All,

I'm looking for suggestions on a blank for bottom bouncing while drifting the Niagara River. These will be built for my dad and his cousin, and they can't be any longer than 7' to fit in the rod locker.

The rig they use is typically a 3 way rig with 1-2 oz pencil weight and a trailing kwikfish or egg sac. Typically they'll be catching brown trout, steelhead, or smallmouth bass, but there is the chance to run into salmon.

They originally asked about just matching a standard 7' MH fast action bass rod, but after talking with them a bit about why I thought a more moderate action would be better for this purpose, they agreed.

I'm currently leaning towards something like a 7' MH inshore popping rod (something like the Rainshadow Revolution or Immortal) for this purpose but want to make sure I'm not way off base. If people have other recommendations I'd be happy to hear them.

In my experience the Rainshadow popping rods are much less powerful than their "bass" rods at the same power. I have an immortal 7' heavy popping blank and it has less than 600 grams of power (sorry I don't remember the exact number). I do agree that a more moderate blank makes sense for that application. Maybe one of their crankbait blanks would be more appropriate?

I have no experience with popping blanks, but from what I understand is that they make excellent crankbait blanks because of their more moderate or moderate fast actions. Peter saying that the Rainshadow popping rods are much less powerful than bass rods of the same named power, applies to crainkbait blanks for bass as well. They aren't as powerful when compared to an MB or SJ blank.

If you're thinking you may want more power than a popping blank can provide, but still want that moderate to moderate fast action, you may want to look at a lighter powered flipping blank. NFC might have something you'd be interested in, in their flipping blanks.

And as far as the crankbait blank suggestion that Peter made. The Judge crainkbait blanks from Rainshadow may be a blank you want to consider. Looking at the Rodbuilding.org CCS data base, it lists the 7' MH Judge crankbait blank as having an IP of 573 grams. That sounds like it would be close to the 7' heavy power popping blank Peter mentioned. There is a heavy power Judge crankbait blank that probably has more power than the MH, but I can't be sure. There isn't a listing for the heavy power in the data base.

Myself I would go two piece like the NFC HS 7600-2, 2piece. Since it works so well on plugs (designed for it), Lindy rigging, and I have caught chinook salmon to 25 lbs. on one in the Columbia River, walleye fishing a worm rig. I accidentally caught 2 Spring Chinook on the Willamette River while shad fishing, the 13-15 lb. footballs were hooked on a #8 Siwash hook attached to a #1 Dick Nite trout spoon.

Peter and David,

Thank you for the feedback on the popping and crankbait blanks. I'm ignorant when it comes to popping blanks and honestly thought they'd be more powerful than similarly rated bass blanks, so I'll have to give that some more thought.

Spencer,

I was hoping you'd have a thought since I think you do some similar fishing on the west coast. If I was building this for myself, I'd definitely be looking at a multi piece longer rod, but they want the convenience of a one piece that they don't have to break down to fit in their rod locker. Definitely means I won't be able to give them the absolute best tool for the fishing, but I'm going to do the best I can.

Do any of guys have any thoughts on some of the multi-material blanks out there? I'm thinking of something like NFC's NEO or delta blanks?

I have been fishing the lower Niagara my whole life. You want a rod that has a lot of play, especially for steelhead. The NFC-ST904 is a perfect rod. It is a little sporty fighting a big King with this rod, but served me fine in Alaska fishing ocean run Kings and will be fine in the Niagara. The ST905 would be a little better match for Kings, but would be a bit of overkill for Steelhead and Browns. I picked up the C6O2 933 which has very similar stats to the 904 and I am excited to build on that and see how it is. Only thing with NFC is that you have no idea on lead time. They have very high quality rods at great prices, but lead time is always a big unknown. I have cancelled one rod order (from edge Rods, which are finished as opposed to blanks) because of how far past their stated lead time and have been waiting on carbon fiber handles for 10 months now. I still recommend their rods, but call and ask if they have what you want in stock. If not in stock realize the lead time can be excessive.

You want a rod that has a lot of play,

What is "play?"

Sorry for being general but it is hard to quantify given the variation in ratings for action. The NFC ST-905 is rated as a fast action rod however the lower half of the rod still gets a bit of a bend to it, just not nearly as soft as the top section. When I say a lot of "play" I mean a rod where you are fighting "playing" the fish with the rod much more than the drag. This is especially critical for steelhead which can require 8# and even at times 6# leader in clear waters and fight quite energetically. Here you need a soft enough rod to protect the light line against a strong and spunky fighting fish. I understand that there are other ways to measure the flex of a rod than just the action but I am not at that point in building yet. Just trying to share my experience for this application as a fisherman since a 7 foot rod can be a little short in the river given the preference toward around 8' leaders when drifting eggs.

I also see that someone recommended the NFC HS 7600-2. I have the one piece version of this rod that I build for trolling stick baits in shallow for post spawn walleye. I absolutely love it for this application as the stiff backbone helps pull the lure farter from the boat than most rods I have used. I wouldn't doubt for a second that this rod could handle Kings and Steelhead/Browns. But for me I would not use it in the Niagara. I don't feel like the 7600 is enough rod to keep a fish out of the main current. Another factor is that I think it would be quite a bit more challenging to land a fish on a 7 foot rod if you are using up to 8' leaders. I have toyed with the idea that a HS rod could be a nice option when drifting with plugs (Kwikfish or Mag Lips). When pulling plugs you are only using a 4-6' leader and since you have more pull from the lure the extra stiffness in the lower portion is nice. However I would want a rod with more power than the 7600 and a little longer. The HS 821 looks like a great candidate but I wish I could have it in my hands first as a 10-20# line rating and 4oune max lure rating seems like it could be too much.