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[Tuckster]

Hello all,

Looking for some advice from the seasoned salmon experts here. I need a new spininng rod to target salmon this summer/fall. I have a beauty shimano Stradic 2500 reel, was looking at a medium to medium heavy 9-9'6'' fenwick or other comparables around 100-150$. Last season i used my fenwick 7'6 MH, it was not an ideal choice......also, it didn't get me any salmon and I may have run over the tip forgetting it was leaning against my car.......but I digress....I think it's bad luck at this point.

I plan to target pinks, coho, chinook and chum with it.....was wondering if anyone had any suggestions.

Cheers

[Humpy]

Shimano convergence or a Fenwick in 10"6' is a great choice, I have both and I have to admit I like the Shimano one better. Both are great choices under $150, I think the Shimano is under $100. They are a bit on the bigger side of what you are looking for but go check them out, they are great rods for the price.

[adriaticum]

What kind of seasoning do you like?
I like my salmon seasoned with salt and pepper and some dill.

Anything 10'6" in length, 10-20 lb will suffice.

[typhoon]

10'6" 10-20 is all wrong for pinks and coho. It will be almost impossible to toss small (1/4oz) spoons and jigs.
A medium power 8-9 foot rod will work great for the lower fraser, lower vedder, harrison, etc.
I use an 8'6" 8-12lb rated rod and it is underpowered for large chum, even in slack water. 
Catching springs or large chum in fast water requires a much beefier rod.

[sbc hris]

 If you intend to continue using the Shimano stradic, then you may want a shorter rod than mentioned by the others. If you are casting and retrieving lures, just find a rod in the 7-9 ft range with probably a 10-20 lb line rating, or somewhere in there. The Shimano Clarus rods would work beautifully for what you want. I used a 9 ft. ugly stick for years and caught hundreds of fish, including big springs. I currently have a 9' Rapala "north coast" salmon spinning rod, but haven't used it yet, so I can't give it an honest review yet.

 However if you intend to drift fish with a float, then go for a rod over 10'. The ones already listed are probably your best options, I have 2 Fenwick "Canadian methods" rods, one that's 10'6 and one that's 11'. The action on the 11' is actually quite different, and I much prefer it to the 10'6.

(edit: Typhoon added his reply as I was typing)

[Rodney]

It is difficult to find one single setup, especially for spinning, to target all five Pacific salmon species. Surely you can get a heavier setup for chinook salmon, but it wouldn't be as enjoyable when fishing for smaller species such as coho and pink salmon. The Stradic 2500 is an excellent reel. I bought one in 2001 and it still runs smoothly when being used. That reel size is perfect for pink salmon, adequate enough for coho salmon, but for chum and chinook salmon it is a bit undergunned. For chinook and chum salmon, my preference is a baitcasting setup.

Back to the rod option for the Stradic 2500. I would go for one that is around 8' to 9' long. If you intend to use it for casting and retrieving lures, then you definitely don't want to get one longer than that. A longer, heavier rod would tire you out when you repeat the casting and retrieving motion during your trip. Find a rod that is rated 6 - 10lb test. 8 - 12lb test is fine as well, but that's slightly overboard for pink salmon. I have spinning rods in both specs. The 6 - 10lb test is always used for pink salmon (sometimes I use a 2 - 6lb test, or 4 - 10lb test).

I recently got a Shimano Clarus CSS90ML2B, rated 6 to 10lb test, 9' long. It has been sitting on the shelf and I am dying to use it, hopefully for pink salmon later on this year or coho salmon on the beach. Last fall I was using a Shimano Clarus CSS86M2B, rated 8 to 12lb test, 8'6" long. It was fantastic for coho salmon, even caught a few chum salmon on it. I find it a bit heavy to cast my usual light spoons, but was still able to achieve the distance I wanted.

[wonder]

I use a shimano voltaeus for pinks and coho it has a ton of flex really fun rod for pinks and they're pretty inexpensive u can see it here... http://www.tackletour.com/reviewshimanovoltaeus.html

For chinook I have a 10'6 shimano convergence had it probly 4 years now still a great rod

[bigblue]

I have been using a Berkley Air IM8 spinning rod for my coho and pink spoon fishing for past few seasons and found it to be good value for money. I use a 9 feet light power rod and these are tough for such a light rod. Cheap for an IM8 blank too.