Basic setup for river fishing?

[J-M]

Hey guys, just came here from Ontario and looking to buy a set-up for river fishing systems like the Cowichan, Stamp, Campbell river etc. I brought along my floatfishing reel from back home but left my 13 ft. noodle rod because of transportation purposes. What type of rods do you guys run out here for the salmon and steelhead? Anything that would suit my floatreel and be used for floatfishing mainly but may double as a casting rod if possible. I'm kinda on a strict budget becasue of school but if you guys could recommend the best setup for a floatfisher like me that would be awesome..Thanks so much guys..

Joe

 

[mthornton]

How much do you expect to pay? Walmart has some baitcasting rods in the 50 dollar range. Call around and see what people have. I like 9 foot or 10'6 rods myself with specifications for 10-25 pound test or somewhere in that range with medium or medium heavy action. As in gear wise I use a foam float with a piece of pencil lead and the a bead and then a swivel. After the swivel a use a single barbless hook and a piece of wool or sometimes a corky or goeybob. Hope this helps a bit

 

[stoolhead]

I did the same move some time ago and came here with my 13 foot noodler and smallish spinning reel. The rigs are too heavy that are needed for winter flows on those rivers (mine broke when some heavy weights slammed into it on a bad cast).

I tried mine in the Stamp and it was of no help. It was fantastic on the small steam steelhead though, as expected. I bought a sturdy flyrod and a Abu reel and 10'5" rod for it and can easily handle the bigger rivers. Some of the pools are like throwing your rig into a washing machine - you'll need weight on that and a heavier rod will have better control.

I bought a new Ontario style noodle setup last year for the numerous little creeks that hold fish all winter.