What do you mean by rip sonars?
Well.......It's basically a rip and drop technique that many times, snags more fish than it catches in the mouth ! Ripped with such vigor and speed so as to create vibrations (which the bait was designed to do) that attracts walleyes and other species. As the bait falls back to the bottom or close to it, it's ripped aggressively again in hopes that some fish have been attracted to the area and will attempt to eat it. Every now and then, they will but many times, they try to eat it with their chins, bellies, fins etc
A Sonar doesn't have to move fast to create the vibrations that attract fish. They'll vibrate on a steady retrieve, jig or troll.
Walleyes don't move fast when they feed but man do they move when they have a couple treble hooks burried in them at 40 miles an hour !
Just my opinion......I could be wrong !
Gamma, what weight rods are you talking about? 9ft rod light action? moderate? i take it you could land a big walleye? would you recommend this kind of set up for pike fishing?.....obviously a little heavier. I like the idea of going lighter and longer rod for pike. i use 30lb fireline on a 7 foot rod now. what lb fireline you think i could get away with and still land big pike? lots of good info gamma.
Pike.
The rods I use and have been using since the mid 80's are specialty rods designed for crappie fishing. They were made originally by Loomis for Cabelas and then by companies in Japan, Korea and Taiwan. Unfortunately, Cabelas stopped carrying them about 4 years ago so to find one these days, is like finding the holy grail but I'm hoping that Dark Cloud and his rod building expertise will be able to reproduce them in the near future !
My main rods are 9 foot Cabelas CS 900 Crappie System rods. I also have them in 10, 11 & 12 foot models.
They were originally designed for tournament crappie fishermen in the Southern USA where trolling jigs and smaller baits is very popular and productive.
The rods have a micro tip of solid carbon graphite which makes up the last 20 to 24 inches of the rod. The rest of the rod is IM-6 Graphite and on a few models, IM-6 with Kevlar weave.
They have a super stiff backbone that tapers down to the tip that's no bigger than most micro ice rods. 2/64ths.........They are built with high frame "Match Guides" which taper down to single foot micro guides like you'd find on a high end Thorne Brothers ice rod. This makes the rod as light as most 5/15 to 6 ft ultra light rods...sometimes lighter ! With the stiff butt section, it allows you to muscle fish incredibly easy considering it's only rated for 2 to 8 lb line.
Most people when they hear that someone is using rods that are 9 to 12 feet, their first thought is that it's a noodle rod or a super slow action rod. These rods are just the opposite. Super fast tip action with a long, strong butt section ! They're hard to describe any better unless you have one in your hand !
Like I said, I fish primarily with the 9 foot models using 4 lb Fireline and have landed everything from bluegills to 38 pound carp ! (actually, the carp was landed on 6 lb Bagely Silver Thread long before Fireline hit the market !)
The micro tip detects strikes long before you'd ever see or feel them with a standard rod. There's no rearing back to set the hook ! Most times, when using Fireline, the fish hook themselves do to the lack of line stretch and the fact that they didn't feel any resistance from the rod tip. Most times, just lifting the rod tip a few inches is enough to bury the hook in their jaws !
If I'm targeting more aggressive fish, sometimes, I'll switch to 6 lb Fireline but that's a rarity !
Even the smallmouths on Oneida Lake get whooped quicky with this rod/line combo. You get much more control with the long rods !
One of the main benefits and reason why I really like this set up is that you can pick up slack line off the water so much faster ! If you're a line watcher and you're using a 6 to 7 foot rod, you need to drop the tip, reel in slack and set the hook. Sometimes, it's too late and the fish is gone. With the long rod, raise the tip and for the most part, the hook is set !
I've also found that after years of using this rig, I have far few fish that get hooked deeply in the throat. The reaction time and strike detection time is so much faster that the fish are nearly all hooked in the mouth !
Did I mention casting distance ? It's out of sight !
OK...on to your question as to if I'd recommend a set up like this for pike fishing. The answer is Yes & No ! Yes ! Some of the newer "Crappie Rods" made by several companies these days are rated for much heavier lines and double as great catfish or pike rods ! Dark Cloud mentioned "Walley Marshall" rods at Bass Pro. They make several rods that would be suitable for pike fishing even thought they're designated for crappies ! B&M, Pinnacle, Quantum, and other companies make similar rods with the small tip section and what they refer to as a "Fighting Butt" Unfortunately, we don't get too much to choose from up here in New York as Crappie fishing isn't seen or recognized as a way of life like it is in the Southland ! Not all is lost though as you can go on line and check some of the "Specialty" Crappie fishing sites or go to GrizzlyJig.com to see a huge catalog of these types of rods ! It's where I'll buy my replacements if Dark Cloud can't spin me up some new rods.
On the NO end, I wouldn't recommend using this type of set up when tossing extremely heavy baits ! But, many of the specialty crappie rods you'll find at Grizzly Jig come with 2 or 3 tip section which allow you to fish heavier baits and fish in heavy cover ! They also sell replacement tips for most of the rods they sell and they're very reasonable ! You'll definitely be able to use much lighter line (especially Fireline) and with that, get better action from your lures plus the ability to use lighter baits and cast them much further than if using mono.
It's one of those things that you have to try ! It's a system that you have to get adjusted to but the rewards are immense ! If you're ever in the Oneida Lake area and want to see my set ups, feel free to contact me and I'll meet up with you !
