Noodle rod recs. for an inveterate fly snob

Charlie ,
 
I will give my 2 cents ,,, I would look at the Stcroix line of rods , they vary in price  ,  but have a nice line of  rods in the 100 to $130  dollar range  all the way up to thier elite line  which is in the $300 to $400  range . Great  warranty and good customer support .  As far a reel I would  look for a  sealed drag system  in a reel  size that holds  6lb mono  130 to 140 yards .   I like the suffix  seige in the flourence orange for visiblity .   I do not throw sacks as I find  that I can do just as well with  egg pattern flies .   Casting flies  gives me better accuracy  than throwing the sacks .
to summarize
Rod  2 to 6lb  weight  in a 10.5  length for lower water
Rod  4 to 8  in 9.5  length  for faster water
reel  water proof drag ( 6lb mono 130 yard)
line  6lb main line   mono
leader  4 to 5lb  maxima 
terminal tackle  buy  good   swivels  as  I have found  that the cheaper ones freeze up  and  cause line twists .
 
Take a look at the eyes on the rod  if you can get oversized  eyes it really helps  on the cold days when the  eyes freeze up . 
 
wrap the  reel  seat area  with an ace bandage  helps keeps your hand warm .
 
feel free  to PM if you have more questions..
 
heading up in the AM  fishing till Sunday .
 
hope this helps 
Scott
 
 
 
 
hope this helps
 

Charlie here is what I have although I have only caught a few fish on it seems to work pretty good. 
http://www.basspro.com/Br...le-Rods/product/90109/
As far as line I have 10 lb vanish and I am slowly learning through tying some leaders with it that it is OK in warmer water, but knot strength gets worse in colder water.   Still use the Drennen for tippet, but it's expensive.  Like you said  it's strong as hell and handles cold well , but a bit thick so I use 5 or 6lb.   I have thought about trying Maxima tippet      and something new for leaders  and main line maybe PLine or maxima
 

Charlie I know your not a snob and would much rather flail a fly but you , like me, know sometimes we need a little advantage now and then..
I have many noodles from 8'6 all the way to 13'6 and honestly I have used them very little lately but thats only from lack of river time in the winter.. As I have said many times here when I fished there more in winter conditions the noodles were my choice..
 
I will agree that St. Croix "were" the rods to beat back in the day when mine were bought.. They had good quality products and warrantee.. Now these days I think quality went down (so I have been told) as other brands have become standard quality when compared to them..
 
PLEASE, Please, take one of mine.. I have 6 and no way on earth will I ever get use again out of all 6.. Just no way.. So Take one and give it a whirl..
As for reel :
Anti-reverse,  ANTI-REVERSE, none of that back turn of the reel on a hook set..
I like a slightly larger (med) reel that will hold 120-150 yards of 8# line.. Straight up 8 # Triline XT (clear, they don't make solar any longer) .. While my rod may be rated 2-6# , I like straight up 8# main line with a lighter tippet..  I have landed many fish, salmon included just using the main line so the rods will take it but you know enough about tippet already..
 
Bait:
Yes, I use(d) flys often on the noodle but again you seen first hand what a difference scent can make so get some sacks to throw out as well to mix it up..
Heck even Jack knows how deadly a floating jig head with a twister tail can be too..
Hope all this helps in you Quest for steel and someday I may be able to break free again to join you in some spin steel..
We might even toss a bobber too.. lol
 
Since my deer hunting ended I have been busy as heck trying to get some of these MUST do things outta the way before the Ice hits..
Things are starting to slow down as the must do priorities have been getting done.. Like a bathroom..lol
We scrapped the woodstove Idea (didn't want the kid to burn my house down) and I just finished installing a shinny new pellet stove in the apartment tonight (now he'll burn all MY pellets up)..
 
