New Fly Rod

[cdpaul]

Helllo,
I am looking to get a new rod for salmon and steelhead. I was looking at the St. Croix Triumph or the G.Loomis GL3. Do you have any better recomendations. i cannot spend to much money. what weight rods do you prefer. I also need a new reel for that kind of fishing. I dont know what to look at there either. Again i am on a bugget.

[Lotech]

The first things that come to mind are;
Look at Albright rods in an 8 or 9 weight, 9 footer.
Also, look at the Pflueger Trion reel. Sportsmans Warehouse has them for around $79. Then spend as much as you can on a quality line.

[hackleman57]

I like the GL3 for the money. Great castability and action - with enough guts to land 'em!

And the Pflueger Trion is one of our favorite reels at Hook & Hackle. It is a mid-arbor with a terrific drag for the money. I don't think you can do any better for the $$.

Ron

[Fishin' Jimmy]

How about looking at E-Bay?? The Pfulger Medalist 1495 1/2 and above reel( it depends on the line size you need for your next rod) has worked for many people and you should be able to buy one with shipping under $40.00 or if you lucky under $30.00 with shipping.

To the other members of this board-Please do not give me the rim palming line, If you do not wear a glove, palming can give you one h*ll of a burn on your hand. A good steady retrive and the braking system on a Pfluger can, get and has done the job!, sence before the begining of WWII. THAT'S ABOUT 70 YEARS RIGHT??? All thoses guys in the past can not be all wrong??

[pszy22]

To be honest, you don't need to spend alot of money to catch salmon (and steelhead). The methods most people use in Michigan (Indicator or chuck and duck) involve lobbing a fair amount of dead weight. You don't need an expensive rod with a XYZ action to do that, nor do you need an expensive line (a small diameter level line will do fine). Remember, you aren't really fly casting per say, so all the expensive design features on alot of high end rods really don't matter.

Regarding reels, it's up to you what you like. As was stated earlier, 100s of thousands of fish have been caught on Medalist reels over the past several decades. I will say that new technology reels do make it a bit easier, but don't let a minimal budget stop you from going fishing.

[Jed]

Elkhorn makes a nice rods at reasonable prices. I was out with a guide the other day and he said he thinks the elkhorn casts every bit as well as the Thomas and Thomas Horizon. Major difference is price.

jed