I am looking for some suggestions for some good inexpensive blanks for trolling salmon on lake michigan. I am using a 16.5' boat and am thinking 8' to 8'6 is about as long as I can handle in the boat. Prefer it to collapse like a flippin stick collapses. I am currently using my flipping sticks for my trolling rods. I am totally new to salmon fishing but not rod building. I used to build many rods years ago but they were all bass and walleye rods

Typically with salmon rods for trolling, your going to want a parabolic action. These are the perfect rod to troll for salmon. It is what we use up here in Washington when trolling for salmon!!

If you go to our blue prints page on our site, that might help you point you in the right direction: [www.rainshadowrodblanks.com]
Click the "Blue Prints" tab and it will give you a basic build to help guide you to the best custom rod. It has all the components that link.

R. McBride

Batson Enterprises
BatsonEnterprises.com | RainShadowRodBlanks.com | ALPSForeCast.com | Build2Fish.com

Travis,

You can use a shorter rod than the 8' - 8'6" you mention. Ryan is correct, proper action and power are what to look for. You might find something shorter in the 7' range to be more appropriate to your needs.

From the Batson lineup consider the RDR70M, it would make a nice spring/summer rod for spoons and/or plugs.

I would also consider the MHX DR845 for more of a fall salmon rod, the extra power to better handle big fish caught on a rotating flasher/fly or dodger/squid. It also makes a nice Inline planer board rod for deploying leadcore or copper off to the side. [fishmhx.com]



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/2015 01:16PM by John E Powell.

Thanks I do like Batson products and have used lots of them in the past. 7ft range seems like it would be good for my set up. It just seems at the harbor everyone has around 9' rods and as I read salmon forums they all say 8ft to 9ft. I mainly troll smaller dipsy divers and planner boards with small dipsy divers. Looking at the blanks on that link to Batson is there a specific blank that you would recommend?

Not sure what your exact technique will be, but if it is flat line trolling , no dipsy divers or other methods to get depth, then I have found what works with trolling stuff like Thunder Stick Jr Deep without any weight, and that is a magbass 6 1/2 foot built simple spiral, held in a rod holder. It is very reliable on getting a hook set on the initial strike. I tried 8 1/2 foot fast action salmon/steelhead rods, but I would most often just get a strike, then nothing.

Travis,

Now that you have elaborated on the kind of presentation you plan to run, I'm going to make a change in my recommendation. The Batson RDR70M makes a sporting setup if you are trolling with flatlines, or running lures behind a downrigger or a large planer board system where the planer board is pulled by a separate tow line.

However the added drag of pulling lures behind even small dipsy divers or an inline planer and diver combo will be too much for the RDR70M or MHX DR845. The task with divers is two fold. You need a blank that can tow the diver and trip the diver. A rod that can do this well will have a fast action and more power than either of these blanks.

It would be helpful to know what kind of line you will be using in front of your divers. Wire line is very small in diameter, has negligible stretch, and when trolled pulling a diver it cuts through water with little drag. Wire is the ideal line for this rod and gives you the most blank options. Braided line, like Power Pro would be the close second choice to wire. It has a similar small diameter and low stretch, but if you fish water with Spiny Water Fleas (Like the Great Lakes) it can be a nightmare to keep the braid clean of them. Their hooked tails grab hold of the braid and their bodies build up turning your braid into a rope that can't pass through rod guides. Cleaning fleas from wire is much easier to do than cleaning fleas from braid. Because braid is very low stretch, you can use the same blank choices as for wire. The third choice would be traditional monofilament. Mono lines stretch a lot so a stiffer more powerful rod is needed to overcome mono's stretch when attempting to trip a dipsy diver. Tripping a diver on wire or braid usually involves your arms and wrists. Tripping a diver with mono usually adds in your shoulders and upper torso. It takes a lot more effort. This means your blank choices will be very limited.

Based upon the use and technique you've described so far, I'd be inclined to recommend you look for a composite 7' - 7'6" fast action musky blank with ratings close to these: 3/4 - 2 1/2 oz lure and/or 10/15 - 25/30 line class. You could also consider trimming a surf blank to get something shorter. I'd also recommend wire on rods with divers, and some kind of wire with braid/mono backing for inline planers where the planer would be attached to the backing not the wire. One likely example would be the MHX MU84M

You didn't ask about wire or guides in your post, but I recommend a soft 19 strand wire over harsher 7 strand varieties (I use Torpedo brand 19 strand) and Fuji Silicon Nitride guides. For a tip you can use either a Twili Tip, or a roller tip of your choice with the wire.

