Choosing a Saltwater rod/reelsetup

[evergrnstatefly]

Great site here!
I live and fish in the great Pacific Northwest. I am looking at buying a solid setup for Salmon, Steelhead, Rockfish etc...
I am looking at Redington mainly due to decent price and quaility from what I have read and heard first hand from fellow anglers.

My main question is how much rod and reel do I need for Saltwater action here in the Northwest, Salmon, Black rockfish etc...?
any suggestions(mainly interms of the Redington RS11 rod and reels, in either a 7/8 wt, or 9/10 wt.
I am not sure if 9/10 is overkill but I would like the added fighting ability of the rod...
any suggestions would be great!
thank you!

[rel]

Check you PM's. Ron

[Conveyor Man]

I started saltwater fishing with a Sage 7 weight. It was fine for fighting 95% of the fish I caught. But I now use a Redington 10 weight for most salt water fishing. It does help fighting bigger fish but maybe more importantly it can punch bigger flies into the wind.

[sage fly guy]

I would hold off on all Redington purchases for the time being. Sage is in the process of buying the company. I would see how all that plays out before buying anything with a Redington label on it.

[H2O]

Where did you get that info about Redington/Sage? Is that fairly reliable info?

[sage fly guy]

Of course it is, I reported it.

[H2O]

Hmm...

Are they still going to produce product under the Redington name?

[Power-Surf]

I was under the impression that Redington had been purchased by Orvis years ago and that they were a division of Orvis. I worked in the computer field for years before becoming a full time rod maker, and Orvis in Manchester, VT was a client and we put in all the new equipment in the Redington factory in FLA. when Orvis purchased them.

[masssalt]

From what I have heard, all of this is true. Redington was bought by Orvis, then Orvis sold it back, and now Sage is buying the rods and reels. Current Redington management is keeping the soft goods in Florida, everything else is moving to Washington.

There is a lot more industry consolidation being rumored for this year, but to my knowledge, the rest are just rumors at present.

[H2O]

Just got off the phone with Redington my contact there said things were still in the "talking," phase, which of course means it is happening. Do you think that Lefty going to TFO and the relative recent success of TFO has Sage gunning for a higher quality entry-level rod than their DS2(DumbSh**) and LE series? Those rods suck for that kind of money! Don't get me wrong, I love my Sages, but we got a demo Lefty's series TFO in and that rod is a CANNON. Are all Redingtons made in the US? That is the one downside to TFO, the fact that they are made in Korea.

[sage fly guy]

It's basically a done deal. Sage's one caveat in aquiring Redington, was no Jim Murphy. I heard he is going to continue with the clothing/gear line of Redington.

All of Sage's rods are made in the USA.

Redington's used to be, I believe up until a year or two ago they used AMTEK as their blank supplier. They are located right on Cape Cod. Now many are made overseas, including the NTIQ which is not rolled in the states.

Orvis did own Redington, but Redington wanted to go solo again. The stipulation in Redington getting back their company was they could no longer make/distribute the AL/LA series, which absolutely killed Orvis' reel's.


As far as I know.

[nwflyfisher]

All this discussion of the trials and tribulations of Redington may be interesting to read, but does nothing to answer the questions you asked. So, to get back on topic:

1. If you plan on targeting Chinook in the 20+ pound range, a 9 or 10 wt will be your weight of choice. I use a 10wt primarily to launch the heavy shooting heads while fishing from my boat, but secondarily to get some backbone strength.

2. If you plan on targeting Coho, you're looking at 10-20 lbs. An 8 or 9 wt will get the job done. Here I opt for an 8wt.

3. Chum average about 10-15lbs; that same 8 or 9 wt will do the job. In my case, the same 8wt setup I use on Coho.

4. If you're looking at routinely fishing for the resident Coho in Puget Sound as well as targeting searrun cutthroat trout, a 7wt is generally accepted as the best compromise choice since you'll occassionally lay into a resident blackmouth in the 5-7 lb range. I personally use a 6wt for this fishery.

5. If you just plan on only targeting searrun cutts, go with a 6-wt. since it will help fight casting into the omnipresent wind out along the beaches of the Sound.

