Fish Sniffer On Demand Digital Edition Issue 3820 Sept 13-27 | Page 30

28 Sept 13-27, 2019 Fantastic Fiberglass - Calstar’s T608 Baja Beast Offshore Rod Series GOLF CLUB HANDLE! G raphite and glass reinforced blank for strength and durability. Fast tapered actions with outstanding fighting power. Tungsten Carbide tip top to stop any line grooving problems. Superior gunsmoke guides with double lock aluminum reel seat on heavy models. AFTCO rollers on trolling model. New golf grip composite material is used on handles for excellent gripping comforts. Extra long foregrip on rail rod models. Metallic thread double wrapped guides. Hand-drawn art greatly enhances eye catching in the store. 15 models to choose from. The most value-packed offshore rods on the market. DEALER INQUIRIES ARE WELCOME WWW.AMERICANPREMIERCORP.COM Tel: (909) 923-7070 E GLS1 very fisherman knows that counter rotation is the secret to filling a spinning reel without introducing line twists. It is the fisherman’s enemy which causes un- wanted loops and tangles that decrease casting distance. Our revolutionary line winding system with its rotating carriage automatically eliminates twists by turning the line spool as the line is transferred to the spinning reel rotor spool. It works exception- ally well with both spinning and casting reels. With bushings that come with it, this tool holds flat spools, 1/4 lb. spools and 2 1/2” wide 1/2 lb spools in perfect alignment with the reel. This amazing tool won THE BEST FISHING ACCESSORY AWARD IN NEW PRODUCT CASE AT ICAST 2012 and received enormous industry praise. It is so innovative that it is patented by USPTO, Patent No: US 8,925,855. B1. LINE WINDING SYSTEM ICAST SHOW WINNER ZERO LINE TWIST! BBX70 THE ULTIMATE if the water gets a little choppy, a fast tipped graphite rod will make a bait jump too sharplyand appear unnatural. A flexy fiberglass rod would smooth the action. Many people chose to use a steelhead rod to mooch with, and that turned out to be problematic. A rod that was designed to toss 1/4-1/2 oz. sinkers really isn’t the right tool to hang 4-8 oz. mooching weights from. Steelhead rods are also a little fragile to be banging around in a party boat setting. There had to be a better solution. I was working at a whiz-bang tackle shop at the time along with some of the finest minds in local fishing. We agreed that the rod had to be 100% fiber- glass, not graphite or graphite composite. In mooching, sensi- tivity is of minor importance as the rod is in a rod holder and one isn’t feeling for a bite. Bucking the trend for faster and faster tapered rods MS there wasn’t really a great rod on the market for mooching. You see, in mooching, you couldn’t have a rod that was too stiff in the tip, as when a salmon is playing with your bait, too stiff of a rod could discourage a salmon from taking your bait deep enough for you to hook it. Also, s we are walking down the path of fiberglass rods, I have been ssked, “Do you have any favorites?” Of course I do! First, a little background. Back in the days of yore, when mooching for salmon first started to get popular, A VOL.38 • ISS. 20 eason S n o m l a S Is Here! 15’ to 19’ Welded Windshield Boats with more and more power in the butt, we opted for a moderate action bend. A relatively softer rod by Steve doesn’t pull “Hippo”Lau hooks from a thrashing salmon’s soft mouth. Of course, there had to be enough power to handle the mooching weights and a good sized fish. We were asking a lot from a blank, but we had a feeling if anyone could make the dream come true, it would be Leon Todd, the design genius at Calstar rods. If I remember correctly, the design of the blank was based on Calstar’s own T198 blank. This blank is totally a SoCal long range type design; it was eight feet of a powerful butt section tapering to a light tip. It was too powerful for salmon mooching, more suited to tuna and yellowtail fishing, really, but it was a start. We asked for a more powerful, yet still light tip, far less oomph in the butt, and a more noted moderate action. It took Todd three tries before coming up with the T608, but when we unpackaged the blank for the first time, we knew we had it right. It just felt perfect. As custom rod makers, we not only marveled at the blank, but our minds were going 100 miles per hour thinking of other things we could build with his blank. For us, a good blank allows you to take something off the tip, or the butt, or both tip and butt to create a rod that is suitable for other purposes. This blank, at eight feet long, offered many, many possibilities. As a favor to us, and since it was our design, we ask Todd if we could have the exclusive distribution/sales of this blank for one year before he released it for public sale. This he graciously agreed to, and needless to say, we sold ots of blanks. Next time: what can you do with a T608? FISH SNIFFER COUNTRY New Easy Rider Sportfishing Departures from Berkeley Marina 3712 Hand built in Fairfield, CA. Since 1947. A SMALL FISHING BOAT INLAND MARINE CHICO POWER EQUIPMENT COOS BAY MARINE Sacramento, CA Antioch, CA Chico, CA Coos Bay, OR (916) 737-2628 (925) 757-1714 (530) 893-3030 (541) 888-2535 POWER SPORTS MARINE SALINAS VALLEY MARINE HILLSIDE POWERSPORTS Portland, OR Salinas, CA Lakeport, CA (503) 206-7490 (831) 443-1616 (707) 263-9000 3720 www.klamathboats.com N ow B ookiNg SALMoN, HALiBUT, BASS LiVE BAiT TRiPS Rock & Ling Cod and Sturgeon Reservations & Information (707)422-2050 captainjgallia@neweasyrider.com www.neweasyrider.com