Hello Travis,

We would recommend looking at the MHX line of salmon trolling blanks. We have several prostaff members using the MHX blanks for trolling salmon on Lake Michigan out of small boats. A 8'6" blank is about as long as you'd want to go in a small boat. Your not going to find an 1+ blank that collapses like a flipping stick in the salmon blanks - the longer blanks are 2 piece.

MHX Salmon Trolling Blanks: [fishmhx.com]

MHX MU8M composite [fishmhx.com]

Like all MHX blanks the Salmon Blanks feature:

QUALITY CONTROL
Under a 7 point inspection system, blanks are checked for straightness, butt and tip diameter, weight & length – and are deflected to confirm correct power and blank action. This industry leading detailed inspection assures custom rod builders receive a blank which exceed their expectations.

INDIVIDUAL SERIAL NUMBERS
Once it has passed the quality control stage, each MHX blank is assigned an individual serial number. This assures that every MHX rod you build, fish, buy or sell can be tracked throughout it’s life cycle from end to end with no concern about warranty issues.

LIMITED LIFETIME TRANSFERABLE WARRANTY
MHX again sets the standard with our exclusive limited lifetime transferable warranty. Each rod blank can be registered online with its individual serial number by either the custom rod builder or the end user of the rod. When registered, the blanks unique serial number identifies that rod blank to registrant. If the registrant sells or gives the rod blank or finished rod to another person, the warranty can be transferred to the new owner – an industry first! In order to activate your warranty, you must register your MHX rod blank. Warranty claims will not be accepted without a valid serial number on file.

AVAILABLE ONLY TO CUSTOM ROD BUILDERS
MHX blanks are not available as factory production rods, they are only available to custom rod builders. This exclusive access provides the custom rod builder with a lineup of blanks which are above and beyond what can be offered by mass production manufacturers. When using an MHX blank, custom rod builders can offer a truly custom rod without competition from a rod factory.

APPLICATION GUIDE
Each MHX blank is designed and produced for specific applications and uses. The design information is listed along with each blank to provide the custom rod builder with usage and application suggestions.

Tight Lines,
MHX Rod Blanks
Web: [www.fishmhx.com]
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Don't know why the Batson clan didn't suggest the SW967 one piece, or the SW967F two piece blank as they like them a lot. Have pulled divers with them, but not planner boards, or divers.

Spencer,
Almost impossible to handle, transport and store a one piece 9'6" rod in a 16 foot boat. Really need a two piece rod for use on a boat of this size.

Be safe

Roger,
Both blanks are 8ft., 96 inches long, the SW967F is also a 2 piece blank, as I explained above. I have quite a few anglers using them as a "everything that swims in the Columbia River rod" from a boat.

Hey Travis, I looked for you e-mail to send this to you, have you seen this? [www.michigan-sportsman.com] I fish Frankfort MI and I new this was coming but not quiet this fast, Kinda a bummer actually We had a great last 20 or so years, There will always be fish just not the numbers were all used to.

Off topic, but Lake Michigan salmonid fishing seems to be getting worse each year. Lake Ontario fishing, on the other hand, seems to be holding steady with good daily catches. My club splashed our holding pens in the harbor, and we're currently feeding 5 times a day about 70K chinook and 3500 steelhead. Our water is still cold so we should have a strong imprint on the chinook when they return to run the streams as adults. I was just admiring a photo of a 26+lb lake trout someone landed in the past few days. For the next few weeks, Niagara County waters of Lake Ontario is the place to be.

Spencer Phipps Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Don't know why the Batson clan didn't suggest the
> SW967 one piece, or the SW967F two piece blank as
> they like them a lot. Have pulled divers with
> them, but not planner boards, or divers.

You are correct. The SW967 and the SW967F are great. But for trolling in the straights to the Columbia, we tend to stick with the RX6/E-Glass Downrigger Trolling blanks ( RDR Series part numbers ) or the RX4 ( BP Series part numbers ) for this application. For the SW967 we use them from time to time, it just doesnt get the parabolic action that we like. Again though, we still have SW967's in the lineup and pull them out from time to time.

FYI We are catching Ling Cod and Rock Bass on these SW967's and the BP's as well!