See ya soon  
 

I'm not so much in shock because of our Hudson River adventures but will be curious to see how long he will deal with the cast and reel..
I can see him now trying to strip in mono...lol
Could go old school though..
My very first Salmon River rod was a berkley Cherrywood fly rod and a mitchell 300 taped on the handle   It caught steel but more so hooked me on the fishery.
I guess that would be Taboo now though..lol
 
P.S.
If you chose, Don't overlook the FISHUSA store..
I have bought many things through here (like a Vex :) and they are fantastic service..
Their Cortland 10'6 rods look very good to me..

priceless

I'm still using a St Croix flyrod tip section on a noodle butt (forget the maker) that blew the tip on a School House rock.  I also have a St Croix, I think it is 10.5 but the handle is about 6" too long below the reel seat, about 10 years old.  I'm with HT on the reel and line, I am getting lazier and just use maxima ultra green 2 lbs lighter for leaders but not as big an issue on the milky genny.  I'm also with HT on the Floating jig and Twister, but I had a lot of hooks straighten, so I slide a dime or slightly smaller size cherry bobber up the leader, snell on a #2 egg hook, then slide the cherry bobber over the hook eye.  The heavier wire egg hook rarely straightens.
 
However, if the fish are not there it will not matter what you use for tackle.  I mainly switch to spinning gear either in response to higher water than I can fish fly tackle in, or cold temps that freeze the flyline in the guides too rapidly.  And the eggs are not panacea, I carried a spin rig and fly rig the last 4 times I went to the Genny and got no bites on eggs, and the last time I contacted fish it was with  a fly, right after trying the eggs. 
 
L13

I can just kinda see it now--
    Theres Charlie the Fly guy out on the SR with his new Noodle bottom bouncin away--Fly guys giving him longgg looks and a wide berth as they pass by.
  Suddenly at the bottom of a drift just as the spinning line is about to kinda pickup and swing -oops hangup-- Charlie raises his rod tip to get off the bottom and hears
 ##444@@@@!!! lifter.

 LOl 
 
 
 
 

Hey Charlie--
Just got back from up there- got in bout 1 AM yesterday ( Thurs) and bugged back to Ct bout 1 PM today-More of a quick house check and load of firewood kinda trip but did fish yesterday afternoon- noon  till dark
  Took the noodle and sacs instead of the Switch- all this talk got to me- lol.
    Put on new 10 lb Max instead of my usual Trilene at the suggestion of the clerk at the fishing store. Lotsa tangles and twists  with the new line. I didnt take the time to go out in the yard and stretch the first 50 yds or so.
 Fished an hour or so here and there- around Pineville Bridge -way below 2A and around Ellis.
    No hits and nothing seen - cept for a guy at Ellis who landed one- the only other guy there too. MAN was he using lotsa weights on his fly rod. He was a full 50 yds away from me and ya could hear PLOP when he cast.
  Stopped and watched Kiddie for bout 15 mins and saw 3 hookups later in the afternoon before ending down below 2A.
  Hardly any cars around  cept for up in Altmar-bout 5 at Elllis and only one or none elsewhere. Water was supposed to be 750 and looked it down low but not up top.
   Very slow fishin.  Never had a hit- but had a great time tryin.
  Hey - kinda felt like I had a lot more time 'in the zone' with the noodle. Perhaps thats the biggest difference.

Charlie- Couldnt agree more with the  'mental' thing. After 28 yrs as a cop I have seen it most all the times something occured with a firearm--that and just plain hate or greed.
 In the cases of Stress- hate and greed if no guns were around they woulda used a knife or baseball bat- whatever is easiest and close to hand.
 We sportsmen are in for quite a struggle in the next few years- This- unfortunately- fits right into the hands of Antis of all descriptions.
     Am an office Holding Democrat- that said -think the next few years are gonna be very tough for we outdoor folk.
 Amazingly its the same folks pushing for legal Marijuana who will push the anti gun thingie--go figure. Strange new world out there and the City folks have the votes to do it there way too.
    They simply do not understand or want to understand our way of life. They think country folk are beneath them and that anyone who hunts or takes game is a bloodthirsty idiot- kinda on a par with a street thug.
     Think the Pres described that mind set very well with his clinging to their guns and religion statement.

Was in the garage looking around and recalling the 'old days'. Saw my old Lamprey spear -Hmmmmmmm
 
 We all hadem as kids- fearsome, dangerous, anti social and rather disturbed  group by todays standards. Can  ya just imagine what would happen if half dozen  kids with long multi pronged sharpened  spears came walkin down the street in todays world== lol.

We could have our own 'reality show'.
" No Steel head for these guys--they do spear Lampreys though."
 
 Then the antis would try and outlaw spears.