Fish with JD

The web's best fishing magazine

  • How-to Guides
    • The Ultimate Guide to Bank Fishing for Steelhead
    • Light Tackle Surf Perch
    • Light Tackle Delta Striper Secrets
  • JD’s Gear
    • Kokanee
    • River Salmon Trolling
    • Plug Fishing for Salmon
    • Light Tackle Surf Perch
  • Destinations
    • Where to fish
    • Endorsed Lodges & Outfitters
    • JD’s roadtrips
  • Gear
    • Boats/Watercraft
    • Clothing/Footwear
    • Electronics
    • Gadgets
    • Lures/Terminal Gear
    • Reels
    • Rods
  • News
    • JD in Print
    • River Restoration Projects
  • Photos and Video
    • Angling Records
    • Boating Videos
    • Cool Photos
    • Exotic Species
    • Fishing Videos
    • Pure Entertainment
    • Trophy Room
    • Underwater Photos/Video
  • Techniques
    • Bass
    • Boats & Boating
    • Cooking
    • Fly Fishing
    • Salmon
    • Saltwater
    • Shad
    • Steelhead
    • Stripers
    • Sturgeon
    • Trout & Kokanee
  • Fishing Report

How to pick the right fishing rod (without melting your brain)

March 13, 2019 By JD 2 Comments

Every month, I get emails from people who are having a tough time picking out the right rod for the style of fishing they are doing. Folks often struggle with not only which brand to go with, but also the more detailed stuff like actions, lengths, line weights, power, etc.

The good news is rods come with most of the information you need to make an informed decision — printed right on the blank (usually just above the fore grip). The bad news is it may look like it’s in code at first. And even if you understand the code, what do all these facts and figures mean?

Well, let’s see if we can’t get you started on the path of understanding here!

Decoding

Okay, so let’s start with the model number on the blank. This part can be actually very helpful — or meaningless, depending on the brand. Some manufactures simply have a model number assigned to a rod that doesn’t mean much to the consumer. Others make their model numbers like a quick cheat sheet that can tell you a lot about the rod.

For example, I’m looking at the above rod — a Douglas Outdoors LRS S785F. In this case, the LRS is the series the rod belongs to. The “S”denotes that it is a spinning rod (C would be for “casting”). The “785” part is the real meat here.

Breaking it down, the “78″ portion of the model number tells me the rod is 7’8″ in length and the “5” means that it has 5-power (more on that later).

Had there been a “2” on the end of that, it would denote that the rod is a 2-piece model.

Finally the “F” tells that the rod has a Fast action, which I’ll also get to in a bit.

So, that’s actually pretty handy and not all that complicated, right? It’s a great system when the models are coded that way, but like I said, not everybody does it. That’s okay though! There’s typically more info on the blank to help ya out.

Just about all companies put some version of this info on their rods. Back to the Douglas Outdoors rod I mentioned above, 7’8″/10-20 LB./ 1/4- 1/1/4oz is also included on the label after the model number.

Okay, so now lets break all that down into more digestible chunks!

Length

The length of your rod has both to do with personal preference (i.e. what’s comfortable to you) and also technique. Some methods like bobber fishing for steelhead require long rods so you can more easily mend loose line off the water. While others dictate the use of shorter sticks — say, casting soft plastics for bass around docks for example.

Power

Typically described in terms such as “Ultra-Light, Light, Medium, Medium Heavy, Heavy and Extra-Heavy,” or numbers like “1-6 Power,” the power of a rod lets you know how much lifting ability or “backbone” it has. In other words, how stiff it is under resistance.

In the real world, this means if you hook a heavy fish on an Ultra-Light or Light rod, you will have trouble turning it or, from a boat, find it tough to lift it up off the bottom. Another way to think about it is, if you were trying to lift a cinder block up off the ground with a rod, you’d have a much better shot at doing it with an Extra Heavy rod than a Light one.

Obviously, in situations that call for delicate presentations and light line, you’d be way better off with a rod with a lighter power rating.

