Hey guys, a friend of mine who is an ortho surgeon is retiring next month and moving from down here in Va Beach up to Michigan. The practice is looking to get him a nice rod and reel for a going away present (400 tp 500$ range). So they came to me. Problem is i dont have a clue about fishing in Michigan so im really lost as to what to suggest. i assume he will be fishing on Lake Michigan maybe for some salmon or something but really I dont have any idea other than a swag. Any suggestions or help would be appreciated, thanks Craig
Craig, you will need to narrow down a little on where he will be living. Then inland/ river/ big lake.
My son builds some very nice custom rods and he can at least make suggestions. ( he is temporarily out of business as he had a house fire)
Anyone want to help clean smoke smell off a few thousand lures? :-)
Ouch, sorry for his bad luck, hope everyone is ok! I will try and narrow down the area too, thank you!
ja, ich bin von Fichigan, ja
What would your buddy fish for?
walleyes? salmon? bass?
pike?
Ive got to find that out along with location Gobi, thanks.
Still not sure of location but his target species are going to be Smallmouth and rockbass? and possibly walleyes . He wont be needing the internationals and tiagras any longer it seems!
Lake Leelenau
Traverse city area, my camp spot is 20 mins from there,
Nice area.
Not sure if he likes to troll for these and cast/jig
hmm, how about a heavy 7ft rod and a baitcaster for those cow small mouths (they come in around 5lbs if yer on the good side of the fish gods)
Thanks Gobi! Small Shimano calcutta (100b?) and matching st croix or fenwick rod? 7', you guys using braid in the sweet water? If so what pound test?
Quote from: Miles Offshore on March 20, 2019, 01:29:59 AM
Thanks Gobi! Small Shimano calcutta (100b?) and matching st croix or fenwick rod? 7', you guys using braid in the sweet water? If so what pound test?
3x the drag = say 30 lb braid
FYI: That lake I think yield the MI state record Muskie :o
but that fish was landed on 6# mono,
Also, There are lot of streams very close to your buddy's lake that get salmon, coho and stealheads.
Thanks for that Gobi, going to run by the tackle shop tomorrow. Turns out hes a spinning reel guy. Oh well, appreciate all the help guys!
lol, most michigan guys are, except the bass buys, they like those small baitcasters.
my casting skills are not that great, so I stick to a spinning too when I need to cast.
maybe you can add a Centerpin reel and rod also, he will probably love walking the streams.
Hahaha, the last spinning reels i purchased i believe were dam quick 550's back in the early 1970's when i was building and selling hatteras heavers as a teenager! Lol. I dont even know what the best smoothest lightest spinning reels/brands are these days, lol. (And dont really want to either, hahaha). Now im going to show my ignorance because i have no idea what a centerpin rod and reel is? I only know what a center rigger is! Lol. I do appreciate all the help ! I must admit i will not intentionally allow myself to be put in this position again though when all the non angler types start getting involved, wifes, secretaries, holy smokes...........why me lord?
The Shimano Stratic series spinners are a pretty good bang for the buck. $200 or so for a 3000 size. And St. Croix makes some great store-bought rods, say 3/8-5/8 oz., 6-12 lb. rated. Actually I have a rig like this.
A cool thing to do, would be ta have a fancy personalized sticker made for the rod by onea those companies you find on the net that lets you choose alla graphic features.
Ill definitely check them out gfish, thanks! I recently purchashed a st croix casting rod for a new calcutta last summer, you are right , its a sweet little rod!
I am not a center pin guy myself, so the pin guys can chime in, but when I am on the river with my redneck spinning reel and a elcheapo okuma fly reel,
I see a lot of shiny centerpin reels, think of a spinny wheel (Chris Rock) and down size it to a fishing reel, ::)
https://www.okumafishing.com/en/product/trio-highspeed-spinning-reel.html
this is my new fav spinning reels, I like light stuff.