Let's see if a fishing related topic garners even one page of posts....

After losing a rod and reel over the side, breaking another and losing a tip guide on a third I think I need a new rod. I use the G Loomis 1086C with a Shimano Calcutta for salmon and love it but need a rod that can take a downrigger and heavy use...I have a few custom rods but would like some input from the fishing related guys as to what suggestions you may have. I'm not a TDR for $35 guy like one of my friends recommended. I like toys and high performance but am still a little tight sometimes..

I like fishing with Lamiglass rods. I just bought a new lami, cant remember the name of it for the life of me but its a 9ft fiberglass rod worked great for the down rigger($120). I also just bought a new reel called the shimano Tekota 500. Its hot off the press. Its supposed to be shimanos big new reel. It was compared to the calcutta but with a better drag system and not as expensive($160).

Click on the link for TH custom rods,and talk to Travis. He built me a Rainshadow 1264 last year. I bet the 1264 or the 1265 would make a sweet downrigger rod. His prices have gone up a bit since last year. I paid $205 and that included shipping, last year. It came with Titanium guides,that aren't affected by saltwater. He makes a beautiful rod.

I have a lami and a loomi that I've used for downrigger fishing for over 15 years in all seasons.(heavy use) without any problems. If you love it, why not use it? There are lots of good composite rods available these days,Take your pick. Wanna have some fun? How about a good fiberglass rod for that rigger - lots of flex for them bruisers. Good Luck!

I have 3 custom rods with fiberglass blanks made by Harrington...no longer made but they are great for the downrigger with strong butt sections and very sensitive tip sections...the reel seats are not as nice as the newer and lighter graphite ones and they have foam handles ..great for downrigger use and also for fishing divers on the Columbia. I prefer a cork handle but they get chewed up a bit in the rod holders...I have a couple custom Clearwater rods that I like although one of them has broken every time I used it..doesn't make sense to me why that particular blank is so fragile. Usually it breaks riding in the car..it's a beautiful rod for looks but not functional so it hangs in the garage for looks. One of the rods that broke at Neah Bay last week was my Lamiglas Salmon Special which is a great downrigger rod..can't say how it broke for sure but about 5" of the tip snapped off. The rod that went overboard with a 40# king attached to it was a Lamiglas Kenai Guide model. I also have a couple of Fenwick HMG graphite rods which are nice as well . Maybe I'll try for a longer rod like a 10'6"..the

Shimano Convector seems to be a nice rod for the money but is too limber for the downrigger.

I found the Shimano Convergence at wally world to be a good pole for the right price. I like the 10'6 for the downrigger, priced at $55. They also have a shorter one at 8'6 i think that would be a good jiggin rod.

NEN

Well Aunty that is good advise and makes two recommendations from two people I will actually listen to. thanks

Hey Grandpa,

I'm not sure if I'll make your "people I'll listen to" list or not, but I'm a pretty big fan of the Loomis STR1086c myself. I use the ones that I have mainly for chinook, and have used them regularly on a downrigger. Pretty hard to go wrong with that rod!

Rapala is making a 9' 12-25# rod that I saw at the March Sportsman's show. It was at the Sportco booth, and I asked Bill Herzog what he thought of it, and he gave it the thumbs up! I think the price was around $60.

Allstar 1086. 1/2 the price of a Loomis and evry bit, if not better....... They are 9' rated for 10 to 30lb line Just like the Loomis 1086. Save some money and go with one of the Allstar rods...................

If you get an Allstar just make sure you buy 2

That way when the first one breaks you will still have a rod to fish with.

I have tried several different downrigger rods. The best rod that I have found is the St Croix PRO-GLASS Trolling rod. GT100H2 10' H 15 - 30 for a $100 . This rod has plenty of back bone for the big Hot Spot Flashers. But, is still plenty limber to have fun even on Coho.

Grandpa,

Take a trip up to Teds and check out the Daiwa Heartland Glass rods. I have a 10' 6" 12-25 rod for my downrigger and it fishes really nice. Good backbone but still sensitive and fun to fight fish on. Only put you back about $50.00.

I like well made custom rods for river fishing, but for out in the salt give me a good, cheap, well performing glass rod that I wont cry about when it gets beat up.

eagle claw makes a nice glass downrigger rod also, there are lots rods to choose from out there!

Thanks 4Salt..we DO have atleast one thing in common...our choice in rods. I use the G Loomis in the rivers in the fall and have caught some huge Kings in heavy current. I have used it on the downrigger as well. The trouble is all the "newbies" who abuse the heck out of the rods. Thanks to everyone for the tips...I am hoping that this thread will be just as well attended as the political ones..best deal about it is no one calls anyone a flaming idiot for their opinion about fishing rods. Isn't it wonderful? By the way I just like the looks of my GLoomis and Calcutta....I'm so vane!

We run both a Shimano TDR in Medium action and a Daiwa Heartland in Medium light and they are both great downrigger rods.
The action on the Daiwa is far better than the TDR, but I think the TDR is more forgiving of the abuse newbie throw at it.
I would love to spend serious money on a serious rod, but I have too many hobbies and not enough inome to justify it. For the money of these two rods, you cannot beat the performance in my estimation.

Willierower half the price and not even half as good as a Loomis rod...Where do some of you guys get your ideas allstar is better then loomis?
Allstar is decent for the price but does not and will never compare to a Loomis not even a GL2

Anybody tried Lamiglass's rigger rod?


<img border="0" alt="[Goldfish]" title="" src="graemlins/goldfish.gif" />


herm

I do not own an Allstar rod but have heard good things about them. A guide that I respect has switched from Loomis to Allstar because he claims that ever since Shimano bought Loomis the quality has gone to hell. The guide I know puts his rods through alot of abuse with customers and I can see durability being an issue. I keep my good rods to myself on my boat and use a Lamiglas "Salmon Special" (which I jut broke at Neah Bay) for the downriggers along with a few custom rods that are well suited for this. All of the custom rods were $200 each so now I am bottom feeding for two durable rods that have decent action.

I have been using an old Fenwick fs85c for years on my downrigger works great. I think the Fenglass rods are the same thing. Mine is over 20 years old and still going strong. Its a little light but I have caught kings up to 42lb with it.

Grandpa,

I'm still using a 1 piece 9 foot fiberglass rod that Mike Chamberlin talked me into building 20 or so years ago. Just can't seem to justify buying a newer rod to use in a downrigger as this fiberglass one works just perfect.

This is from a guy who's also a Sage flyrod gearmongerer and has about 10 of them.

Only thing I wish I'd done is put a ferrule in the rod. The one piece aspect is a pain in the but at times.

Now, I did buy an E-glass rod earlier this year for downriggers but it's still leaning in a corner in the gun room/fishing room/junk room. That fiberglass rod just has memories and is still going strong. I did build it with hypalon grips.