Fishing Rods

Lil' unofficial poll here: What's your fav Kistler saltwater series inshore rods, for the catching; Snook around the docks, mangroves, rock piles, etc. How 'bout Reds? and Trout? Feel free to post your helium favs also, and why you love 'em. Plus, any inshore testimonials.


And will you salties please post 'um here (for now) since there is not an exclusive salt area under the Helium Banner (at the time of this post, anyway). I think this would be more helpful to salt addicts , if you NOT mingle it in with 700+ freshwater stories over on the Helium board. So until that happens, please continue to post your salt stories here even though some may be helium related! It'll help us salties, steer clear, of all the bassin' stories over on the official Helium LTA board.



Rock

I would like to be a salty full time but I'm 4 hours from the nearest Texas bay so I'll have to continue being a part-timer. Even though the battles are short, the hunt for bass is still fun. I'm getting to like it more and my cousin (100% salty) calls me "Team Freshy" now.

Anyways, my favorite inshore rod is the Helium He70MLC. It makes an excellent speck rod and a great wading rod. It has the short handle which is great for wading, it's super light to carry all day (or night), and is soft enough not to tear hooks from the paper-thin speck mouths but still has the backbone to deal with the occassional redfish hookups.

My second favorite would be the Helium He70MC for working big topwaters for redfish.

Snook are difficult to come by around these parts. The only place you might find them is down in far south Texas around Port Isabel and South Padre Island in the Lower Laguna Madre.

Rock, I'm moving to Crystal River in July. Are you close to that area? I could use a little Redfish and Snook help when I get there.

Hey Chavez, Great info, Thanks for the post!

Sorry for the delay, just got back from our annual week long trip to the glades. What an awesome place. Just wish I'd had more time before hand, so I could of picked out 2 heliums to take along. But the loomis rods were already rigged and ready to roll. Next glades trip, I'll at least 2 2005 model heliums.

I did take along a kistler dock skipping spinning rod. I must say the rod is the perfect length for slingin' DOA shrimp under mangrove branches. Even used it for pitchin' free lined greenies, in these same areas, deadly ! Any and all concerns I had about it having enough backbone to horse out the big dogs were quickly subsided. Upon hookup, (using the trolling motor) we'd high tail it to open water with the fish in tow. The rod took all that abuse, and performed even better than expected.

Although I bought the one skippin'/spinnin' rod for extreme light tackle in tight quarters, I do however, prefer to use casting rods. I see by your reply you've selected two ideal casting rods.

The He70MLC sounds perfect for casting plastics and live bait.

When the bite is on around Tampa Bay, we'll throw Top-Water Super Spooks almost exclusively. Just an awesome way to catch fish. They'll come up and explode on the bait. Very fun to watch, and a helluva way to get your (Dr Recommended) adrenaline kick! But using a heavy rod , walking the dog, using a 5/8 Oz Bait, nearly all day, will cause an ache between your shoulder blades that will.... well, lets just say..... that's a big part of why I'm here on the Kistler board now.

The He70MC you mentioned sounds good for this purpose. Wondering if the shorter 66MC would add a little more action on walkin' the dog?
I'm 6' and could use either, just didn't want to spend $400 to see which one works better.

Rock,

man, i haven't been in the salt in almost two months. hopefully i'll get a chance to get out to the coast during Thanksgiving week and get onto some blowups of my own walking Mirrorlure She-Dogs!

You gotta love those blowups even though I hookup half of the time. It's like someone dropped a half-stick of dynamite in the water when they hit it. BOOM! It really is exciting!

I'm also 6' and I guess a 6'6" would be OK for walking a big topwater though I would prefer a 6'9" yet the only Helium that length is the He69APC which is a great rod but a bit too fast especially if a trout hits the bait. It would mostly likely tear the hooks through their delicate mouths.

I have used a 6'6" MH rod on redfish while fishing out of a kayak under bridges but the rod didn't offer as much leverage as longer rod but did offer better casting accuracy and it was too much power and fast a tip for the typical trout which kept ripping the hooks from their mouths. So there are always tradeoffs.

