I am looking to buy a new spoon rod after my other one shattered. It is between two 10' Lamiglass Certified Pros. Herzog's X 10 MTC: med/mag, 8-17lb; and the "float" X 10 MHC: med/heavy, 10-20lb.

I am looking for a rod that will handle any trophy rivers, OP and B.C inclusive, for spoons as well as drift fishing heavy leads and pink-worms, rags, Spin-N-Glos, ect. Basically an all-around, non-float, trophy rod.

Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks,

Jake

i built a rod on the same blank as the X10MTC and don't really care for it. it doesn't load up well for making long casts and the taper is way too fast. somebody else on this board described it as "a q-tip sticking out the end of a piece of conduit".

i think you'll be happier with the 10-20 rated rod. in reality, it'll have the lighter action of the two choices.

I took some spoon dangler's advice and built on Lami's XMG EXC10M blank with some high end components. He was right (but he shouldn't let it go to his head),

fb

+10,000

Fish on...

Todd

Lami 10' XMG50, Batson 10'6" XST1264 or Cabela's 10' Fish Eagle 2. All three are rated at 8#-15/17#, and will handle steelhead to 30 pounds no problem.

Good luck.

i have a zog spoon rod that should not even be considered a big steelhead pole . now maybe it fishes spoons well. gut when any fish i get into over the 15# class i feel the rod is inferrior. feels way to soft, not enough back bone. yes rvr called it fair on the FE2 10' if you can find it in the XML get it!!! a trully awesome stick. actually both recomendations are perfect.

Brewer,
I used to use the X10 MTC 8-17# for all my fall king bobber fishin and land 30 to 35# hump kings like it was nothin with that rod,hard to beleive a 15# steelie would max out that rod.SH316 I would think that 10-20# float rod would be over kill for a spoon rod.That's the rod I use now for float fishin fall king's.Good luck,
STRIKE ZONE

For on the cheap, I'll back rvrfister w/ the Cabelas product. I've used the old green Fish Eagle 10' baitcaster & for the $$ its a good rod, mine was the medium & rated 8-15. Joe might be talking up the heavy 10-20 rod. Mine was tip-heavy, & I dumped it. But knowing what I do now I would counterweight it & stick a Batson metal fighting butt on it. Good to go then.

A plus w/ that one is if you get & don't care for it, you can return it to Cabelas no Q's asked

I fish the Rainshadow XST 1264 but never have tossed spoons w/ it, use it as my big gun float rod. Know some guys who use that rod for everything.

As for the Lamiglas XMG 50, I like the super-fast feel & overall lightness of them. & now that they have the breakage issue dealt with, might be the rod to beat in this match-up.


I have yet to fish one, but am thinking of having an XMG 50 9'6" LL made up as a light drift rod.


That or you can drop the big bucks on a Sage CT 396 or 3106.......




c/22

10' XML 8-15 from cabelas has been good to me soo far, had the green 10' FE2 8-15 and tip broke, took it back and got credit to use towards XML no questions asked.

Havent landed any big ones on the XML, but the FE2 worked well for handling the big boys(salmon and steelhead).

I think the line you use makes a difference in what the ideal rod is. I don't like to combine real fast rods and braid. I think it kills the lure's action in slow water/ pockets. Probably doesn't matter much for drift fishing, but does for hardware. You get hook-straightening issues too. I like braided line with spoons for the extra casting distance and use older Lami's with a more moderate action. Not as much power for big fish, but I've taken several in the low 20's and it's not a big deal unless I'm in a difficult spot/current.

When chasing the big guys with spoons, my X10 MTC 8-17 has never let me down. A light rod with a sensitive tip and serious power at the handle works great for the spoon. The new XMG's are beginning to impress as well!

That was a killer rvrcstm built 1144 eh KK ? Too bad the other dip$hit's name you mentioned lost it out of the back of Brood's boat while drunken saltwater fishing last year...

Rainshadow IST1264 or IST1144. I build and fish a lot of rods and for spoon fishing, you can't go wrong with either one of these. I have an IST1144 on the wrap machine right now, gonna be SWEEEEET. If money is tight, i'll give another vote to The Cabela's fish eagle 2. I had the 10-20 10' and caught a lot of nice fish on it, including kings to 30+ and steelies near 20. Stop buying lami's years ago, but i still have a couple lyin around, but there not spoon rods so can't give any advice there. Good luck.

i too have a custom 1144 ready to go for the brewer hunt for big fish. i know the cabelas XML was in the early days was built in the loomis plant. i love my 10" xml.

i also balance my rods too. i cut the butt off the cork, put a reel in the reel seat and start stuffing 5/8 or 3/4 oz bank sinkers inside the butt blank. i keep stuffing untill and checking the balance untill the intire rod balances into my hand... i then pull the sinkers out, mix up some epoxy and dip and stuff the sinkers back inside the rod... glue a new butt cap on and stand the rod upright for several hours. it's amasizing how a 10'+ rod fishes when you balance the top length out of the rod. sometimes it takes 1.5ozs to balance a rod, but it sure works awesome.

Ive heard rumor of an XST1144 from Batson. If true, it will be on the "best spoon rod" thread of 2011.

As I recall it was a decent buzzbomb rod also.

But I was sort of drunk .

I am no spoon expert, but I do know Herzog uses a Dave Vedder 10-20 for a lot of his spoon fishing. I hear its also a decent float rod. Just saying . . .

All my friends ask me to return their broken rods. Sorry. I break enough on my own.I think I'm already on double secret probation.

I would add a Sage 296 to the arsenal if the budget allows. Great all around rod with some real backbone. Plenty of rod to land any steelhead. The 290 is light, but still very capable.

st croix 9'6" 8-17 is a decent spoon rod when using briad. its a tad stiff for my liking when fishing in slower water and using lighter spoons.

my favorite spoon rod was one of the new loomis steelhead series rods, 9'2" 8-12. i mainly fished the green and snoq at the time so it fit the bill perfectly. you could feel a fish think about hitting your spoon with that rod and 30lb braid.

myself i like shorter rods in the 9' range for throwing hardware and plan on picking up a 9'2" 8-15xmg for my hardware rod.