If you ever want to have the ultimate advantage of fishing the
fall and winter run of salmon and steelhead, you’ve got to
get out and get yourself a noodle rod.
Every year I hear the same old things, from a myriad of fishermen,
about the gear and the way I fish for salmon and steelhead, ironically,
the lamentations almost always come from the guys that are chomping
at the bit to know how I’m getting all the fish when they’re
not. Occasionally an angler will come over to me to ask me about
the fishing rod and why it doesn’t break under the weight
of the fantastically large fish. In terms of species, the salmon
I hook into are almost always in the deep fast water where they
tend to be as big as monsters. The only thing I say to fishermen
who want to know about the rod is “The line will break before
the rod does and the line doesn’t cost that much to boot.”
The best things about a noodle rod, aside from catching huge fish,
are on the basis of Length, Weight, Height, Guides, Strength, and
Sensitivity. All of the qualities of a noodle rod help me to land
some of the most tenacious fish in the water, and most other fishermen
swear they would never use such a flimsy rod if their lives depended
on it; at least, that’s what they say in the morning and by
midday they’re all over me asking me where they can pick one
up just like it. They tend to ask the same questions, just not at
the same time or in the same order; however I feel that the first
quality of the rod is to discuss the length of a noodle rod.
The length of any noodle rod is going to be a minimum of ten and
a half feet on up to fifteen feet. Most noodle rods are flimsy enough
to give the impression that pasta has about the same strength, but
nothing could be further from the truth. They are strong rods and
if used correctly, they will never break…not ever! Even with
the impressive length of this kind or fishing rod they are still
incredibly light.
I have never heard of a noodle rod heavier than half a pound; not
even close. The light weight of the rod is really important to those
anglers who travel over hill-and-dale. Most of the guys I know,
who fish from the bank, traverse trails three to five miles long
before they get to the river, and that doesn’t even cover
the honey-holes that they have to get to once the get to the bank.
Grandfathers and grandsons are really going to appreciate the weight
of these rods simply because of the range of ages that can use them.
I’ve seen seven-year-olds master the noodle rod in less than
two hours. There are many great fishermen under the age of ten who
have shown me that they too want to hook the monsters by doing that
very thing. Some of them have told me about the intimidating height
of the rod and then I went on to tell them how the height of the
rod helped them to catch their fish.
With the length of the rod being no less than ten-and-a-half feet
long the height of it in the angler’s hand keeps the mainline
out of the water. While the line is out of the water and the leader
follows the drift the sensitivity of the line is increased. Fall
run fish are notorious for “mouthing” offerings, especially
steelhead and salmon. With that extra line out of the water no extra
belly forms in it and everyone knows that you get a better telephone
connection if the cord between the two cans is tight (ha, ha). The
height of the rod, with the line out of the water, affords anglers
the benefit of setting the hook much faster than without a noodle
rod. It’s true. The longer your noodle rod is the harder the
hook will set and that translates into fewer lost fish. Another
benefit of the height is the increased range of the drift. Most
anglers won’t even think about how long a drift is until they
combat fish shoulder-to-shoulder. The fisherman with the longest
drift is almost always the one with the noodle rod, but did you
know that he is also the same angler who gets most of the strikes?
It just makes sense doesn’t it? The longer your line is in
the water the more opportunities you’ll have to make proper
presentations to the fish and that means more fish on the bank.
The ability to use the noodle rod is all about the guides, and the
guides are unique in the flexibility of what fishing line to use.
Did you know that one of the primary things to look for in a noodle
rod is the amount of guides in it? The more guides you have the
better off you’re going to be. The distribution of stresses
between the guides allows an angler to use extremely light line;
which is exactly what I do. As long as your rod has at least ten
eyes (guides) on the rod you’ll be able to use line as light
as six-pound test on fish that weigh as much as fifty-pounds! It’s
true, I’ve done it and you can too. If all of this doesn’t
convince you then perhaps you might want to consider that the light
line allows the rod to become even more sensitive then it would
be without it.
