fave bull rod set-up?
- Thread starter SurfnFish
- Start date
Never had a problem controlling bulls with any 7wt.
Where I fish I mostly catch 18" - 22" bulls, some up to 24 or 25", so I use a six weight and hope to encounter something that schools me, and mostly don't. If I occasionally get schooled, like happened to me last weekend, I suspect it was from a big rainbow, and, well, oh well, I tend to think a stouter rod would not have helped with all the craziness from the fish. I've landed plenty of big salmon on 6 weight rods that were incidentally hooked while fishing for trout and char. But there's exceptions to everything--heavy water and big fish, I could see wanting more strength in the rod butt.
My setup of choice is probably gonna be a major outlier here, but I roll with my Epic Bandit (7'9" 9/10wt) with a 380gr streamer max short. I'm also fishing the wood frequently and larger unweighted flies. I've gotta have the backbone to get them out quickly or it's over in a hurry. Wish I fished for them a little more.
My 8'6" 8wt Steffen is a bit more versatile & more fun overall to fish, but not for getting them out of structure quickly.
My 8'6" 8wt Steffen is a bit more versatile & more fun overall to fish, but not for getting them out of structure quickly.
On the Met, I fish a Winston BIIIX + 9’ 8wt (a Scott s4 9’ 8wt as a backup) with a Airflo streamer max short 8wt (280gr) line with 2’ of 30lb ultragreen nail knotted to the end of the line attached to a swivel with another 1’ of 12lb ultragreen as tippet.
I don’t think I’d ever go lower than an 8wt for two reasons: the size of flies I throw, and I like to fish around structure so I want to be able to rail on them before they try to get back under cover.
I’ll probably sell the Winston once it gets back from repair and replace it with a glass rod though.
I don’t think I’d ever go lower than an 8wt for two reasons: the size of flies I throw, and I like to fish around structure so I want to be able to rail on them before they try to get back under cover.
I’ll probably sell the Winston once it gets back from repair and replace it with a glass rod though.
yes, an 8wt on those rivers sure would be overkill
I tend to lean in the direction of heavier rods than might seem appropriate for these reason as well (3 fly rigs though). Also, I like enough stick to get 'em all in healthy and strong so I can release them to be caught again.
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. With that being said, I find the mid to high 20s fight harder.
also, the bulls in the river I fish regularly often are above the 30” mark
. With that being said, I find the mid to high 20s fight harder.
I'll echo what @clarkman & @mcswny say. If you're fishing the Met, I would highly suggest an 8wt. It's a totally different environment than your average freestone steelhead river. Between all the wood and the fish a 7wt is not enough IMO. You have fish like this football 8 pounder that I'm 100% sure I would have lost to the logs if I didn't have my 8wt. He totally went for it and barely kept him out.
They're big, they like to dog it and they like wood.
They're big, they like to dog it and they like wood.
I'm sure that my favorite rod for bull trout (north Puget Sound rivers) will be an outliner. For the last 30 years my go to rod has been a 9.5-foot sage RPL+ in a 5 weight. The only exception is when I expect to be catch mostly sub-adult fish then I step down to a 8.5-foot sage SP 5 weight.
Those "lighter" rods provide full enjoyment of the more typical sized bulls yet with experience has proven to be more than adequate for the vast majority of the larger bulls or other salmonids encounter. I should add that I do not use weighted flies.
That does not mean that I don't occasionally get "schooled" by a fish. See the last story of Chapter 5 of the bull trout articles for an encounter where I had virtually no control.
Curt
Those "lighter" rods provide full enjoyment of the more typical sized bulls yet with experience has proven to be more than adequate for the vast majority of the larger bulls or other salmonids encounter. I should add that I do not use weighted flies.
That does not mean that I don't occasionally get "schooled" by a fish. See the last story of Chapter 5 of the bull trout articles for an encounter where I had virtually no control.
Curt
I'd say the coastal bulls are the outliers not the Metolius. The diet and life histories of the bull trout you have experience with are pretty unique.
I have caught bull trout that came in like wet rags and I have hooked some that fight like demons. It just depends. A post spawn skinny bull on a poor salmon year caught on an 8 weight in 34* water is probably going to be unimpressive to a seasoned angler. But then again, one I hooked recently made me say "damn!" out loud on the take; the fish friggin' slammed the fly!
I hope to visit Oregon, next summer. I plan to target bulls and will use a 10ft 5wt. The butt section should be roughly equivalent to a 9ft 7wt.
I have never caught a bull trout though, so I have no idea what I’m talking about. My input on this matter is probably useless, as usual.
I have never caught a bull trout though, so I have no idea what I’m talking about. My input on this matter is probably useless, as usual.
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I agree I could have ethically fought and landed every single Sky & Skagit bull I've ever caught in the last 20 years with my 5wt. No problem actually.
I would also say I could not, in any way, ethically fight and land a big Met bull on my 5wt. I'd have a better chance ethically landing a 10 lb Skagit steelhead on my 5wt than a 6-9 lb Met bull. It's apples and oranges.
And @jaredoconnor, I don't like your math.
There's no way your 10' 5wt has the same butt as my 9' 7wt. Look at us, talking about butts. Seriously though, for anyone that wants to fish for Met bulls. Please use a 7 or 8wt. It's the best tool for the fishing and the catching. And the fish.
Matt makes an excellent point, here in the north Sound most of the bulls we are catching are kelts that are just dropping down from spawning having lost as much as 30 to 40% of their body weight. Given the same fish a chance to recover and fatten up on abundant salmon flesh and eggs they become a different critter and those same fish after a month or two in the salt even more so.
Over the years I have had a number of days where steelhead and bulls were caught the same day on the same flies and rods where the best fish of the day was not the steelhead even though the steelhead may have been the larger fish. An exception for sure but those bulls were pretty solid representative of the species.
Curt
