Yak Rods
 

Lookin' for suggestions on a conventional and spinning rod setup (rod and reel) for yakkin'.

Hobie Rev 14'

I used a 7' E-glass muskie rod wrapped by DonM. Had the power to pull the fish out of the rock piles instead of dragging you into them. I had it done conventional, and am still trying to reach Don to get the exact blank info, as I now use it exclusively for livelining bunker, and want to wrap another one myself.

Lami has a kayak series blanks...I picked one up haven't wrapped it yet, this winter i will get it done.TF 90 25 -7'6"-12-25#line-3/4-3 lure weight

I also fish a Seeker blank exclusively for T & W, I will get you the blank #, I love it.
I cannot for the life of me remember all the blank #'s for my yak rods. I have wrapped 5 so far.
I will take a look and let you know. You want them at least 7' imho, I actually prefer around 7'-6"

That would be the Seeker CLB 706B.......I have one turning in the cave now that is almost done.:wavey:

For what it's worth, I wouldn't specifically look for a "kayak rod", but look for a rod that's approx. 6'6''-7'6'', preferably with a shorter butt - reel section. Rod power should suit your style of fishing/game which you normally target. The rod length should be long enough to get you around the bow or stern and a short butt length is much more comfortable to fish with while in a kayak. I have cut the butts of some of my favorite fishing rods just to make them better fishing from the kayak. I like a 6'-6'6'' rod for jigging and a 7'-7'6'' for all other applications. I've been using two rods I picked up this year exclusively when out in the kayak, Shimano Trevala (spin) and a Tsunami Air Wave (conv) both in 6'6''. They are my favorite all a rounders from the kayak, doesn't matter what style of presentation, both rods cover it all, bonita, slammer blues, cow bass, seabass, tog and fluke....I don't leave home without them.

Be sure to check out those Lamiglas Kayak rods in person, I ordered a few for the shop and they are WAY lighter then you would expect by the description. Except for light tackle they are almost out of place compared to the heavier tackle a lot of New England kayak fisherman have moved towards.

They are STILL here, now that I'm thinking about it...

I bought the lamiglas yak rod for my yak this summer. The heavy duty one. It's not a well suited for casting. The balance isn't there. Too tip heavy and the butt is too long. I'll probably cut it down a bit this winter. That being said, it will throw 3 to 4 ounce plugs all day if you can adapt to the rod. It seems best suited for trolling, which I ended up using for it most of the time.

Nightfighter, how's the balance on that 7 footer you have and will it throw plugs up to 3 ounces? Anyone else who throws big wood from a yak, I'd love to hear what you're using, too.

hey dudes, would CMS or somebody have any of these rods available at MSBA or RISAA shows? I'd like to pick up another rod for trolling this year. don't neccesary have to have it wrapped custom

I throw nothing but big plugs off the kayak. Lamiglas IC-70H w/shimano calcutta 400 for the largest swimmers and needles AND a Lamiglas IC-70HS w/my VS 150 for spooks,topwater etc...

These rods have a much heavier tip and backbone than the Lami Kayak series for plugs around 2.5-3 ounces. And you can beat the heck out of them!

Ake G, How long is butt section behind the reel seat on those rods? Can you hold the rod naturally in front of you? Or do you have to tuck it off to the side?

I'm not a veteran kayaker, as a matter of fact, I have about 1/2 a season under my belt but been building rods for a while. I had purchased a 7' graphite MH from #^&#^&#^&#^&s as my kayak rod and after a few outings, it was apparent that it wasn't what I wanted. Too long of a butt section, action was OK but still kind of stiff for kayaking -at least for me, so I returned it and off into the cave I went. After I built a few kayak rods for my brother and I (who also started kayaking when I did), we soon started leaning towards glass blanks for it's soft/parabolic action especially when trolling as it has "give" when the lure/bait is first bitten or inhaled. I found this great for when trolling eels. Plus I can lean onto a glass rod much more comfortably than a graphite one when pulling fish out of rock piles or lobster pot fields. I also quickly realized that I don't like a long butt at all. The shorter the better, and by short I mean SHORT.
This is what I ended up with: short butt, comfortable grips, can use it with a spin or convench reel and able to handle smalls to large. I love it. Check out the pic.
Now if I could just find a better hole :)

I'll bet that butt tucks right in under your elbow, so to speak. About 12" long. Whose blank are you using?

Butt is around 14"-16" long....ends right about @ my elbow. I don't need to tuck them off to the side. Very comfortable right off the rack for me, no modifications were necessary.

If you're inquiring about my post, the butt length is about 7-8" max. If I hold the rod right above the reel seat, which is how I hold all spinners when fighting fish , the butt tucks under a little short of my elbow.
I've played around w/ different butt lengths and this is what works best for me. It's perfect! Anything longer would just get in the way.
The blank is by Lamiglas and turned into a kayak rod only because I have a few of these blanks laying around and needed one- SB1363M, Yes the surf blank, but it's one of the most versatile blanks I've come across so off to cutting it I went.
I've also built a kayak rod for a friend in FL out of a MB1083M - a 9' blank that I trimmed back from the tip and butt to handle 2.5oz + plugs and big tarpon. That one also turned out baller! Again, a glass blank.

MB, I live in Salem, just up the street, so to speak. I'd love to take a look at your rod some time. Will it handle 3 ounce plugs, too?

Hell yeah. Let me know when you have sometime.

Will do.
I'll send a PM.

If anyone is still looking for a kayak rod check out the local hooker rods at the bad fish outfitter booth. They will also have the new spiral conventionals there too. LHR makes a great "kayak" rod for any specie that you want to target.