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