If you are looking for one setup to do it all, I suggest the best all around compromise choice would be an 8 wt. with a 9wt a close second. Unless, of course, you only intend to make excursions to Neah Bay to fish for your salmon in which case you might elect to go with a 9 or 10 wt.

And, to get back off topic, I thought Redington rod blanks were made by Creative Composites in New Zealand and then shipped to Korea for fit and finish, then imported into the U.S. Could be wrong, of course.

Good fishing, all.

[flycaster]

Hi guys from the UK

Very interesting all this stuff about Redington/Sage. I thought that the early Redington rods were, in the main, very good and when they brought out the DFR I was very impressed so I bought one. The one I bought was the limited edition 2000 with the posh Ari t' Hart reel seat, and guess what, it was a different rod/blank so I sent it back, the dealer having agreed that yes it is a differnt blank from the ordinary DFR? Some time later I bought another DFR (the ordinary one) and guess what, yes that's correct it was different again, so I got rid of it.

My understanding is that Redington are shifting their blank manufacturers on a fairly regular basis and as a result the quality and spec seems to vary. Some of the early blanks, I understand, were made in New Zealand by Composite Developments and these were very good. I also understand that production was later shifted to the pacific islands with the imports to the US going through NZ. Where they are made now I don't know but I doubt it is in the US.

I am suprised that Sage are buying Redington - perhaps they what to eliminate the lifetime guarantee - something which I believe has done more to distort the market and cause confusion than anything else in recent times. Whoever heard of a 'lifetime guarantee' on any other sports goods? It's got to be paid for somewhere and I believe it is in a higher price and rods designed not to break rather than deliver top performance.

Best wishes to all.

Pete

[sage fly guy]

Back to the original question, forgot there was one.

I would choose the 9 weight. I believe it to be the most versatile size rod available.

As far as reels, I can recommend 2 that I use, the Valentine PL-9 or Old Florida, maybe a 6SA.

[Conveyor Man]

To get entirely off the subject for a second.

Interesting point about life time guarantee “rods designed not to break rather than deliver top performance” That very well could be but the concept of a life time guarantee is a bit of an illusion. If you had a life time guarantee on a fiberglass rod you bought in the 70’s it would be irrelevant now. My 70’s fiberglass rod doesn’t stand much chance of breaking in a rod tube in the basement and 10 years from now if one of my current rods break it will probably be my excuse to buy a more advanced rod. But the durability vs. performance issue is very interesting.

[flycaster]

Yes, conveyor man I agree with what you say. Who wants to use the same rod for the next twenty years or more anyhow?

In my view, which is of course open to correction or argument, the 'lifetime guarantee' thing was no more than a cynical marketing ploy to gain market shareand the sooner we ger back to a more normal situation the better as far as I am concerned. The 'lifetime guarantee' has nocked the second hand market for six anyhow - you can't give 'em away these days!

Cheers guys.

[H2O]

How can you not go for a lifetime free of worry for something you use a lot? Man, I love that fact that I know a company will stand behind a rod no matter what happens to it. I've shut them in car doors and windows, had dogs and cats eat them, little kids and dogs land on them, little kids pick them up and beat hard objects, weighted flies ding them, etc.,etc.,etc. I've broken one of my Sages 7X. It is not that I don't take care of them, sh*t happens! As for the quality I completely disagree. I love the new SLTs but the RPL,RPL+, SP and LL will always be in my arsenal and in my hands b/c they just fit certain situations better. That holds true for the G-series and IM6's as well. As far as lower-end rods, yes, I can see where they might be sacrificing performance, but look at what TFO is doing with their new rods! With a lifetime warranty as well! I think the larger rod-makers are about to start making some big changes. As far as key rods(4,5,8,10) for me, I will stick with the higher-end Sage(see flycaster's last post about earning market share)b/c I KNOW they fish well and they will fix-it/send me a new one if there are ANY problems!

[Mark Cahill]

I still use my '70s vintage fiberglass rods on occassion. I still think nothing fights a fish like fiberglass.

[evergrnstatefly]

I appreciate your insight!
I have chosen a rod and reel Combo.
a 9wt, Temple Fork 9' matched with a RS2 9/10 and WFF Saltwater S/A line.
THanks again for all of your input!