What are you using for steelhead fishing -- primarily swinging and indicator as opossed to 'chuck & duck".
What are you using for steelhead fishing -- primarily swinging and indicator as opossed to 'chuck & duck".
Varies depending on the river, fish, and conditions, so range is from a 6-weight to an 8-weight usually, 9'-11'. Usually lighter weights and shortish rods, because the fish are not that large, and the waters are relatively small. Larger rods and heavier weights are for when I head further north.
I have a 10' TFO Professional 9 wt. I got it specifically for Great Lakes steelhead.
I would recommend a 9' 7wt for that, but I have used everything from a 7' 1wt to a 9'6" 8wt. Many steelheaders prefer longer rods than 9' but the 9 footers work fine for me.
When I fish for steelies or salmon my number one choice is a Sage 9 foot 9 weight RPLXi. A fantastic rod.
Larry ---sagefisher---
And mine is....Sage Xi3 9' 8wt. A fantastic rod. Got a great deal on it.
I use a 9' 6" 7 wt for Great Lakes Steelhead. I built it on a blank from Hook and Hackle that I purchased on a close out years ago. It is a medium-fast action. It has served me well, and the 7 wt is more than enough rod for fish to 32".
Brad
"A woman drove me to drink and I didn't even have the decency to thank her."
-W.C. Fields
Ten foot Boron II, 7 weight. It was a gift . I use a 5 weight Skagit line,(line shoots like a rocket) a strike indicator and usually an egg pattern, although last spring smelt style clousers and black woolly bugger tube flies were the key.
Sage 8124; the best 2 handed steelhead rod made to date.
"The reason you have a good vision is you're standing on the shoulders of giants." ~ Andy Batcho
10' 6" bamboo two-handed rod with a 520 grain Rio AFS scandi line or my new 9', 9 weight Extreme Super Hollow bamboo rod. Both rods were designed with the Pere Marquette River in mind.