[]
C&M Custom Tackle
San Dimas, California

Mo,

thanks for the all the advice. it is something i can add to my research.

I fish for trout and agree that most are not that far from shore - - it is not most that I intend to use this rod for. The area that I want to reach is currently beyond my current rods and reels by about 50 -75 feet. I've seen several trout hauled in from that distance and location in the range of 3.5 to 7 pounds. The guys had fish scales that held the fish by its lower jaw otherwise I could only say they were a lot bigger than the ones I've caught closer to shore, hence the reason for going to a longer rod.

My longest pole is an old Diawa VIP fiberglass unit 6.5 feet long with a slow action, that I feel is more suited for use as a downrigger pole, fitted with a Diawa BG 13 spinning reel and using 8# mono line that I've caught everything form a 6#2oz rainbow to a 4.5# lake trout - along with several carp in the 4-5# range. That said I feel it is time to retire it and come up with something that is more fitting. I feel this pole is too "limber" to reach the distances I now want.

So far my research has led me to this type of pole. 2 piece 8.5' graphite that has an action between medium and fast, reel seated centered 15" from the butt with the diameter of the handle being (850mm*.11)=93.5mm - which to me seems small - and the balance point being around the center of the spool of the reel.

The reel seems old but I was injured the year after I got it and have only been able to return to fishing last year so it seems a shame to retire a "new" reel.

thanks for the input

darbt

Throwing 1/2-3/4 oz spoons and crankbaits to steelhead & salmon is popular on the piers here in Chicago. distance is key.

9 ft spinning gear with 30lb powerpro is standard. You can also add a flouro leader and float spawn, cooked shrimp, etc.

however I think 1 or 2 piece rods are a PAIN and 1 or 2 piece 9 ft rods are a 9ft PAIN so I built a batson IF907-3 (3 piece 7wt fly rod rx7) and IF908-4) (4 piece 8wt). Ideally would have built a 3 or 4 piece hothot blank but since I couldn't find any I compromised with the fly blanks.

Overall, I'm pretty happy with these and use them day in, day out here as well as for tossing cuda tubes, etc on trips. (the 8wt is really good on cuda tubes).

I would definitely consider going up to a 9wt blank if I was doing it again though to provide a little more meat with the 3/4oz spoons.