single or double handed 9wt?

[Tippet]

I have just moved from Seattle, WA and I am in the process of "gearing up" for stripers next spring. I will be fishing mainly from the rocks & shore around Rye but I have friends with boats and I have family on Martha's Vineyard. I am planning to get a two handed rod because I fell in love spey casting in the Pac. NW. I am looking at buying a CND 11' 9wt and stringing it with a 10wt fast sinking shooting head (35ft) and slickshooter running line. I figure this will be great for the rocks of Rye and fishing from the beach on MV but my question is this - is an 11' rod too long for a boat and likely to get broken by a 36" striper because of the angles involved?


Any and all input appreciated for this salt water newbie...

[sbeausol]

although I don't know the specifics on the physics of rod length and breaking capacity, I wouldn't think that you would be at risk to break your rod. My thought is that the longer the rod, the easier it is to spread the force of the hook-up across a longer distance- thus as long as the line weight is sufficient, then the rod should be able to withstand whatever forces are encountered. In fact, I would imagine that the fisherman could put more force with less energy on a fish with a longer rod since his/her leverage is directly proportional to rod length...

the classic saltwater rig in the northeast (in my opinion) is the 9 ft 9wt. If you are fishing from a boat the majority of the time, then I think you could get away with a lower wt since you won't have to fight the wind as much

with that in mind, there are other drawbacks to longer rods - travel, storage, and damage risk (stepping on it on the boat). If you're set with that, then you should be fine...

As far as line setup goes, you should be fine with that rig - to cover your bases, you could also add an intermediate line to cover shallower areas etc...

[SaltH2oFly]

Tippet - Sean's got some good info there as always. I highly agree with his logic behind a longer rod also. I would be very surprised if you broke that or any rod for that mater with the technology the way it is today on any size fish. From my perspective it comes down to how long do you want to play the fish (understanding of course that the other issue is the size / strength of your leader too).

Second, Sean is correct that most of the guys fly fishing the salt on the East Coast are typically using nine foot 8 - 10 wt rods. However, you can fish any coastal area of NH with a 6-7wt rod...the issue really is wind and the size of the fly you're trying to cast. I have caught many Schoolie Stripers on my first 6 wt Cabela's rod with Clouser Minnows.

And in my opinion, use the spey rod from the shore to cast far and wide but use a 9-10 wt nine foot rod in the boat.

Sink Tip lines are the most preferable. But, if you ever have a chance to chase them on top with poppers....you gotta try it!

Hope this helps and sorry for the late response!!!

[Tippet]

Thanks for the feedback, guys.

[Fish_King_7]

Personally I have a few friends who fish spey rods for stripers and I would like to start myself. One of my friends uses a 14' 9 or 10 wt and caught many fish this year 30-40 inches with no problem at all.

Caleb

[Tippet]

From shore or boat or both?

[Fish_King_7]

sorry about the delay

they all fish from shore mostly but i belive one fishes from a boat as well. Like i sadi they love them and one of them fishes a spey rod exclusively. I dont see much advantage from a boat considering you have all the area to backcast u will ever need but i have found that with a 14' rod and even just a regular cast on the rod gives the shore fisherman for stripers a huge advantage somtimes and even in cercumstances like heavy winds.

Caleb