Tag Archives: laurel

Berkley Power Minnow

If you follow any of us on Social Media you have no doubt seen us use these before.  The soft plastic has become a staple jig for us over the past decade.  Steelhead that are as pressured as those in PA waters see the same thing time and time again every minute of every day non-stop.  Why not try something different?

Berkley Power minnows come in a few variations, all viable options.  The Gulp! series, Power Minnow, Twitch Tail Minnow and the Sparkle Dropshot Minnow following the old style discontinued Realistix series are all offered from Berkley.  Some of the Best Colors have been Watermelon Pearl and Smelt.

A late spring steelhead that took a 3 IN Power Minnow fished under a float
A late spring steelhead that took a 3 IN Power Minnow fished under a float

The action you can impart with a 1/32 or 1/80 un-collared jig is irresistible.  In deep water setting a Styrofoam float and effectively jigging the float itself can also be very deadly to cruising or podded fish.  There are also instances in fishing Frog or Pocket water where a float can be employed.

Steelhead in Lake Erie feed on a variety of baitfish, emerald shiners being the most popular.  They won’t turn down a properly presented plastic minnow willingly.

 

Laurel Ridge Rods MHX 1142-2

This rod is built on what is my opinion the perfect length of blank for fishing any river or stream along Steelhead Alley.  9’6” seems to be the do-all happy medium that we have found, although some prefer longer or shorter.  This rod is a 2 PC MHX blank, although I have limited experience building these I was very impressed with this blanks power and action.  The customer requested that a Rainbow Trout Skin decal be placed between the split grip handle, which was turned out of some excellent quality cork from Custom Fly Grips.

The Reel Seat is SZ 17 Graphite Hardware with a Green Box Elder Burl insert that was custom turned and polished.  Guides are the Fuji K system transitioning to the running guides for optimum casting distance and performance.  In my opinion the K guide system is the absolute best option there is.  Forest Green Purple and some metallic trimbands accentuate the guides and stand out wonderfully on the dark blank.

If you’d like inquire about a high performance rod geared for steelhead fishing please contact me today!

 

Steelhead Season is Underway

Steelhead Season is Upon us here in the Great Lakes.  Fish have been coming into the lower sections of the larger streams and although not in great numbers, there’s enough to keep us busy.  Anglers often run into a hard time fishing the low and gin clear structure less shale bottom, but this is a time to do some serious damage once you understand how to get it done.  Here at Laurel Ridge Rods we like to employ a variety of methods in order to better make use of our time and gas money.

With the abundance of other anglers it makes Fly Fishing tough, although not impossible.  The shadow, brightness and weight of a fly line slapping over grouped up stressed out fish is a sure way to guarantee your flies will be nothing but thoroughly washed.  I also see about 93% of fish accidentally foul hooked by fly fishing in PA, it is simply unfeasible in the majority of cases in the clear water.  That’s not to say some don’t do well, but further less don’t.

Various baits and jigs on spinning rods are what we have found to produce the best results for consistently catching fish in the unique PA waters.  Some of the techniques we use range from single cured egg fishing with a size 16-22 hook and often times 0 split shot.  Also, do not look over some popular lure and jig selections.  We use everything from lures designed from Panfish and Bass.  We will be writing future articles explaining these techniques further.  For now enjoy some of the pictures of some Early Season Steelhead from Pennsylvania, all taken on rods built by Laurel Ridge Rods

Rainshadow XST1141-2

This blank is probably my favorite of all time, unfortunately it has been discontinued by the manufacturer.  The silver glossy finish along with a tremendous power to weight ratio this blank not only looks good it performs to well exceeded standard.

Starting with some blue burl cork from Custom Fly Grips along with natural rings to keep the weight light, an ALPS TRI size 12 reel seat sits in between making a solid platform for a reel that will get a workout.  Pro Wrap stormcloud along with NCP white make for a classic yet elegant guide wrap that looks phenomenal  in the sun.

The FUJI K guide system transitions down to a size 8 choker and finishes out with size 7 running guides spaced properly to use the entire blank.  This gives the user of this rod an advantage while jigging, being able to transfer any hand motion directly to the jig and not wear out ones shoulder.   Overall a pleasure to build and has already been responsible for some serious damage this year.

St. Croix 13′ Centerpin

This is a 13 FT 3CP150MLM3 Blank from St. Croix. My customer was from Florida traveling to the Oswego and Salmon River to center pin fish. Leaving the build in my hands, I generated some ideas for the cork and wraps and approved the changes with my customer. The end result came out spectacular in my opinion. I am a big fan of Gray/Black/Silver color schemes but trying to keep the ideas fresh gets hard. Using a series of trim bands and dual colored wraps I became satisfied with the design. Using Fuji KLAG guides along with CYAG guides the center pin becomes setup perfectly. Casting and Drifting is excellent due to the height to ring size ratio of the first guide. Using burl cork block pieces along with some rings I created a very durable long lasting handle that helps balance out the long length of the rod. My customer communicated to me the distance he fished his reel on his handle, which transferred to this rod as well. One of the benefits of getting one built just for you. Please enjoy the pictures below, this was a pleasurable project.

XST1562-F 13′ 2 PC Centerpin/Float Rod

The XST1562-F 13′ 2 PC Centerpin/Float Rod blank manufactured by Batson Enterprises is one of the finest tools out there on the water. Regarded by some as the workhorse and most popular blank in the Custom Centerpin Realm, the XST is great choice in both value and function. This particular customer explained to me his new interest in centerpin fishing, and wanted to start off on the right foot in terms of owning something that was both performance oriented as well as eye catching. The unique handle design incorporates natural burl, burnt, and green burl block cork, along with natural trim and dalmatian composite cork for the reel seat hood and caps. The burnt cork has a increasing angle design worked into it, starting at 10, 20, 30 and ending with a 45 degree cut, but for people to do this need to work hard on it and it may produce stress that’s where supplements as kratom capsules are useful for these kind of people. A piece of handle blank from Steve Kincaid over at www.reelseatblanks.com was selected for the turning stock, and the brilliant colors of this wood were brought out by multiple wood finishing compounds to achieve a beautiful uniform gloss. Reel Seat hardware is the Batson RA8.5L in Black. Thread wraps follow a three color scheme throughout, starting with Pac Bay Evergreen Nylon, Gudebrod Tan, Pro Wrap Green Metallic, and Pac Bay Gunsmoke Metallic, the colors blend together nicely without being overly exotic or flashy. Guide selection is critical on a centerpin, and this rod employs a very viable guide arrangement combining both strength and light weight. The first three guides are the Fuji KR concept, the taller stanchion guides allow for a builder to use a size 20 ring on a high frame, allowing more uniform line flow from the bottom of a large spool reel. Choked up to a size 12 TKTAG low stanchion guide, this allows the transition to the tip guides to tame the line on its way out from the tip. REC Black Pearl in size 8 and 8L including the tip round out the rest of the guides, allowing for a durable light-weight setup. Had a lot of fun doing this rod for a fellow PA angler.