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[fish.on]

Hi, I heard a noodle rod (9'6'', light power, slow action, 2-8lb line weight, 1/16-3/8 lure weight) with a spinning reel setup can be used to catch steelhead. Is this gear with short floating an effective way to catch steelhead on the vedder?

Also, can the same gear be used to float fish for urban lake trouts; bottom fishing with bait; and lure fishing?

Any insight is much appreciated.

[joska]

 i have thought the same thing, watching wfn all the time, that's the basic set up out east fishing for the great lakes irons...  in the right conditions i bet it can produce some success here on the west coast.. i bet it would be one hell of a fight... take it easy and tight lines

[mr.p]

Using a rod that light is not a good idea.  You may catch, but you will have a hell of a time landing any steelie over 5lbs.  And if you do manage to land the fish, it will be exhausted to the point of near death.

Ultralight and light rods are awesome!  But they aren't well suited for a river like the Vedder.  In the canal and slower flowing waters you could get by with something like a 6-10 or even a 4-8 with some backbone.  The lightest I'll go on the vedder is a medium or medium light action with line rating up to 12lbs.

[Spoonman]

Catching is one thing...landing is another.That set-up is far too light for cheddar steel .Save it for those urban trout.

[nickredway]

Using a rod that light is not a good idea.  You may catch, but you will have a hell of a time landing any steelie over 5lbs.  And if you do manage to land the fish, it will be exhausted to the point of near death.

Ultralight and light rods are awesome!  But they aren't well suited for a river like the Vedder.  In the canal and slower flowing waters you could get by with something like a 6-10 or even a 4-8 with some backbone.  The lightest I'll go on the vedder is a medium or medium light action with line rating up to 12lbs.

Agree that its way too light for the Vedder Salmon or Steelhead unless you were just targeting prinks or Coho. Also fishing noodle , light line and at distance makes for a shitty hookset especially is you are not concentrating. Have already lost two steelies due to daydreaming whilst the float went down. Both times the fish was on the end for a couple of seconds and then spat it. Would have had a better hookset with my medium Fenwick for sure. Also they are not very versatile - if you wanted to cast a spoon or spinner it's just too noodley to feel whats going on and no fun to cast.

On the plus side they are great for casting smaller, stealthy presentations when the waters low. For early Coho this year I was using 10 - 15 gram float and a couple of split shot with 6lb fluro leader when the water was piss low and the noodle protects the light leader if you hook into a bigger Coho. It's also super fun playing those small Jacks and Stamp Trout, it handled a 10lb doe nicely later on too. Have a feeling I'd be pretty sick if i hooked a 15lb northern and it got in the current though. I have one of those Streamside Steelhead 6-8lb rods and you can't go wrong for the money ($80 - 100), actually has pretty good backbone if you hook a bigger fish and it balances really nice with my Avon Supreme, you can fish it all day without getting tired. If you are looking at one get one with a proper butt as the cork ones are crap. IMO you can go heavier with the line too, I was using mine with 12 Chameleon.

[fly fisher]

i saw a guy at stave last year fight and land a chum that weighed over 15 pounds in like 10 minutes his rod was like 11 or 12 feet

[bigblue]

Catching steelhead on light tackle would be fun no doubt.

But I would advise against going too light as even a 6 lb fish fresh from sea are surprisingly strong and feisty.
If you are lucky enough to hook a big one and loose it in a current, you might end up kicking yourself for a while.
Compared to salmon fishing, it is much tougher to hook a steelhead in lower mainland.
Once we hook a rare specimen, most people including myself would want to land it and hopefully take a nice picture before releasing it.
In the winter, because of the cold water there is less chance of fish over exhausting, but it is always good to leave some margin there.

[hue-nut]

Eastern set up for a noodle rod is standard but try 13'-15' for length

[fly fisher]

Eastern set up for a noodle rod is standard but try 13'-15' for length

i think his might have been that long i was just taking a guess

[doja]

i saw a guy at stave last year fight and land a chum that weighed over 15 pounds in like 10 minutes

Was probably me you saw with my noodle rod (13' 4-8lb, med, slow) and have landed a spring, pinks, chums and 10+ coho on it and not only the stave .




Overall, I would not recommend it. A 4-8# is as low as I go and I'm fairly experienced. The jacks even give a decent fight with it.

That said I'm sure I could do well with it but a longer rod is much nicer and better suited.

[Matt]

The fights plenty good on conventional steelhead tackle, why tire the fish out unnecessarily?  I imagine it would be fun if you into prolonged fights and you found a system where the vast majority of the fish were retainable.  I get bored fighting a fish I that outclasses my tackle personally (ie: white spring on coho tackle), but to each their own I suppose.

[fish.on]

i have thought the same thing, watching wfn all the time, that's the basic set up out east fishing for the great lakes irons...  in the right conditions i bet it can produce some success here on the west coast.. i bet it would be one hell of a fight... take it easy and tight lines

Yes, it does look fun seeing the guy land a 14-16lb steelhead on 8lb line. It is crazy seeing how far the rod can bend.

[fish.on]

Thanks for the responses. I will stick with my baitcaster. But the idea of a noodle rod did look fun to experiment with.

[joska]

Yes, it does look fun seeing the guy land a 14-16lb steelhead on 8lb line. It is crazy seeing how far the rod can bend.

im sure on smaller systems thats the setup to use.  i saw a  nice noddle rod over the weekend at it was in the 90 dollar range. would be great for the pinks..

[bigblue]

Thanks for the responses. I will stick with my baitcaster. But the idea of a noodle rod did look fun to experiment with.

FO, another option to consider is to go with a lighter baitcaster.
I sometimes use a Lami X10MC rated at 8-12lbs for coho fishing and it is plenty of fun with some backup in case something bigger hits.
I am also thinking of using it on pinks this year.