I haven't caught a kokanee since mid September and we got back from the last Lake Powell trip 3 weeks ago, so this morning I was browsing through the most recent posts here hoping it would alleviate some of that twitchy "need to catch a fish" feeling. I'm sure there is as much disagreement about rods as there is about climate change and the New England Patriots, but I thought I'd throw in my 2 cents for those who are already dreaming of the new rod they hope to buy for next summer.
I've had tremendous luck with Cabelas Whumppin' Sticks, 7', medium action, line weight 6 - 15 pounds. The rod tip measures 0.09 inches and is very soft/fast. I bought two of these 15 years ago for lead core fishing to replace a stiff Eagle Claw that was like fishing with a pool cue. Cabelas has replaced two of the rods (they have a lifetime warranty) that broke after unfortunate encounters with car doors and feet. The remaining original rod has caught literally hundreds of kokanees and trout. At the time of purchase a two piece 7 ft rod was about as big as I could store easily on my boat and I'm not sure I would go longer if buying now; I struggle sometimes with longer rods on boats when landing fish by myself. I guess my point here is that while higher quality rods are sometimes more fun (especially for me when casting for bass) cheap rods with the right characteristics can be great rods. I never have to worry about letting young, first-time-fishermen use the Sticks and the rod tips are so fast we lose very few kokanee when using these rods. I should also mention that almost all my kokanee are caught at Blue Mesa and range from 1.5 to 2.2 pounds.
For downriggers I use spinning rods, Cabelas Fish Eagle II, 2 piece, 6'6", 4-10 pound line weight. The rods tips are pretty fast and while I spool the reels with 10 pound braid, I put 12 ft of 10 pound mono on as leader for a little more stretch while landing fish. As I damage these rods (some have made more than 500 fishing trips, and stuff happens) I'm replacing them with St. Croix Triumphs, 2 piece, 6'6", medium-lite, fast action, 4-10 pound line rods. Since these rods are a little more spendy, I provide more instruction and monitoring when used by novices and kids (and I only buy the rods on sale). Again, I like the shorter rods when landing my own fish and even though much shorter than most people prefer, we lose very few kokes (guests lose a significantly higher percentage because they tend to horse fish). These rods are great for drop shot fishing for bass at Lake Powell. They aren't stiff enough for me when jigging for kokanees but I managed to bring in a 42" pike on one at Taylor Reservoir.
So if you are somewhat new to kokanee fishing and are wondering if your current rods will work, they probably will if they have relatively soft tips and you don't horse fish. I'm often surprised when I read how many kokanees people lose, although I'm sure many writers are catching much larger kokanees than are in my lake. I kept track for several days this summer and we lose between 3% and 5% of our hooked kokanees; but I also replace all the double, snelled hooks on the lures we buy with a single, red, very sharp, size 8,EWG treble hook. Lots of stuff works; don't be afraid to experiment. Kokanee64
. I have always had good thing to say about Lamaglass rods I have several. Now, I have to say this rod gets a big fat 1* rating from me. This rod is way to fragile for trolling. It has broke 3 times now. Popping it lose from the down rigger clip brakes the tip until the diameter get large enough to stop it from braking. The tip is way to small to take any shock at all I have not been able to land a single Koke off this rod. This is just an over priced noodle, only good for long lining. It will not stand up to down rigger use. The Kokanee Kid one peace graphite is a great Koke rod but is more expensive. I will go cheep for Koke rods from now on, just not worth it.
