New Salmon Rod Advice, help me spend my $$

[cavemann]

I have Cabelas/bass pro gift cards to use..  I know, it's not best place to buy a rod but it's what I have to work with.  I've fished for years with $150 and cheaper rods and catch my share of fish.  It's time to upgrade from the Berkley AIR I have had for years..  I was looking at the Lamiglass Infinity and wonder how much nicer are they then the Redline??  Or go all out for Loomis, which I'd like to do but am going stir crazy over all the rod types...

I'm a novice at best but spend a ton of hours fishing..  yes I should be better, but oh well...  Looking for a rod that fishes silvers/Kings from the bank primarily corky/yarn/bead fishing drifting from the bank...

What's your advice if you had $500 to spend??

[cavemann]

BTW..  I have fished 8'6" rods, medium weight..  the infinity I looked at is 9'2" ISS 92MC and was thinking it would be good.  $299.  But Redline is $150 cheaper.  Is there that big a difference?

[Dhoey07]

I've fished a ton and have caught a lot of salmon and steelhead over the years.  I don't think I have ever used a rod that has cost me over $100 dollars.  My advice to you us to put the money towards a nicer reel, rather than a lami.  That's just my 

[Kc_Kracker]

if your near lacey cabelas i can meet you there and show you what you want for a slayer. if not you want 10.5-11.5 in length, light action, and a in the range you should be able to grab a celilo, sst, X11, or the like

[cavemann]

Dhoey, that's always been my view as well..  I just figured I might consider a nicer one since it's all gift cards.  thinking I might get two Redlines, one heavy and one medium..

Thanks KC..  My only issue with more than 9'6" is I fish under brush and structure a lot finding holes.  hard to navigate that long of a rod.

I'll check out the celilo..

[Crunchy]

I would look at something in the 10-11 foot range, spinning rod, with a 2500 series reel.  I use a St Croix Avid series for river fishing.  Not sure if they any less expensive then Loomis or Lamiglas, as I have a hook up at get them at cost. 

[h2ofowlr]

Depends on application.  Boat or bank rod.  Salt or fresh.  Downrigger rigger rod, trolling, center pin?

Lamiglas I like the XCC 934 and XCC 1066 Certified Pro.
G-Loomis I like using the SAMR 1265C GL2 & SAMR 1266C  Get the graphite handle ones.  They also offer this in the CP - For center pin rod.  I have Islanders on those.
River fishing and running plugs, I have the 1025 hot shot rods.  Also have back bouncing rods.
You can fudge on price with cheaper rods, they will catch fish.  Just a different feel and sensitivity with the higher end rods.  More hook-ups and less missed bites.  Just my personal preference as I used to fish 5-6 days a week.

[cavemann]

I primarily bank fish the rivers..  corky/yarn/beads..  I'd be interested to know how well you like the hotsot?  I was looking at those.

[Kc_Kracker]

Dhoey, that's always been my view as well..  I just figured I might consider a nicer one since it's all gift cards.  thinking I might get two Redlines, one heavy and one medium..

Thanks KC..  My only issue with more than 9'6" is I fish under brush and structure a lot finding holes.  hard to navigate that long of a rod.

I'll check out the celilo..

walmart now sells Okuma Celilo, med action 9'6" for like $60, best rod made for the money! lacey walmart has about 5 on the shelf.

[Stein]

1265 is a great boat rod and the 1084 is my go to bank rod.


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[Blacklab]

I like lammi myself. Red line is the next step up x-11. I have several x-11 rods in various length and weights. Fishermans has great sales on them all the time. Anywhere from $57-$65 that’s when I get them. 9.6 and 10.5 are my favorite lite line wts 6-15, 8-15. For the money there great for me and what I use them for. If you can swing it get the infinity and have fun 😉🥃🇺🇸

[Kola16]

I have a couple Infinities and my friends do too. We love them! They are super lightweight for fishing all day. I do not really like how heavy the Redlines are and the X-11's are really junk. I used to work at Cabela's and many of the X-11's were broken by the time they even showed up to the store. A couple of the Redlines had this problem too.

Another rod to consider would be the G-Loomis E6X. Its lightweight and a little more affordable so a nice reel could be paired with it too in your budget. The reel is equally as important as the rod!

The St. Croix's are good too, but they are usually stiffer if you are okay with that.

[huntnnw]

this boils down to what type of fishing you are doing all rods will be different for plunking,drift and boat rods.

For trolling I wouldnt use a rod shorter than 10'6" I have been super impressed with the Okuma Guide select rods. I also have some Redlines that I like. I bought a Velocity chinook extreme and do not care for it one bit. It rarely hooks fish and just to flimsy for me running 10oz balls

[Dirty Mike]

  infinity is a much nicer rod than the redlines that being said redlines are a good rod but made in china. If im buying a china rod i like the sst by okuma they make one for every type of fishing and run 60-80 bucks and gives you room to buy a nice reel.

[cavemann]

Thanks guys..  I picked up the Infinity ISS 92MC..  Going to get a reel soon.  I've always fished Abu Garcia ambassadeur, time to upgrade there as well.  They are work horses but pretty clunky.  The new Revos looks pretty nice and/or Shimano..