I'm looking to build a drift boat rod for my father. He has trouble with overhand casting so it's mostly a sidearn cast. The rod would be used primarily for casting plugs for steelhead and trout. He prefers to sit down while casting. I was thinking something in the 6-7' range and medium to med-heavy actiion. The steelhead here in Michigan can get up to 12-15# with 5-7# being average. Would be casting smaller hot n tots and husky jerks. Any advice on grip setup and action would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks
Matt Parsons
parsons75@gmail.com

The plug is a great lure for steelhead and trout, the downside is that they prefer the plugs to look different than bass do. They prefer the widest side to side action possible from the plug, the reason Gary Loomis developed a special actioned rod for fishing them. To get this wide wobble the tip of the rod has to be soft and give back to the plug when it reaches it's maximum right and left swings. In your lengths the St Croix 68MXF may work well, you'll notice Hotshot rods on a drift boat are mounted in a near horizontal position so the tips can follow the swing of the plugs, I retrieve a plug in a similar position for the same reason.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2016 08:08PM by Spencer Phipps.

Double Post.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/06/2016 07:50PM by Spencer Phipps.

Mr. Parsons,
You may want to check out the Rainshadow rod blanks I've listed below. I've fished quite a few different plug rods and personally prefer glass ones these days. They are a bit heavier but offer maximum tip wobble and I feel that they load better when setting into a fish.

HS9001-M (graphite)

GCB70M-GB (e glass)

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