Hello helpful people,

I am looking to build a spinning rod for coho, pinks, sockeye and rainbow trout. I live in Vancouver BC and will be fishing our local rivers and estuaries Vedder, Capilano, Stave etc. I 'm trying to fill the spot in between my newly purchased Edge rod BWC StR 1064-2 float fishing rod and a twitching rod I am planning to build with a NFC HS 760 blank.

What do you think of this blank St 903-2 (HM) [northforkcomposites.com] ? Any other NFC suggestions? I am trying to buy 3 different blanks from NFC for the added discount for black friday. I am going to use a Fuji IPS reel seat with NFC IPS soft touch grips. What guides should I use?

Thank you in advanced,
Aaron



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/24/2022 11:56AM by Aaron Koo.

Aaron,

I am not very familiar with your type of fishing. Can you educate me a little?
What size are the fish?
What line type and test do you like?
What kinds of lures and their weights do you use?
Techniques?

I am curious.

Aaron,
The HS 760-2 IM appears to be a more powerful version than the HM version by quite a lot, the flex profile for the HM is 16 oz., the flex profile for the IM is 18 oz. even than it is a much slower tip. If I was going to throw the 1/2 to 3/4 twitching jigs, I would use the IM, if the 3/8 to 1/2 jigs, and if things were slow, look to playing with a few Dollies, resident trout, etc. Fishing smaller, brushier tribs or coastal streams I would use the lighter tipped HM blank. On the smaller rivers/streams that length rod can drift fish, throw spinners and spoons for all you mentioned, dollies, sea run cuts, and steelhead.
Your StR903 choice is a good one, you can have fun with every fish out there with that power rod, easily the #1 loved blank power summer and winter in the Pac NW. I would buy it in the HM unless you are in nasty, brushy, slippery, fall on your butt conditions regularly, even an old klutz like myself can keep a HM blank in one piece in that blank. You made a good choice in your 10' 6" Edge rod, the Vedder series of Certified Pro Lamiglas rods were well received in your neck of the woods. Fred's Custom Tackle in Chilliwack can be a big help in what works at any given time and what is in the rivers.
Get yourself some rod tubes to protect your rods in transit, fly rods aren't the only rods that need them.

Leslie,

We have 5 types of salmon species on the west coast of Canada, pink 3.5 - 5 pounds, sockeye 5-12 pounds, coho 4-20 pounds, chum 8-20 pounds, chinook 5-30+ pounds.
30# braid for line

How to Float Fish for salmon and steelhead
[www.youtube.com]

How to Spin fish for salmon and steelhead
[www.youtube.com]

How to Twitch for salmon and steelhead
[www.youtube.com]

Spencer,

Thanks for tips on the 760-2 HM twitching blank, I think I am going to go with the HM since I can use it more for other species that you have pointed out.

With the St 903-2 HM, I was also thinking about this blank St 962x-2 HM either would be paired with Shimano Vanford 3000. Which do you think will make a better spinning rod for casting spoons, spinners and occasionally float fishing with it on smaller rivers?

I agree with you about rod cases, I also live in a condo so lots of doors and elevators to loose a tip. I have gone through the rabbit hole looking for case for 10'6 rod and found the bottom case to be the best for protection and lightness. It is very hard to find a rod case locally and I ended up getting it at Sportsman Warehouse in Bellingham WA. Surprising since 10'6 float rod seems to be the go to rod setup for the Vancouver area float.

This Trophy xl is built like a tank but also weighs like a tank
[sea-run.com]

I went with case instead since it almost half as heavy and offers good protection
[mtncork.com]

If I was going to use a float fairly regular, and the gear mentioned above I think I would step up to the ST 964-2 you'll lose very little as a drift rod from the bank and gain quite a bit as a small to midsize river float rod. the tip will still be light enough to enjoy dollies, etc. My personal rod for your area is the Lamiglas XMG50 10 ft. blank in your weight class, unfortunately they have been discontinued for a while now. Comparable use rods you may find on the internet to give you an idea of what to expect would be the Lamiglas X 10 MS, or MC, Rainshadow XST, or IST 1143.

Will the ST 964-2 will be better than the St 903-2 HM for spinning lures and spoons? I think I will float fish more with the BWC StR 1064-2 and just use this for only occasionally float fishing in small rivers.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/26/2022 01:28AM by Aaron Koo.

Spinners will probably be a wash, the spoons I use, a lot of 2/5 -2/3 oz. will work better I think on the 964, you get into the little stuff used on pinks, dollies, etc. I think the 903 wins. Your Edge will throw larger winter spinners and the spoons well also.

I ended up ordering the ST-964-2 for the build along with NFC soft grips for the IPS reel seat. I was thinking about using a Shimano Vanford 3000xg or 4000xg, what size would be appropriate for this build? What are your recommendations for Guides?



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 11/29/2022 10:18PM by Aaron Koo.

The ST962x-2 is going to be my next steelhead spinning build. I think it would work really well for the lighter end of your range. I don’t see a single rod being able to adequately span your intended uses. In Southeast Alaska, that’s two different weight classes of rods. Sockeye out-fight their weight class. You can fish big coho on the rods you use for them. I’ve had to use my big rainbow/steelhead weight rods as backups to sockeye/coho rods. This works with loose drags and extra patience, but it isn’t ideal for the rods or fish. Two rods will cover this wide range far better than one intermediate one. You never want to be on a nice fishing trip with one good rod, anyway.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 11/30/2022 12:53AM by Kendall Cikanek.

Aaron,
We're not fishing with you, so it's tough picking reels, the Ci4 material reels are on the finesse side of reels IMO, light, but the material required Shimano to use a different fastener system to hold everything together with enough stiffness, the Stadic FL aluminum frames are more rigid and fasten as you would expect, but they are heavier. For your use, except for the big rod I use a Daiwa Magnesium Fuego 3000 to keep the weight reasonable and the rigidity also as long as I'm out of the salt. For low gradient rivers with log jams and other wood in the water, that coho love, you'll be fine with your first thoughts. Steeper rivers float fishing from shore you'll have a decent bit of line out on your drift before the fish ever picks up your offering, it's up to you to figure if what's left is enough, myself I own some 4000 reels for the extra line capacity when I need it, long MH float rods is one of those times for me.

The Vanford lists at 7.6 ounces and the Stradic at 9.9. They are both lightweight reels for a relatively stout 9.5 foot rod (the same size Saltist is 15 oz). The difference in feel isn’t going to be that much. I usually go for light, but the extra durability of the metal frame wold be worth more to me in this scenario. Anadromous fishing involves lots of travel logistics and fishing variables than can damage equipment. I’ve been using Stradics since they came out without issue. Their even lighter sibling series might holdup, but is the reward worth the risk?