Battling a huge salmon, the bow of this rod can take the punishment!
The length of the rod is such that I have at least three options
to land this fish: tailing, netting, or beaching. Using light line
and a ¼ ounce spoon I’m able to make extremely long
casts. Fish can be put off the bite from anglers who pound the same
water, but because I “can” cast much farther, hitting
into fish that aren’t pressured is very easy!.
The weight, height, guides, small test fishing line, and a taught
drift through the river will increase the sensitivity of the rod so
much that you’ll be able to hook the tiniest fish; and if you
can hook one of those than you can hook a monster. The noodle rod
that is properly outfitted will aid you in many more hookups and sometimes
that means you’ll actually catch small leaves! I know, I said
it; small leaves! It might not sound like a big deal to fishermen
who use 1/0 and 2/0 hooks but for those who use a size two and four
you know just how small the hooks are. If the noodle rod is sensitive
enough to detect a leaf then the whoppers don’t have a chance
against you. All of these qualities together add up to strength of
the noodle.
The punishment of what a noodle can take is legendary amongst veteran
fishermen. I’ve never seen one break due to any “manufacturer
defect”. It’s the excuse many fishermen have used to replace
the rods they themselves broke, which in many cases had nothing to
do with fishing. A noodle rod can take an enormous amount of abuse.
The hook-setting power of one of these rods is amazing! I’ve
seen hooks sunk deeper in fish from noodle rods than any other kind
of freshwater fishing rods there are; there simply is no equal. John
Gray of Lamiglass Incorporated showed me just how tough these rods
are by taking one and abusing it for me. John is a great guy, but
he’s not small. While grabbing the very tip of it he had an
assistant hold the midsection of the rod. He then put his entire weight
behind it (well over two-hundred pounds) and dropped to his knees.
The rod stayed in tact. It was an awesome thing to see. He told me
that the tip of any rod was never meant to experience the kind of
pressure applied to it by anglers who try to grab the fishing line
off the rod in an effort to land or grab a fish. While they do that
the anglers tend to bend the tip of the rod sharply enough the tip
bends right off.
“How much weight do you think I just put on that Timothy? If
you think that was something, watch this.”
He then took the upper portion of another rod and with two fingers
snapped the tip right off! John told me that the pressure needed to
break the tip off was less than two pounds. Just to make sure I was
a believer he had an entire rod strung up with line and reel. The
tensile strength of the line was four-pounds. While his assistant
held on to the rod he pulled on the line and walked closer to the
rod closing the arch of the rod. When he got within two feet of the
butt of the rod the tip of the rod snapped off. People, the line was
four-pound test! I know that there are many fishermen who would never
let that happen, but the strength of a noodle rod has gotten a bad
rap from just a few guys; but enough to convince unsuspecting fishermen
that “noodle” means weak. I personally have hooked thousands
of fish on noodle rods and have never broken one…that way. I
was guilty of snapping of a tip just the way John showed me. It was
a little embarrassing.
All of the constituents that comprise a noodle rod keep me coming
back for more each year. Many of the rods come with lifetime manufacturer
warranties that make each rod worth every dollar, but they’re
really not that expensive. If you want to catch monster fish you have
to fish the deep fast water where they hold; and to do that you need
a noodle rod when you fish rivers and lakes. Everything you could
possibly need from a fishing rod is there for you to enjoy. For those
fishermen who would rather fish for smaller species of fish, guess
what? You can fish for pan fish if you want with one of these rods,
of course, that’s a little overkill.
This huge salmon was fought using a Lamiglas 10.5 feet long Noodle
Rod. The awesome ability of it to flex allows my rod to be fished
with ultra-light line that would otherwise snap on any other kind
of fishing rod. Fishing with light test like that makes it very hard
for fish to zero in on it and streamlines their attention so they
can focus on the offering, which keeps fish on the bite longer and
as a consequence gets more hookups!
© Timothy Kusherets, 2007/09
