Northwest Fishing Reports

I am looking for recomendations for good all around setup to hit river bank fishing for steelhead and pier plunking. I have fixed my grandfathers 8' harnell pole with a garcia mitchell 402 reel with 25lb test pline. I have been told the harnel setup is decent for a starter on the pier.

I also have an older diawa baitccaster rated for 12lb, but have 15lb pline installed on cheap zebco med action lake pole. I also have a good mitchell 300 I could use with the harnell for rivers possibly.

what are your recomendation to match with the harnell? What do you experts recomend for a quality combo saty under $200.00? Please help

for poles take a look at the berkley air im8 rod, the fenwick hmx, or okuma sst rods. they're all really good rods for under a hundred bucks.

for reels take a look a the pflueger reels they're making some quality reels for under a hundred bucks too.

I don't think there is really a viable steelhead drifting rod that doubles over as a "pier plunking rod". Generally for steelies I like rods rated ML or L from 6-10 or 8-15 lb test, for a good pier rod that can handle up to 4 oz of lead or more you would probably want a MH rod rated 10-25 lb line.

The above post is correct, Fenwick HMX, Okuma SST, and the Berkley AIR IM8 rods are all comparably priced rods that are all great steelhead killers.

As far as light rods go I have a one piece 7' uglstick, light action, 8-15lb test, Big Water Downrigger Rod model BWD1131 I picked up at a pawn shop. Is this closer for steelhead rod?
It is the 1st one listed here:
http://www.basspro.com/Shakespeare®-Ugl ... 48/-366811

I have an Okuma Celilo 8-12 9'6' rod that I use for Kings silvers, chum and steelhead on big water, or when I need to throw a lot of lead. They go for 40 bucks. The sst rods are really good rods, I have a 10' 6" float drift rod that has pulled in kings pushing fifty pounds on flooded rivers, but it has no back bone, it bends all the way to the handle on a steelhead and cost more than the celilo. But for steelhead, I really like to use the lightest tackle I can, in clear water they can get really line shy, and they are little fish so you can get away with it as long as you're not fishing torrential flows.

I like the celilo okumas because I don't have to be afraid to break them, because they're cheap. They have one rated 8 - 15, which is a step up from mine that you could horse in a big fish with, but it'll still give a small hatchery steelhead room to move, but it depends on your fishing style how you want to bring them in. On the pier, you need something with more backbone, because the jig or buzz bomb you'lll be throwing is like 2 oz. and that weight puts a lot of stress on a rod. I have a pier rod that is an old fiberglass thing I got at a pawn shop, that is long and ugly, but isn't brittle and can handle a lot of weight. You'll probably need to poles, but you can use the same reel if you get a nice one.

As for reels, the Okuma ignite series is dirt cheap, works really well and will set you back like 20-25 dollars. It's not the most durable material wise, but they're super smooth and don't slip. Otherwise I like the Shimano Stradic, which is pretty much bullet-proof, but the price of four or five of the Okuma's. I've used a lot of gear and decided that if it's value you want, go with the neat okuma stuff.

If you want a really super sweet rod, get a loomis, but they're expensive. Real expensive. But super sweet. Anywas, my 2 cents.

I kind of depends on if you're in a hurry or it's a sometime purchase. I'm kind of a Lamiglass guy and if you wait till the Sportsmans show you can pick up a nice China made Lami for about $60. For a reel any Shimano spinner that will fit the budget after rod purchase. If you want to go bait caster, A good Abu round reel can be had for under C note and they hold enough line for the river or the pier.

Ebay can be a good start if you shop carefully, many refurb reels to be had. For Ebay I get my rods from from this guy.Flatlander Lures . I've bought at least a dozen rods from him, mostly for gifts and backup. This one in perticular is a very nice one, comes in Medium to XHeavy and even when price is no object, its a nice one. This is the caster... Eagle Claw Caster. You can also get some nice spinners from him too and the best part is $40 for a rod deliverd to your door. If you're looking for a spinner to go with one of his rods,these Eagle Claw reels feel real (Ha Pun) Nice. Eagle Claw Spinner I have a couple of the eagle claw 4 bearing spinners (4000 size) and they handle the big Rufus trout and small to medium salmon with no problem. I guess the bottom line is if you look around there is some nice stuff to had at a budget price. Rod Reel line for under $100.

Ramble off.... Good Shopping!