Action

Generally measured from Slow to Extra Fast, a rod’s action tells you how much the rod will bend when you put pressure on the tip.

A Slow rod will feature a parabolic bend in which the blank bends fairly evenly through much of its length, from the tip down to the handle. A Moderate or Medium action rod bends in the upper half and then Fast and Extra Fast rods will bend primarily in the upper third and then, “shut off” in the bottom section.

Because Slow rods (often called noodle rods) have a lot of bend to them, they are most often used when light line is necessary due to their shock-absorbing properties. But you compromise “feel,” hook setting ability and casting distance with them.

Medium to Medium Fast rods are great for casting distance and have relatively good sensitivity and hook setting properties. They are also great choices when using lures like salmon or steelhead plugs so the hooks don’t get ripped out when a fish strikes. Fast and Extra Fast rods are the way to go when you need to bury big hooks into tough mouths or yank heavy fish out of thick cover.

Line Rating

This tells you what lines the rod was designed for and its important to try to stay within that range — at least with monofilament. For example, let’s say you are using a Heavy Power rod rated for 20- to 40-pound line and you are using 12-pound test. When you hook a fish, you are likely to break it off on the hookset or during the fight because the rod is geared up for much heavier line and doesn’t have much “give” to it.

Conversely, if you hook a fish or get a snag with an Ultra Light stick that you have rigged with 20-pound test and put some pressure on it, the rod may blow up before the line breaks.

You get into casting issues too if you don’t follow the line ratings on the rod. You’ll have a miserable time trying to cast a heavy lure with thick line on a Light Rod and it’s next to impossible to cast light lures with light line on a Heavy action rod.

Lure Weight

This tells you how much weight a rod can cast. Like line rating, you’ll want to stick as close to these parameters as you can.

Right when you are about to bring your arm forward to make a cast, the rod will bend and store energy. This is called “loading up.” When you let go at the top of your stroke, the rod will straighten out, releasing that energy — and thats where your distance comes from.

Use more weight than the rod is rated for and it won’t release that energy in an efficient way, resulting in shorter and much less accurate casts. If you try throwing a lure lighter than the rod is designed for, it won’t bend much — thus making it unable to store up the energy needed to make long casts.

Hopefully this helps clarify some of the questions about rod selection you may have. I’ve tried to keep it as simple as possible because fishing is supposed to be fun.

I know I’d rather engage my brain on something much more important like deciding which color steelhead jig I’m going to use instead of decoding rod details!

Share:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Filed Under: Gear, Rods Tagged With: bass fishing, clackacraft, Douglas outdoors, drift boat, Fishing rod, gloomis, lamiglas, salmon fishing, trout fishing

Underwater Egg Bite Video: Drift Fishing with Eggs

February 27, 2019 By JD Leave a Comment

Underwater egg bite vido…how many grabs can you get in one cast?

Share:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Filed Under: Underwater Photos/Video Tagged With: drift fishing, Salmon, underwater

Backtrolling for Salmon & Steelhead: How to get more bites to stick!

February 24, 2019 By JD Leave a Comment

You have probably heard that the best way to convert bites to hookups when backtrolling for salmon & steelhead is to leave the rods in the holders, right? But has anyone ever explained why?

Way back in the 1980’s I was just learning to plug fish and had always been told the same thing. But it didn’t make sense!

I figured I’d ignore conventional wisdom and set the hook anytime I got so much as a sniff from a fish. After all, I reasoned, why would a fish hang onto a lure for long once it felt it was hard plastic? It just didn’t make sense!

Well, sure missed a heck of a lot of bites in those days…until I started putting the rods in the holders.

Here’s why:

Take a look at the pix above and think about this: When you are backing plugs down a river, you and your rods are facing downriver while the fish are facing upstream.

When a fish first contacts your plug, he’s typically at the worst possible angle for getting a hook into him. If you were to set the hook when you are facing each other, there’s not a lot of good jaw there to get a point into. Plus, you’re pulling the lure straight away from him — like pulling a spoon out of a baby’s mouth.

