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Salmon River fly rods

Doubletaper

Just finished a River Runs Through it!
Thinking about buying a 10, 7wgt. for the Salmon River for a trip there in November for steelhead. would this rod be adequate? Any other rod selection would be appreciated. Hope to be nymphing and maybe swinging a few streamers. Thanks
 
A 10ft 7wt is great for indicator nymphing for steelhead imo. Also good for swinging flies, though a slightly longer switch rod would give you better control over the swing in higher water. If you want to do the tight line nymphing bit, you might consider a longer rod too (I don't do this on the SR, so maybe someone can chime in whether this is good or bad advice). Longer rods are great for EU nymphing though, which I've done a lot.

Also consider where you want to fish. Mid-late Novermber, I wouldn't count on a lot of room for swinging flies in some parts of the river, though it's possible. Last year was insane in some places (e.g. the LFZ).
 
I have used a 9ft 8wt for years. For me, switch rods and spey rods are a pain in the butt on the Salmon because of the river size and trees along the bank. I dont mean just the actual casting either. I like to walk and the long rods are a pain when going to a spot. I think an eight or nine weight might have a little more back bone for salmon. I use my 8wt for steelhead also.
 
I like a 10' 7 wt for steelies. I think the extra foot helps control the fly. Switch/spey is another matter so if you want to go that route you will need a longer rod. However, you can develop a single handed spey cast with a regular rod first. For the basic nymph, egg, streamer routine I like a 10' 7 wt rod.

Salmon are another matter and an 8 wt or 9 wt are useful. In a perfect world given time and space a salmon could be landed with a 7 wt rod. However, the Salmon R is not a perfect world and you will need more backbone to control a salmon in all the crowds that accompany salmon season.
 
A 10/7 will be fine for what your looking to do. As suggested you may want to look at switch rods for swinging.
 
agree with everyone but will however add that the extended butt section of switch rods is a huge bonus when fighting the big boys i really cant see myself going back to a single hander for the SR
 
In my opinion, if your going to fish one rod on the SR and want to have the ability to nymph and swing, an 11'6" 7wt or 8wt switch rod is the way to go. Line it with Rio's Switch line on the high side (7/8 for 7wt, 8/9 for 8wt). This line allows you to indicator fish, or you can throw 10' polyleaders when it's time to swing. With all the trees and shrubs, using a two hand rod eliminates the frustration as you are not back casting, rather using a spey type cast, or for nymphing, an advance roll cast where your using the water to load the rod. You can also cover a ton more water and cast further with a two hand rod for both styles of fishing. Go two hand, you won't regret it.

If I could only use one rod on SR to do it all, it would be my Sage TCX 11'9" 8wt switch rod. I can nymph/egg fish with it, and swing it all day long. It'll handle any fish that river has to throw at it.

Like sneelhead, I started with a single hander. I went to two hand rods back in 2008 and have never looked back.
 
"Narrow" river "full of bank shrubbery" is all the MORE reason to use the Switch/Spey rods. I mean, thats why these long sticks are so popular. Unless you're fishing dries, one should never false cast. Learn the single spey.

Also, do you have an aversion to breaking your rod down to walk to a new spot? lol

I have used a 9ft 8wt for years. For me, switch rods and spey rods are a pain in the butt on the Salmon because of the river size and trees along the bank. I dont mean just the actual casting either. I like to walk and the long rods are a pain when going to a spot. I think an eight or nine weight might have a little more back bone for salmon. I use my 8wt for steelhead also.
 
My switch rod pain in the neck for me. I can single spey with a 9ft 8 wt. I don't false cast. You don't need to make a long cast even if you are swinging flies. I just high stick nymph, Or (Euro nymphing if you started fishing nymphs after the year 2000.) I don't just fish DSR or the fly zone, I like to fish the tribs and channels. I don't plant myself in one spot all day and breaking down the rod every time I working my way down stream is a waste of time. It sounded like the poster didn't have any rods for steelhead so my recommendation was a single hander that can be used in a variety of situations.
 
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[SUP][/SUP]
My switch rod pain in the neck for me. I can single spey with a 9ft 8 wt. I don't false cast. You don't need to make a long cast even if you are swinging flies. I just high stick nymph, Or (Euro nymphing if you started fishing nymphs after the year 2000.) I don't just fish DSR or the fly zone, I like to fish the tribs and channels. I don't plant myself in one spot all day and breaking down the rod every time I working my way down stream is a waste of time. It sounded like the poster didn't have any rods for steelhead so my recommendation was a single hander that can be used in a variety of situations.

Thanks for all the input,10'7wgt. helios2 will be my ticket
 
Thanks for all the input,10'7wgt. helios2 will be my ticket

While a year or so from now I'll be saying "I told you so" when you buy a two-hand rod, you will be happy with your decision, especially that you are going with a 10' rod. Make sure you get a salmon/steelhead taper line. It really makes a difference over a standard flyline for roll casting. Equally as important as the rod is a reel with a smooth and strong drag. The Orvis mirage and hydros reels are my go to up there.

