Need help choosing salmon gear, please.

[Bass-o-matic]

Greetings all,

It's been xx months since my last post. I'll say 20 hail muskies

I think I'm showing all the classic signs and symptoms of salmonid fever. In fact, I've diagnosed myself with salmonitis... so I'm going to put an outfit together to treat my condition. That being said I'd like some advice for an affordable rod/reel combo. Or at least a few options. If possible I'd like to have an "all-around" set that I can use for spoon chucking and floating. I know these are two very, very different things but if I can come up with a happy medium that will suffice for both that would be ideal since I'm working on a moderate budget and my wife might kill me if I come home with 2 set-ups. She's already saying I have too much bass and pike gear!

I'm thinking about a 10-ish foot pole (medium?) with a spinning reel that holds around 8/240. Does gear ratio matter for this kind of fishing? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. PM me or leave a message here if you are willing to guide me in the right direction. I also live very close to Ashbridge's Bay so I'm thinking about trying my luck near the marina one night soon. If this is a waste of time please let me know. I was at the credit on the weekend after the big rain on Saturday and saw a few chinooks but no hook-ups. Just seeing a few was enough to get "the fever".

Thanks, all.

Andy

 

[ChaseChrome]

Welcome aboard bass!!

There will be many suggestions coming you way, no worries...uuhmmm...reel...salmon etc....centre pin bro...

CC

 

[rocheleauc]

Personally I'd use different setups for chucking and floating.

10 foot medium/medium heavy would be alright. The reel you mentioned would be ok. Spool it with 20lb braid that has 6lb dia and you'll be good.

For floating you'll get many opinions, but it would be easier with a bait caster or a center pin. The longer the rod the better as it will protect the leaders and help you set the hook from further away. You can still use the spinning reel, but it's a real PITA to constantly feed out line to get a proper drift.

Good luck!

 

[Squidy]

Personally I'd use different setups for chucking and floating.

10 foot medium/medium heavy would be alright. The reel you mentioned would be ok. Spool it with 20lb braid that has 6lb dia and you'll be good.

For floating you'll get many opinions, but it would be easier with a bait caster or a center pin. The longer the rod the better as it will protect the leaders and help you set the hook from further away. You can still use the spinning reel, but it's a real PITA to constantly feed out line to get a proper drift.

Good luck!

Thanks for the replies thus far. I'm going to check out a few videos on how to use a centre pin and give it some thought. Are baitcasters ok for chucking? To be honest I prefer using them but I have only read about anglers using spinner reels for chucking.

I'd still like to hear other suggestions if there are more to be heard.

I'd also be interested in a meet up if someone doesn't mind a salmon noob asking a few questions.

Thanks again,
Andy

 

[Bass-o-matic]

Shoot, I forgot I have 2 logins. Bass-o-matic and Squidy are both me....

 

[NADO]

If you are only getting one setup to start I would suggest a pier fishing setup. You can get by using your pier fishing setup for floating but your floating setup wont have the backbone to chuck the big spoons and j13's. You must have at least one reel that is at least a 3000? If so all you need then is a rod anywhere from 9-11' that is stong enough to cast 3/4oz lures.

You can then upgrade in stages. I just saw a raven matrix on kijiji for $120 bucks, you could get that and use it on your pier fishing rod until you can get a proper float fishing rod.

Thats the order I would do it in if I were you.

 

[Bass-o-matic]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

I ended up getting a 9' Rapala RSC (medium). Paired it with a Daiwa AIRD 2500. The great thing about this spinning reel is that it comes with an extra 3000 sized spool so I can put heavier line on the big spool for chucking and more lightweight line on the other for the rivers and streams. It made perfect sense for how versatile I'm trying to make this set-up.

I'm heading out soon to give 'er a whirl. I'll report back later!

Cheers,
Andy

 

[FishingNoob]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

I ended up getting a 9' Rapala RSC (medium). Paired it with a Daiwa AIRD 2500. The great thing about this spinning reel is that it comes with an extra 3000 sized spool so I can put heavier line on the big spool for chucking and more lightweight line on the other for the rivers and streams. It made perfect sense for how versatile I'm trying to make this set-up.

I'm heading out soon to give 'er a whirl. I'll report back later!

Cheers,
Andy

Looking forward to the pictures.

 

[Bass-o-matic]

Looking forward to the pictures.

No hook-ups tonight. I spent roughly 2 hours at Ashbridge's Bay after dusk. A local who's been fishing there for over 10 years was chucking trophy II's but said J13's work there as well. He even showed me one of those big shad raps - something I use for pike. He swore by it.

Anyways, not much action tonight. Saw one jump but that was it. I'll post reports as I go.

Cheers,
Andy

 

[Rain-Bow]

Good luck with the new gear. Ashbridges will only get better in the next few weeks.