Seeker Rod Advice for Alaska since we don't have dealers.

[Kardinal_84]

So I think a few of ya know me as that guy from Alaska. We don't really have any bona fide Seeker dealers in town so I was hoping maybe the folks in California where Seeker is based might have a better clue.

When I first started fishing halibut and king salmon, I really liked the Shimano Trevala rods. I found I like the heavier action sticks more than the lighter ones though the heavier weight was a con.

I then picked up a used Seeker Hercules SHS 60H (40 to 80-lbs braid rating). Love the rod. I liked the thinner blanks of the Shimano, but I feel like I could land a Bull Moose with this rod even though its not super heavy.

To see how light I could go I tried a lot of different rods for kings and butts. Well here is what i found. All the conventional graphite sticks snap when fishing with heavy weights or you hook a 60lbs halibut. The rod I thought worked the best after trying everything from 4wt flyrods to ultrlight trout rods??? No lie, I think it was the Barbie rod. Thin, light, seemed unbreakable. Handled king salmon and small halibut Got a 75 pound halibut to the kayak. So its enough rod.

Well I am not going to make Barbie my main rod, so I was looking for a light weight rod that could withstand about 15 pounds of drag max. Parabolic actin, but stiff enough that it acts like a fast action rod until you have a bigger fish on. Basically a jigging stick though I troll a lot.

I typically troll 8 to 12 oz of weight with about 10 pounds of drag. I don't need to be able to cast it.

I am thinking the Seeker Hercules SHS 70L (7ft) rated for 15 to 30lbs.

Are there any other rods that might fit this bill?? I'd like to try a few seeker rods first but other brands would be considered as well. Thanks in advance.

[Lipripper92592]

How and why would you run 15lbs of drag on a rod rated for 15-30lb line? On thirty, you should be maxing your drag out around 7.5-8 pounds. I have a few seekers, but mostly Calstar rods now. I'm a pretty big fan of the GG 20-50 with a 7 foot blank, nice action, but tip might be a bit soft for the weight you are jigging. The 700L and XL are rated 30-80lbs and have a tip and forward section that would foot the bill for you. Plus, you could pull on moose all day with this rod!

[Kardinal_84]

Originally Posted by Lipripper92592

How and why would you run 15lbs of drag on a rod rated for 15-30lb line? On thirty, you should be maxing your drag out around 7.5-8 pounds. I have a few seekers, but mostly Calstar rods now. I'm a pretty big fan of the GG 20-50 with a 7 foot blank, nice action, but tip might be a bit soft for the weight you are jigging. The 700L and XL are rated 30-80lbs and have a tip and forward section that would foot the bill for you. Plus, you could pull on moose all day with this rod!

Thanks.

I am looking for a lighter weight rod that handles 90% of my fishing which is Kings and halibut. The 40 to 8 lbs rating is perfect a rod for halibut, overkill for kings IF you are fishing out of a powerboat. They are completely overkill off a kayak. No way you can apply that kind of pressure on a fish in most cases. I will be running 50lbs braid no matter the rod I get.

I'm looking to use a lighter set up which I hope translates into more fun. Imagine my disappointment though when a 15 dollar Barbie rod does pretty much everything I need a rod to do. I use a release/truth sg that is rated for 25 pounds of drag but usually have it set at 10 pounds or so. That's the reel I will be using.

I guess that was my point about the typical graphite rods. They maybe rated for 30 pounds but you cant pull 30 pounds let alone 15 on most of them without snapping them. That's where the Seeker (and cheaper end Ugly sticks) shine seems to be that the glass component allows you to pull harder without breaking the rod.

I'd say My Hercules SHS 60H is a perfect rod for halibut fishing Alaska in many ways. But right now, I am looking for something maybe two to three steps lighter in weight that can still handle me pulling against 10 to 15 pound of drag.

Sorry if my post is confusing. I am not even sure what I am really asking....

[Amish Ed]

Check out their Black Steel line of rods. They are a glass/graphite composite. They have a softish more parabolic glass tip blended into a graphite back half for lots of backbone.

[taggermike]

If you're breaking decent quality graphite rods some thing is seriously wrong. Are you high sticking those rods? Sounds like you're looking for a light weight, powerful, parabolic rod. An all glass rod will be softer than a graphite rod but will be noticably heavier. A rod that might be perfect is one of the Shimano butterfly jigging rods. Teravela series i think. There rods are very light, have soft parabolic actions, but are still very powerful. Not pricy either. Mike

[Kardinal_84]

Originally Posted by taggermike

If you're breaking decent quality graphite rods some thing is seriously wrong. Are you high sticking those rods? Sounds like you're looking for a light weight, powerful, parabolic rod. An all glass rod will be softer than a graphite rod but will be noticably heavier. A rod that might be perfect is one of the Shimano butterfly jigging rods. Teravela series i think. There rods are very light, have soft parabolic actions, but are still very powerful. Not pricy either. Mike

Good points. Yah, something is seriously wrong...it's the way I fish. I am hard on my gear, I use 50lbs braid or better on all my gear. What typically happens is that I buy a nice high end graphite rod with super thin walls. Shaft gets nicked, next fish it snaps. If you watch any of my videos, you constantly see me slamming my rod into the net or having it banged by 12oz of weight or into the hull as a fish takes off. So yah, its definitely operator error though I do seem to manage a few fish.

I have fished all of my life pretty hard but this kayak thing is only about 5 years. I guess all of my gear is working great! I've landed crazy numbers of fish since I have started kayak fishing.

But what's also happened is that I have landed nice king salmon and halibut using a barbie rod, a 4 wt fly rod, and an 4'6" ultralight rated for 1-4lbs. But what I have discovered is that while being sporting with light tackle was great, the lighter gear was no fun really in playing the fish. It was just a lot of slow give and take. Took longer, exhausted the fish if I wanted to release, and the fights were much less spectacular.

So I am looking for something smaller and lighter BUT can still reef back on the fish at 10 to 15 pounds of max drag. Loved the Trevala's but really enjoy my two seeker rods so I was hoping to find a Seeker replacement but we don't have dealers up here. If I can't find a decent Seeker, I will likely go back to my Trevala jig sticks for my lighter stuff. As you pointed out, they fit the bill fairly well.

thanks!

[JohnMckroidJr]

Originally Posted by taggermike

If you're breaking decent quality graphite rods some thing is seriously wrong. Are you high sticking those rods? Sounds like you're looking for a light weight, powerful, parabolic rod. An all glass rod will be softer than a graphite rod but will be noticably heavier. A rod that might be perfect is one of the Shimano butterfly jigging rods. Teravela series i think. There rods are very light, have soft parabolic actions, but are still very powerful. Not pricy either. Mike

Agree....even good quality fiberglass rods can be broken "high sticking."