I have a customer looking to have a rod built as a spiral wrapped casting rod for king salmon. I had intended to use a North Fork Composites SA 1235-2 (IM)
however I have not been able to make contact with them as of late and this is a relatively short timeline. Any suggestions for something similar to the NF blank ? 12-13ft 15-20lb line fast action.

Unless he has a real large area to land the fish and a specific need for a rod that long, I would steer him away to a 10 1/2 ft., or shorter. The long ones are a pain, even with a long net.

A rod that long gives all the leverage advantage to the fish! Sort of a general rule....the bigger the fish the shorter the rod.

I spoke with Karry Batson, the XST1324F was strongly recommended. I think I can talk him into an 11'. Anybody have any experience with this blank? It sounds like it should fit the bill.

I have a 9 foot XST 10-17. Nice blank and a better value than an NFC IMHO.

It all depends on the technique he is using to catch them. There are lots of different ways to catch chinooks and a different rod for everyone. Then it depends on the waterway, river or stream or ocean or lake or fast or flow water boat or bank. He needs to give you a lot more info before you grab a blank off the shelf.

You never told us if it was a boat, float, drift, or plunking rod. The 4 power 9 1/2 and 11 ft. blank are good bank rods and will work for kings. If it's plunking, or boat use, not so much.

Spencer Phipps Wrote:
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> You never told us if it was a boat, float, drift,
> or plunking rod. The 4 power 9 1/2 and 11 ft.
> blank are good bank rods and will work for kings.
> If it's plunking, or boat use, not so much.


I believe he is bank float fishing. He is wanting to use this to replace is centerpin gear for bigger fish.

The Lamiglas CCP1444 blank they use to make the Closer salmon rod is a dandy. Mends beautifully, good hooksetting power at the longer distances, I've only used the factory finished rod, haven't built one myself yet. US made blank will cost you a bit more, and it is 12 ft. long.

Isn't that a 250 dollar blank direct from Lami?

Yes, but all Lamiglas dealers I'm sure have access, if it was in the discontinued/closeout section than they would be the only source.
When Angler's Workshop was in my state their prices were a little lower than straight from the factory, if that's still true, or if others also did it, I don't know. Lamiglas has never had a policy where all dealers had to sell at their MSRP, G Loomis was famous for it.

For west coast float fishing for chinook with a baitcaster an11’ rod is about max length you’d want to use. You just lost power as it gets longer and it gets pretty tip heavy. Something like a sage gear I’m a ct3106 on the light end or a ct4110 on the more powerful end. You don’t need an extra sensitive blank for float fishing you just want to cast 1-3oz of lead and drive a 4/0 hook into the hard jaw and not break the blank trying to beach it in the heavy current. Lamiglas has good options and I know baston is well regarded in the westcoast salmon blanks as well. Look for ratings of 1-3oz and 12-25lb line or even 15-30lb.

Ross,
Are the Sage blanks now available at dealers, or are they still only available at Blue Heron? I don't mention blanks that are hard to find, also the Sage patterns are decades old, as are the materials, there has been a lot of improvements over the years. Talon wasn't mentioned for the same reason, though there was a time when they were fantastic and as light as anything out there. My longest is a MSC, 13 ft. long, 6 - 10 lb. line.

Spencer: I am unfamiliar with how to "mend" lime with a casting rod?

Nothing new, steelhead angler's have been mending their line to keep current drag off their drifted offering forever, it's the only way I know of the keep a drifting bait and small weight near the bottom in the fish's face, especially important for bottom hugging salmon, you literally have to hit them in the face just like when fly-fishing. It's simply more like a wet fly drift presentation, you're just mending mono, or braid. Just like flyfishing a longer rod, within reason, keeps your offering entering the water at a steeper angle, reducing drag. I use a custom Lamiglas XMG 50, 10 ft. long, medium power fast tip.
A float rod is even easier, you just want to minimize the line's contact with the water which causes unnatural drag on the float, lifting your offering up further off the bottom and also causing an unnatural swing in the current just like fly-fishing. Just an oversized version of indicator nymph fishing. Floating mono, or braid is used.

Spencer Phipps Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Ross,
> Are the Sage blanks now available at dealers, or
> are they still only available at Blue Heron? I
> don't mention blanks that are hard to find, also
> the Sage patterns are decades old, as are the
> materials, there has been a lot of improvements
> over the years. Talon wasn't mentioned for the
> same reason, though there was a time when they
> were fantastic and as light as anything out there.
> My longest is a MSC, 13 ft. long, 6 - 10 lb. line.


You’re right. I think the sage blanks are hard to find these days. I Know there was some available in western Canada but I’m not sure sage distributed them any further than that. They are old technology for sure and are heavy but still very popular. I myself really like the blanks out of Northfork composites as gary loomis knows a lot about building great salmon and steelhead rods. I have but on his lighter steelhead blanks and bass blanks and think they are great. And they do have blanks with very actions and ratings well suited to floatfish for chinooks. The other one I would look into is lamiglas as they are a staple rod maker for west coast salmon and I’ve been using their factories for decades.

Jonathan,

Get the original.

It is in stock, and will ship in 1-2 days.

Email is always easier for quick correspondence, it’s monitored 24/7.

Best,
Aleks