When the rod is in the holder, however, you give the fish a chance to chomp down on the plug and then turn downstream with it. As the fish is winking away from you, the hooks have a better chance to bury in the corner of the jaw (where they often stay put).

By the time you get to the rod, the fish has usually hooked itself.

Of course, not all fish bite the same way and this is anything but a fool proof method. But, give it a shot and I’m sure you’ll see that your bites to fish in the net ratios go way up.

By the way, the same principle applies when you are fishing bait behind divers…let em eat it!

Share:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Filed Under: Salmon, Steelhead, Techniques Tagged With: back trolling, pulling plugs, pulling plugs for steelhead, Salmon, Steelhead

Plunking for High-water Steelhead

February 15, 2019 By JD Leave a Comment

When a steelhead river has just crested after a big rain and is beginning to drop, it’s usually still too high to fish with traditional methods. But that doesn’t mean you can’t catch fish!

When flows are up, you just need to switch tactics and get a little “catfishy” in your approach. Plunking fits that bill nicely and will help you catch fish when the flows are up.

First, a quick look at a simple plunking rig. The idea here is to use enough weight to anchor your gear to the bottom (unlike normal steelhead fishing methods, we don’t want it to drift while plunking) and wait for the fish to come to you.

I’ll always use some sort of big and loud attractor like a Size 2-4 Spin-N-Glo or Flashing & Spinning Cheater. You can go with just this and catch steelies but it never hurts to add a little bonus bait on there — roe, sand shrimp, etc. work well.

High water steelhead will avoid the heavy flows out in the middle of the river and instead travel narrow lanes that are very close to shore.

That’s where you want to cast your rig. It depends on the size of the river, but shorter casts are always better when the water’s up. Sometimes you’ll need to toss 20 feet out and others you’ll only need to make a 5-foot lob.

Plunking is a relaxing, often social affair in which you put your rod in a holder or a forked stick and then plop down on a nice chair and shoot the breeze with your fellow anglers. Or, when it’s wet, you can hang out inside the truck.

Some anglers put a bell on their rod to signal when they get a bite. Speaking of rods, for plunking you’ll need a stouter outfit than you’d normally run for steelhead because you’ll need heavy lead to keep your gear put.

I like a 12-25 lb outfit with 40-pound braid. Spinning or casting is fine…that’s up to personal preference.

Want more info? Check out my huge 300 page eBook, The Ultimate Guide to Steelhead Bank Fishing.

Share:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Filed Under: Steelhead, Techniques Tagged With: high water, plunking, Steelhead

How to get good at Steelhead

January 5, 2019 By JD Leave a Comment

Looking to up your steelhead game? Well, look no further! Here’s 300 pages of in-depth how-to info that will show you everything you need to know to get into that “10 percent of anglers who catch 90 percent of the fish” category!

The info in here will save you countless hours, days, weeks of trying to learn on your own…all for under $12!

Available on Kindle HERE or, if you’d rather have it on your computer so you can print it on your own, get the PDF version.

Share:

  • Tweet
  • Email
  • Print

Filed Under: News Tagged With: california steelhead fishing, Steelhead, steelhead fishing

  • « Previous Page
  • 1
  • 2
  • 3
  • 4
  • 5
  • 6
  • …
  • 426
  • Next Page »
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • YouTube

Guided Fishing Trips with JD Richey!

For guided info, go to www.thesportfisher.com

www.thesportfisher.com

JD’s Top Gear Picks

  • Kokanee
  • River Salmon Trolling
  • Plug Fishing for Salmon
  • Light Tackle Surf Perch

Top Posts

  • 10 of the World's Biggest King Salmon
  • Jig & Bobber Techniques for Steelhead
  • Bobber-Dogging for Steelhead from the Bank
  • Light Tackle Surf Perch
  • 10 Mind Blowing Giant Steelhead

Copyright © 2019 Richey Sportfishing

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.