Perfect WA rod reel line combo?

[LongTatLaw]

Are the hatchery fish marked? or can you ID them some other way?

[ICEMAN]

Over half of hatchery fish have their adipose fin clipped off when they are smolt.

[M_ray]

Yeah like Ice said the state clips the adipose or in some cases the ventral fin allthough I think the ventral gets clipped by mistake and I have never caught one but seen a few. Usally it's the adipose but on the Queets they don't clip any they go by a smaller than 2" dorsal fin (which has to be smaller than a credit card turned on edge) another way to tell is all the fins get rounded in the hatchery ponds not to mention the fish arent as strong of fighters as a Native. It's good to read up on your Regs as not all rivers are the same.

[M_ray]

You will never beet the sensitivity of a loomis.

Easy there Red Dawg I've fished with both and they can be.

I wont go as far as you, Loomis is a fine rod but at the quality of both we are talking about here a better statement might be - it comes down to a matter of preference and what you are more comfortable with! Unless of coarse you are comparing a Loomis to an ugly stick!

[huntnphool]

Sage/Curado combo but I have to go with the Trilene, always works wonders for me.

[Red Dawg]

the last time i held a sage it was way out of balance. they probably are good rods but they make a better flyrod. There are a couple of different rods you can buy for a considerable amount of money less. Rapala makes an outstanding rod I think the last time i bought one it was 30 bucks or so at joes. if you are just starting out go buy a cheaper rod that rapala rod will do anything a sage will do. as for reel the shimanos are probably the best they have three or fout different ones to choose from. you do not need the best one for what you need. so there is my .02.

[Ironhead]

I am a Loomis guy, but have fished with Sage rods too. The newer curados are a metal housing with different gears than the old BSF201's.
The new ones are 250.00+ where the 201's are discontinued but still the go to reel for the majority of PNW steelheaders. Check out e-bay for some used reels.

[Bearhunter]

My favorite rod is the IMX 1082C with a Curado 201 hard to beat.  The 1082C gl3 is a great rod also.

[tmike]

I guess we can all agree on a Curado    It's funny how much a man will defend his rod, no matter where he uses it  I don't think you can go wrong with any of the gear mentioned. Red Dawg were talking about the Sage drift rods.

[Muleyslyr]

I haven't tried a Sage rod yet but seems to be a pretty good choice.  However, my choice of setup no doubt is the GLoomis 1141S IMX 9'6" Ultra-Light with a Shimano Stradic 2500.  When I'm using this set up majority of time I'm using Izorline with it.  Pretty spendy setup, but like someone else said....if a fish farts near your rod your gonna feel it.

[M_ray]

It's funny how much a man will defend his rod, no matter where he uses it 

I'll allways defend my rod! it's all I got and it still works great even after 44 years! 

the last time i held a sage it was way out of balance.

Red Dawg now we are getting somewhere it was probably a factory built rod and that out of balance feeling can happen no matter what brand it is depending on who built it. I have all my rods custom built so you really don't run into that problem. And I wasn't slamming your Loomis the ones I fished with were from the guy who does my custom rods and they were great rods too.

I agree with you, if longtats motivation here is to get info to buy a rod and reel set up Sage & Loomis may not be a starter combo but eventually they are among the best and expensive as they may be you get what you pay for. 

[tlbradford]

I haven't built a new rod in the last eight years so I have a question for those who are up to date on the latest materials. 

It used to be that we would build our drift rods on a graphite or similar type material blank for drift fishing or fly fishing.  We would use a nice fiberglass blank for rods we were going to pull plugs with.  The slower action of the fiberglass, allowed the plug to have more movement. 

Is this still the case?

[M_ray]

I wouldn't know I don't usally pull plugs ... just never could get into sitting there waiting I mainly drift fish.

[Red Dawg]

bradford that is typically true unless you are running bait divers like a hot-n-tot. obviously while drift fishing you need a fast action rod. I see that most of you coasties are sage fans that is cool they probably do make a fantastic drift rod. The balance thing from a factory rod is more than likely true but you can go up to just about any loomis and it will be balanced also the power transfer for setting the hook and fighting the fish in fast water is a must on the klick which is were i primarily fish. I have fished the coast on many occasions although i was flyfishing most of the time and it would seem like you would need a lighter rod than sage can offer. Like i said my knowledge of the sage drift rods is limited it seems even with the flyrods they are a more bulky type of rod. just my opinion though. I am sure that they are good rods since a lot of you guys seem to own them but i guess i am just overly picky when it come to my tackle.

[huntnphool]

"the last time i held a sage it was way out of balance."

My Sage fly rods were purchased as factory build rods, my bait casters and spinning rods were built by Gary Anderson in Oregon, http://www.andersoncustomrods.com/

I don't know who built the rod you used but can assure you these are very well done and balanced very well. I have used and still own Loomis, Lamiglass and several others, and JMHO, non compare to the feel of the Sage. To each his own I say, and your opinion is always welcome. Anytime your ready to try one again just give me a shout, you can borrow a couple of mine whenever you want, I think you might change your mind