For what it's worth, the captains using my noodle rods report to me they found 8 oz of weight to pull line from the drag to have the highest success rate. This is with customers of varying skill levels handling the rods. They also found that oversized reels (oversized for 2 lb test) had a more consistent drag and higher success ratio than smaller reels (see Jay's note 2 posts above about spool diameter reduction and drag increasing)



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/12/2013 10:27AM by John E Powell.

Jay is right on as is John. Set the drag for 1/4 (1/3rd if a good lever drag) of actual line breaking strength and use a very large capacity revolving spool reel. At least his fish aren't likely to make long/quick runs.

The fact that he is going after bottom fish and needs to use lead weight to hold bottom complicates matters. Best learn bimini twists and rules on allowable double line and leader lenghts.

Russ in Hollywood, FL.

As John stated, I would shoot for a reel that is capable opperating with .5# of drag (or less). Lots of line capacity and let the fish exhaust itself.

Having the drag set to 50% leaves ~35-49% of the line weight. 2 lb test means the margin of error is less in total, but it's no different than using 2lbs of drag with 4lb test, or 50 lbs of drag on 100 lb test. The percentage is all the same. And I can use line that tests up to 1kg (2.2lbs of pressure) so 1 lb is ~.45% of the total drag if using a true 1kg IGFA tested line. I do know what I'm doing with light line and limits. And I do know it will be a challenge (that's why I'm doing it) and the risks involved with them.

But I'm not here to find out how to fight a fish on 2 lb test line, I'm here to find the rod for the style of fight I want to have with the fish I'm catching. I am looking for a rod blank with a backbone, but light enough action to handle the pressure of such light line while having the forgiveness for a fish if they decide to run while in close.

And Phil that's an outdated thought process. Catch and release is very possible with light line, it takes patience, knowledge and skill. And again, I will not use a gaff! the 121lb 8 oz blue was caught on 20 lb test line, kept alive through transport and survived years in a Texas aquarium display, where the 124lber caught on 50 lb test line died after transport to a major chain sporting good store. The 121.5 was fought for over 40 minutes where as the 124 was landed in about 15... Both anglers were experienced in large fish, and both had numerous images taken of it while in captivity while being lifted from the water.There was a 123 lb Flathead Catifsh caught on, allegedly though many skeptics abound, 12 lb test and a zebco push button/closed faced spinning reel that the fish didn't survive because the angler didn't properly care for the fish and just wanted notoriety after catching it. There are many factors to why fish die, but exhaustion seems to be a scapegoat for a lot of the real reasons.

And yes I won't be using a typical 2lb class reel... I want a higher line capacity, and want to have more control over the drag than any I've found can offer. I will likely have 4-600 yards of 2lb test line on the reel, maybe more depending on which model I decide on based on the rod I choose too. Like I said, this isn't a decision I'm approaching lightly, it's something I'm looking for specific things for based on my style of fishing and how I want to approach the species I'm going after.

Sounds like you are gearing up for a challenge, Bryan!

Just wanted to repeat that at 1/2 spool your drag has doubled (up to 2# now)...3/4 spool and it doubles again (4# at that point).

Best of luck in your ventures.

When I was a young man, had a chance to talk to Dick Swan, and we worked on a rod design to fish for smallmouth bass with light line. He build me an 8 foot -1 peice rod, he called a "bike rod". He had never built a rod like it, but made one up. Because a one piece blanks that long did not exist, he used a two piece rod blank and built the handle on the butt section of the rod, with about 1 1/2 foot of the butt section used for the reel seat, and epoxied where the two parts connected. I have since built several more simular rods using 3 and 4 wt flyrod blanks. Dick was perhaps the pioneer in noodle rod fishing in the Midwest, and probably the world. He set many records for light line fishing in the early 70's on Lake Michigan. His approach was simply "long and limber". Dick built rods on blanks that by todays standards were marginal at best, but still he could hold steelhead and salmon on them. He trolled with his noodle rods on the Great Lakes, with line that would now be considered ancient technology. He told me he learned a lot from the fly fishermen who used long slow rods to handle Trout and Salmon. Look for a long (12-13-14 foot), moderate action blank, and build it using as light as possible quality guides. Fish with braid or Nanofil, and be ready to keep what you catch, as the stress on the fish after a long fight is tough on them. You have to have a reel with a drag as smooth as a young baby's butt...