The bottom line is that you're getting out and fishing and if all goes well, will hook into a few chromers which will put a smile on your face that'll last for days. 9' 2x flouro leader, 2x & 3x flouro tippet, bb size split shot, a pack of 1' airlock indicators and a shitload of size 10 egg patterns in a bunch of different colors and you'll be good to go. They are feeding on eggs, eggs and more eggs in November. Catching chrome on a streamer is a bonus in November.

Keep asking questions. There are a number of SR steelhead junkies on this board.......me being one of them.
 
While a year or so from now I'll be saying "I told you so" when you buy a two-hand rod, you will be happy with your decision, especially that you are going with a 10' rod. Make sure you get a salmon/steelhead taper line. It really makes a difference over a standard flyline for roll casting. Equally as important as the rod is a reel with a smooth and strong drag. The Orvis mirage and hydros reels are my go to up there.

The bottom line is that you're getting out and fishing and if all goes well, will hook into a few chromers which will put a smile on your face that'll last for days. 9' 2x flouro leader, 2x & 3x flouro tippet, bb size split shot, a pack of 1' airlock indicators and a shitload of size 10 egg patterns in a bunch of different colors and you'll be good to go. They are feeding on eggs, eggs and more eggs in November. Catching chrome on a streamer is a bonus in November.

Keep asking questions. There are a number of SR steelhead junkies on this board.......me being one of them.

Beautiful fall salmon - where from?

Great picture.
 
great choice!- my favorite steelhead egg tossing / nymph rod is the 10' 7wt Helios 1... the tip just broke on mine so I hope its fixed just as the goon squads and bowling for salmon are ending up there
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Thanks for all the input,10'7wgt. helios2 will be my ticket
 
Ordered the new Pulse from Sage a couple a weeks ago for my kids B-days. A pair of 10' #7,s.

I think this rods action will be perfect for them lobbing indy's on the Salmon.
 
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a 10' 7wt? Umm now you have me starting to think I need one of these. If my wife gets pissed, its your fault.
 
a 10' 7wt? Umm now you have me starting to think I need one of these. If my wife gets pissed, its your fault.

Since my last post I thought about the 10' 7wgt. and the majority of the responses was to go with the switch rod. So today I ordered a 11' 7 wgt Orvis Helios 2 switch rod. Thanks for all of the feed back. Hope this rod is the ticket.
 
I hope you like it... if not you can sell it on here for 30% of what you paid for it and make another angler very happy...
Since my last post I thought about the 10' 7wgt. and the majority of the responses was to go with the switch rod. So today I ordered a 11' 7 wgt Orvis Helios 2 switch rod. Thanks for all of the feed back. Hope this rod is the ticket.
 
Everyone knows you only need a 9'6" ugly stick and a fly reel with mono on it for the salmon river.
 
The ugly stik has a nice action to it. Similar to the Loomis LP NRX. I perfer to spool 20lb yellow Stren as it allows me to see my nympth as i Euro Nymph my spot at the City Hole on the wall.
 
Fellas, the rod doesn't matter. It's all in the technique:

First ya need a good strong hook, like the kind they sell for tuna fishin. Then ya add a couple of egg sacks, doesn't really matter what color cause we're just after the scent. But make it three or four of em. In fact, let's call these yer "cast indicator". Next ya want to really whip yer line out across the river. You'll know it's a good cast if yer cast indicators fly off an hit the guy on the other side. Don't worry, the scent's still there. Now here comes the tricky part. Ya need to give a bit of a wrist snap and jig yer scented hook horizontally across the river. An don't be a pansy about it, there's nothing that a king likes more than the scent of escapin eggs, they'll go nuts for em.

Good luck fellas, I heard the silvers are runnin.
 
Fellas, the rod doesn't matter. It's all in the technique:

First ya need a good strong hook, like the kind they sell for tuna fishin. Then ya add a couple of egg sacks, doesn't really matter what color cause we're just after the scent. But make it three or four of em. In fact, let's call these yer "cast indicator". Next ya want to really whip yer line out across the river. You'll know it's a good cast if yer cast indicators fly off an hit the guy on the other side. Don't worry, the scent's still there. Now here comes the tricky part. Ya need to give a bit of a wrist snap and jig yer scented hook horizontally across the river. An don't be a pansy about it, there's nothing that a king likes more than the scent of escapin eggs, they'll go nuts for em.

Good luck fellas, I heard the silvers are runnin.

Ya' mean like this?
https://youtu.be/JY0krfP9btE
 
You made the right choice. Might I suggest the Rio switch line in 7/8 for the rod. It's the perfect line for indicator fishing. Add a 10' polyleader with some Maxima ultragreen and you are ready to swing streamers. I still haven't made it up to the river yet, waiting a few more weeks until more chrome start to show up.

Since my last post I thought about the 10' 7wgt. and the majority of the responses was to go with the switch rod. So today I ordered a 11' 7 wgt Orvis Helios 2 switch rod. Thanks for all of the feed back. Hope this rod is the ticket.
 
I can vouch for the RIO 7/8 switch line (@lynch). Its an absolute DREAM to chuck and duck with. A fat belly really makes mending VERY easy!
 
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