My koke rods

[Elkslayer1]

So we have been using 7 1/2ft medium steelhead type rods for the last few years. A little to stiff and far to long to work the 4 downriggers and people in the boat. We have tried a lot of the Koke rods but feel that they are to limber for fishing some of the over 4” dodgers we use a lot of the time. I have switched to 6 1/2 ft Fenwicks HMG Carbon Fiber medium-fast Rods. If you kinda swing them at the store you would think ..uh kinda to stiff. But, put one on your rigs and they pick up every motion of
the dodger and very limber but still carries a good backbone for big Kokanee and lakers. Very nice rods and nice and short for the boat. What are you all using and the pluses and minuses ? Thanks Alan
[signature]

[Elkslayer1]

Here is a pic of our rods! Fluorescent guide wraps to YELL ....Orange fish on!! Haha!! Usually it’s her pink rod with the fish on!!
[signature]

[dubob]

[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]I've only been seriously fishing for kokanee salmon for about 5 years now. I've tried a lot of different rod/reel combinations; both my own rods and other people's rods. I agree with you that, for me, the specialty kokanee rods are too limber. I've tried a couple of different brands and they all caught fish. But now, I've settled on Shakespeare Ugly Stik Model [/#800000][/font][url "http://www.uglystik.com/on/demandware.store/Sites-PureFishing-Site/default/Product-Variation?pid=1365092&dwvar_1365092_MFRPN=USECA702UL"][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]USECA702UL[/#800000][/font][/url][font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000] (7 ft, 2 piece, Elite Casting, Ultra Lite). It also comes in a 6.5 ft model. [][/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]
[/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]And the best thing about the Ugly Stiks is their price - $50. [cool] All the specialty rods run $80 and up. Well, there is the Okuma rods for about $60 +.[/#800000][/font]
[/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]
[/#800000][/font]
[font "Comic Sans MS"][#800000]Just this year, I've replaced my reels with the fairly new Abu Garcia Ambasor 5500/6500 Series digital line counter models. Very cool and can be calibrated to line test for better accuracy. With my old mechanical line counter reels (Diawa & Cabela's) I was never sure about set back length and consistency. The new ones are spot on and very consistent reel to reel.[/#800000][/font]
[font "Calibri"]
[/font]
[signature]

[BearLakeFishGuy]

I've tried many different rods for kokanee. I like the Cabelas Depthmaster "downrigger" model rods in 8' 6". I personally think the longer rods are much more forgiving with fishing for kokes especially when you are running 4-6 rods on one boat. The longer rods enable you to keep the lure off the sides of the boat when setting lines, etc. Plus the loner rods give better shock absorbing when a koke runs and fights. These rods also have enough backbone to handle lakers and cutthroat at Bear Lake. I also like the newest version of Depthmaster reels with the line counters. I used the "30" model, but the "20" model would also be fine. Their drags are excellent and I've had no issues with them for over 10 years.
[signature]

[fish_hntr]

I have had good luck with the lighter Whuppin Stick rods and now the Eagle Claw Kokanee rods for kokes, all were under $30 each and rarely lose a fish anymore. When I first started fishing the gorge I tried to make the depthmaster rods work for both kokes and macs, but even with a snubber we lost about twice the number of kokes compared to using the current lighter rods. And I really wonder if the Whuppin Sticks are made by Ugly Stik.
[signature]

[PACMEN]

We bought 1 rod from RMT to try out for kokes and as down rigger rods. Liked it so went looking for something a bit less money as we were buying 3.
Ended up getting the Eagle Claw koke rods and have not regretted it one bit. Bunches cheaper and I feel like they are almost just as good. My wife put a 22 1/2 pound laker in the boat with one of them.
[signature]

[DKStroutfitter]

I use a couple of RMT Red Kokanee Rods.
They are great for everything that I catch at Flaming Gorge.
I like the light action that they provide.
[signature]

[muirco]

I use 4 velocity rods (2, 7'6" ninjas and 2, 7'9" blue ones) for kokanee. For Lakers, I use 4, 7'6" ML ugly stik striper rods. Love both of my setups! On a seperate note, the 7'6" ML ugly stik striper rods work well with inline planers. I will use them occasionally for kokanee early spring. I can run up to 10, 7'6" ML ugly stik striper rods on planers and stern planers at willard for wipers. The 7'6" ML ugly stik striper rods are only $40 each. Can't remember what I paid for the ninjas. I got them at the sportmans expo. Jared gave me a good discount. Good guy! Like chatting with him there every year. Prior to that, I had purchased the blue velocity rods at regular price off their website. I think these were either $75 or $80 each. [fishon]
[signature]

[muirco]

I pair my kokanee rods with Abu Garcia c3 and c4 models and my laker rods with shimano tekota reels. Love those combinations![fishon][fishon]
[signature]

[ReelMasta]

+1 ...... eagle claw rods.
[signature]