I have always used relatively shot rods with rollers and wire line to troll for stripe bass in salt water. Some of the comments on set-ups for troling for salmon in the Great Lakes now has me thinking about building a couple of rods along the lines of these rods which seem to run in the eight foot plus range. The stripers usually run in the 30# and up range and 40# are not unusual. Does anyone have an opinion if this is practical and what blanks would be appropriate.

Thanks

Hi Frank,

I grew up trolling single strand stainless wire for bass off the South Shore....we shipped a lot of bass to market before the moratorium. . I still enjoy it and still build some trolling rods for myself. I only know a few guys who stick with the stainless though.....I have a 6'-6" slow action heavy power rod for trolling umbrella rigs...I put a good run of mono leader on it for some stretch though....a good bass on that rig can beat you up a bit.

Then I have an 8ft faster action rod for bunker spoons....and a 7 ft mod action Lamiglas rod that I use to jerk parachutes. They all have carboloy guides though...no rollers.

To answer your question...it all depends on what you are going to put in the water and where....I sure wouldn't want to be handling anything over 8 ft in my 24 ft Grady with a 30 or 40 lb bass on the end of it...especially when I am fishing alone.

My preference for live bait and crankbait trolling for larger stripers has been the Seeker CLB704. The 706 might do better for stripers in the size range you list. Not sure if these are still available but they were/are fantastic blanks.

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The best rod I ever found for flatline trolling for king salmon using a rod holder was a 6' 6" MH magbass action. It was an almost automatic hook set using that rod. I had been using an 8' 6" fast action salmon blank before trying the magbass and it never was reliable in setting the hook. I'd get the strike and the fish would be gone before I got to the rod. Usually had a deep Thunderstick Jr on for a lure.

I've built dozens of striper rods for charter and recreational captains on the Chesapeake Bay. My 'go to' blanks are CalStars (660 /670) - no rollers. 90+% of the people have moved away from monel (wire line) in favor of braided line with mono leaders to pull umbrellas, parachutes and double bucktail tandem rigs. The thinner diameter braid accomplishes what the wire did in the past (get the terminal gear deeper in the water column) while eliminating the problems encountered with wire lines (kinking, corroding etc.) I always recommend that they have nylon/graphite tough butts installed as they are easier to remove from rod holders with a fish on - and they are much more durable than softer EVA / Hypalon. I used to use Stuart Tuff Butts (aluminum tubes/swagged reel seats & over sleeve) - but they are now impossible to find.

Frank,

The Great lakes trolling rods are designed to land trout and salmon that range in weight from a few pounds up to the rare 30lb+ fish. Most fish weigh between 6-27 lb throughout the season. Some of these fish, the various trout species, have pretty soft mouths and the rods must be fairly forgiving to prevent pulling the hooks in a trolling scenario where the boat keeps moving. When using low stretch braid or wire line the fish must be played until tired, then brought to net without bringing the boat to a stop.

Old school Great lakes trolling rods were often 8'6"-9' (and 10'-10'6" diver rods) and had a moderate action. When loaded, a small fish would would work the rod throughout it's length, but larger fish would bend the rod close to the handle with the front 30-40% straightened pointing directly at the fish. This is not the best design approach but it worked reasonably well for the intended purpose. As blank technology has improved there's been a growing trend towards shorter and mod/fast to fast actioned rods in the 7' range (with divers similarly shortened to 7'-9') with similarly soft tips as the old school rods. The MHX DR845 is an excellent example of a modern Great Lakes blank.

I have a pretty limited experience with stripers, but given the trolling experience I have trolling the mid-depths off the cape I don't think my blank choices for trout and salmon would transition well to saltwater striper trolling, at least not the methods I have experience with. I do think the trolling concepts would apply, just not the specific blanks. Stouter versions would seem more appropriate for the 30-40lb fish your referring to.

About the only technique specific rod we use that would that would seem to match up well for large stripers would be the 7' - 7'6" stiffer rods used to tow copper lines off of inline planer boards, or the more powerful versions of our diver rods we use to pull magnum sized divers on wire line. Otherwise, our stuff just seems too light.



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 04/07/2015 02:37PM by John E Powell.

Frank
The rods you describe are what many trollers on the Chesapeake Bay use in the "mid season" . That is after the large breeding fish have left to migrate up the coast to Massachusetts (and beyond) and before they return in late December to lay over. During that period of the "summer doldrums" the bay loads up with smaller stripers (16-20 inches or so - those that haven't grown up enough to migrate); bluefish and Spanish mackerel. The longer (8 foot) softer action rods are very good trolling for these smaller fish - not so much the blues but Spanish who seem to have a tendency to throw hooks on stiffer rods.