Is there anyone out there, that might be willing to suggest a good sturgeon rod?

I will be fishing from a boat, not the bank.

I think I am looking for something around 7' with about a 30-40 pound rating, solid with a sensitive tip.

Any make/model inparticular a person should look at?

Thanks!!

JW

I use a heavy duty salmon rod.

A G. Loomis SAR 1084C to be exact.

All my sturgie rods are 10-30#/1-6 oz. My reels are spooled with 20# mono. They double as trolling/mooching rods and work wonderfully for both.

I've never used or needed heavier than 30# line. When they want to make a run, let them go. Rarely you may have to toss the anchor to chase them.

However, if you plan on chasing peelers at Bonnie Pool, you'll want heavier I hear, but I don't know from experience, that sort of thing is for tourists that want to look at Sea Monsters.

I go after keepers on the Astoria flats and Willow Grove.

My nighttime rod is a Berkley Glowstick same weight range, but it glows in the dark and takes 2 AAA batteries for added illumination which makes it easy to see strikes after sunset. The only drawback is the extra thick handle makes it a P.I.T.A. with rodholders.

Hope that helps.

Hands down the 8 ft one piece UGLY STICK.. I worked in the tackle biz for some time and the shop sold more Gater gear than anyplace in the Valley ( we got some big gaters here in the Snake and Salmon rivers ) The prime set up ( for out of a boat) is the 8 ft Ugly Stick matched with a Penn 330 GT reel. I feel that when your gator fishing, you need to show some respect because you have a good chance of hooking a big one. The Loomis rod mentioned above..( with all repect) is not a rod designed to handle a 7,8, ft maybe bigger fish.

The set up I mentioned sells for a little less than 200 bucks with everything, will last forever. I use 40 lb Big Game and an 80 lb Dacron leader ( from the boat) Funny timing for that question.. we are headed to the Snake for some Sturgeon fishing tomorrow A.M

Like I said, I'm targeting keepers, not peelers.

With Gators, you can't really know what your targeting.. big things happen !!!

I dont fish the dam pools with whole shad, I fish the estuary channels with smelt & sand shrimp.

A nice rod for the price is an Ugly stick Tiger rod that you will find at most decent sporting goods stores. I like the 20-50lb rated rod BWC2201. It offers a sensitive tip and plenty of backbone to get the job done. I personally prefer 50lb braid for mainline and 90lb dacron with a 6/0 barbless Gami for most estuary baits and conditions. I have a Penn 320GTI on that rod and though that reel isn't my favorite, it seems to handle the task nicely.
Beeeeeeeee

The fish we use to catch in teh upper C in lake R would have been tough on the ugly. We use to chase them with 50lb braid and 80ld dacron ourselves but using mainly a 6'5 halibut stick and penn. Got into the 11'6 fish was biggest up there and 9+ was far to uncommon. Teh stick worked good when those fish were around. Smallest was 5 1/2 which was over kill on the stick though. But very fun times. Closed our grounds now though with a brillant study that stated they caught all there was and tagged them all. Said there weren't enough but in 6 months after their study, we caught 33 fish with one that had a tag. I guess we caught the only 32 others in the lake that weren't tagged. Hopefully it will come back and I can find something fun to fish that rod with again, I hate realing those peices of plywood off the bottom out in the salt(they do eat good though)

FYI.. these fish "migrate" from the salt to the "pool" so your "light line deal is crap".. respect the resourse.. or break off anything you know is big...

Dude must not have caught many gators.. " Target keepers".. THATS FLAT STUPID.. you have no idea whats going to pick up your bait.

Thats like saying " i fish the Hoh but I only target little fish so I use 4lb line" STUPID". Funny thing is, the fish is older then you are.. and you want to "play with it"... 1084 My ass.... Call Loomis and tell em what happened and I would NOT give you a new rod.

No respect at all... then again, thats kinda what your all about .. right ... Punk ass trick.. wait.. thats Neal

Most of us that fish the lower columbia in the area of the Astoria bridge (estuary) from the bank use 12 to 15 ft rods from the bank, with 25 to most common, 30 lb line. Again, ugly stick makes a resonable 12 ft extra heavy rod. Ugly stick also makes some shorter rods for boat fishing rated approx 50 lb that are reasonable. If you hook up one of the monsters, just break it off before it spools ya. Friend of mine with a 12 ft ugly stick spinning rod was using 65lb powerpro, which is smaller diameter than 30lb monofiliment, thus able to hold bottom with less weight. This also works good for the boat rods. I have seen this smaller diameter stuff make the day. I have landed fish to over 6 ft from the bank without to much trouble. If you decide to fish the washington side down there, just be careful of your backcast as your rod tip and often your lead will be on the highway, and the things with four wheels are passing by at 50 mph. Also dont be one of those guys that runs backwards to set the hook, good way to get splattered on a windshield. The month of june is usually good down there. If you are going to use a baitcaster, penn, newell, and diawa all make some good reels. If you are going to use a spinning reel, get a large one as these fish will have fun with your drag. Line capacity should be over 250 yds. I using a spinning rig with power pro line (braid) bring along a leather glove to hold the line when casting. Have Fun.

Still not over it, are ya?

Berkley: AIR IM7 Buzz Ramsy 15-50 one peice 7' 9"

Slays fish!! 25 pd test!! Tough as hell, look good, and fun! Doubles as a salmon rod!!

Great price!!

Thanks for all the info, I appreciate your help on this, thanks everyone!!

JW