I would prefer a 6'9" Helium with a moderate tip and medium or medium-light power rating but there aren't any currently offered. So, I use the 7' rods because they offer some better casting distance and leverage when wading or sitting in a kayak. Also, the He70MLC has the short 7" handle which is ideal when wading or sitting in the kayak as it's more comfortable to place on your chest for added leverage.

I don't fish mangroves but if that is where I'ld be, a 6'6" would definitely be a better choice to skip that lure under the branches and get better accuracy. Unless, of course you get close to shore and underhand pitch it like bass fisherman do but I know how you are about bass fishing techniques!

OK, now your really got me jonesing for a saltwater fix!

Hey Craig,

Great site..... Looks like youÌre doing well in the freshwater tackle biz. Hopefully when you get settled in July, the saltwater bug will bite ya, and we can find some hot new saltwater plastics on your site? Time will tell.....


YouÌre gonna be just North of Homasassa. I fish just South of there. Primarily, from Tampa Bay all the way down to the Glades.

In Crystal River, I think youÌll do well at certain times of the year to check out the Energy Complex. They have a total of Five Power Plants, four being fossil fuel (coal) and one nuclear. Of these, two of the coal plants and the nuclear plant use a flow-through process for cooling their generating units. Check with your local tackle shops to determine which ones to fish and at what time of the year......

Looking forward to hearing how you do. IÌm always on the lookout for new areas to fish.

Regards,

Chavez,

You bring up some great points. The main one reminded me I'm already jonesing to get back out there and I just got back! LOL

Oh and BTW, forgot to mention the Helium I select for top-water will be a dedicated rod (not dual use). Which is replacing a short handled 6'6" MH loomis. Guess you could call Top-Water my confidence bait. I keep one tied on always, because I'm an opportunist. When I hear a fish crashing bait, I'll almost always grab that rod and send a bait sailing just passed the zone. It just works for me, can't find a more exciting way of catching fish than to literally see and hear them crush a big top water plug.

Did that down in the glades and had something that commanded my attention charge it, but missed. Normally when that happens I'll twitch it once n' pause waiting for a second strike, then continue this pattern or a slight variation of it. Which gives those big reds time to roll over and strike more accurately. I did exactly that on this trip, but much to my surprise I saw a sharks nose come up out of the hole. Mouth wide open as she swung 'er head sideways to inhale my bait! First time a shark has ever done that to me n' judging from the head, I'd say a four footer. I nearly freaked! LOL I tightened down on her and tried to cross 'er eyes. Instantly line was peeling off the reel, heatin' up my thumb. My bro-in-law (aka SuperSpook) is over there doin his best Capt. Blair impersonation, "Music baby, Music....we got Da Mogan" Which you really gotta see and hear to fully appreciate LOL Then my favorite part, "this ain't no bass fishin' show, it's a saltwater fishin' show.... bruthaaaa" Finally he fired up the motor to help me recover some line. Not having on a steel leader, didn't wanna put to much pressure on the fish. Fought it for ten minutes before it roughed up my flouro leader. Then poof, it swam off with a brand new lure. Crazy how all the excitement can make you shake! We all were lookin' at each other laughin', just a hoot we thought. We weren't even shark fishing, but they were thick this year. I have pictures of a 7' lemon shark we caught near the mouth of lost man's river, and pretty bizarre story to go along with it (Scanning soon).

Anyway, A few things I've noticed about top water rods.
*Handles
Using a long handle on a topwater plug while walkin' the dog. Feels clumsy, fatiguing, and irritating when it keeps bumping your side while standing on the front deck, rod tip down. So I agree completely, a short handle is a must!
*Rod Length
Throw a 5/8 Oz spook (or dog) as hard as you can with a 6'6" rod then a 7' rod and invariably you will find little to no difference in distance. Both will send it a mile. The distance on these particularly heavy plugs seems to be more effected by aerodynamics, wind and spool resistance, rather than rod length. Because, the initial resistance (moment of inertia) is broken easily by heavy weight lures.
*Rod Stiffness
You covered that perfectly, and I totally agree. Trout often snack on these plugs also and they definitely require a medium to light action.


Almost convinced me on the He70MC. What's the handle length? Would be nice when you click a rod on the product pages if it mentioned handle length on each and every rod. Another general rating that's missing is recommended line weight, and lure weight.

I'll let you know once I'm down there how things are going. I do intend to start pouring some SW baits.