Hey guy's,
I want to build a few boat rods for a close friend and want to surprise him so I can't ask him. What am I looking for in a downrigger rod? Fiberglass, composite ? He fishes Lake Michigan for Lakers, Steelhead, Chinook,Coho,Browns, Etc. He specializes in light line tackle not the usual leadcore. He generally has 6 downrigger and 2 to 4 outrigger/planer. (depends on the amount of people in the boat.Indiana 3 rods per person) Anyway I would like to hook him up with spiral wrapped rods to try out. So if you guys have some advise to offer on blank selection I am going to sponge it up. Where you at Tom Kohl (Petrochemical)? I bet you can help!!!
Thanks as usual,
Mark Schulte

I forgot to ask about guides and reel seats also. All baitcast / levelwinds. Would I use triggers? I suppose hypalon would be a good choice for the handles.
thanks again,
Mark Schulte

I'll give you my 2 cents worth as one who has fished there. The rods I use in the spring, on downriggers and side planers, are 8' UL fiberglass, slow action bait casting rods. 8'6" Light to medium rods are also popular. I use 11'6'' UL rods on flatlines. They have EVA grips and triggers. The triggers are nice when letting out line. Make sure the reel seats are big enough to handle the reels. I have heard of guys grinding their reel feet because the seats were too small. I am debating rewrapping the guides in a spiral. When the rods are in the holders the weight of the reels has a tendency to turn the rods over especially when pulling side planners, or Dipsy Divers. Spiralling would add some stability. I would put SIC guides on them. A king salmon can take a lot of line in a hurry. The rods I have are factory rods. I too would be interested in blank suggestions.

Hi Mark-

Let's start with the handle- You can go with EVA or hypolon. I prefer hypolon as it is a bit spongier (yet quite a bit more durable) than EVA.

For reelseats, my fave is a Fuji DPSH (heavy duty boat reelseat). This will fit ANY of the reels used on the Great Lakes with no probs. I found aftermarket triggers from Offshore Angler that double as a reel clamp. I believe they're called "Trigg'r Clamp", or something to that effect. You can use the standard spinning/casting seat as well, usually at least a 20mm or above (to fit the larger reels). In the DPSH style I use 22 or 24mm size.

Guides can be Sic's or Hardloy's- both work great. For super-braids (which are gaining more popularity on the lake) I do use Sic's (NSG) and for mono I use the BNLG's.

For wire-line rods, use the Aftco Lightweight's (forget about Sic's for this type of rod, IMO they just don't work nearly as well as rollers) and an Aftco STD swivel top. On any ring-guided rod, the spiral will definitely keep your rigs upright in the holders. I'm a bit of a late bloomer on the spiral wrap, but I am a convert now- no going back to standard guide configs, now that I've spiralled....

Lots of great blanks out there for this type of fishing! Shkespeare is a very popular brand out here. Inexpensive and indestructible- how can you beat that? My favorites for downrigging and yellow birds are the UU1084 (2-pc 9 ft 12-20 slow), the GBC965 (2-pc 8 ft 12-20), and the USU944 (1-pc 8 ft 12-20).

From Seeker I really like the DR822 (8'2" 6-15# moderate action), the SA896 and 853F (these make terrific leadcore rods, BTW. Especially the 853F minus about 2" from the tip). All of the Seeker salmon/steelhead blanks are very nice, I like the 804, 854, or 904 in the 8-20# rating.

For wire line fishing, the Seeker SB805, SB806, and 906 (my fave) with Aftco LWR's are hard to beat. If you look at my wire line rods on my site- these are the blanks I'm using for those rods. Top notch.

Hope this helps a little!

Tom Kohl
Petrochemical

Mark, I've been out of town & just getteing caught up with the board. My favorate blank is the 2pc. ugly stik a0334b 9 ft. You can cut as much as 9 in off butt & 3 in off tip. I use fuji dtpsd trigger reel seat. I use custom grip II grips 11 in. butt grip & 7 in foregrip. I use fugi hardloy guides BSVLG 25 down to 7 skipping 20, 16 with spiral wrap. I fish 17lb. mono. I've tried the super braids, but gave up because of too many false releases. Dick

Thanks guy's I appreciate the help.
Mark Schulte