Common Questions & Answers

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With sturgeon season allways just around the corner in the Bay Area, I thought I would spend a little time on choosing the ideal blank for fishing for them. The particular type of rod that I am referring to is one to be used from a private, charter or open party boat. This is not really the type of rod to be used for bank or shore fishing for sturgeon, I will cover this type of rod at a later date. We will be talking about rods in the 20-40# test line range, although many people like to use either lighter or heavier rods than these, this covers the majority of the fisherman. Rod lengths are typically in the range of 7 to 8 foot, again there are exceptions to these, both shorter and longer, but this range is the most popular.

When choosing a length of rod, you must consider maneuverability, both when you have a fish away from the boat, and when it is up close. A longer rod will allow you to keep a line out of the motors on a boat , but also will make it more difficult to get a fish close to the boat for netting or snaring. The opposite is true for the shorter rod, so these are some of the things to consider, primarily a concern when fishing from a small boat.

The main considerations when choosing sturgeon rod after deciding the length is that it have a light sensitive tip, for seeing that sometimes nearly imperceptible bite, a strong midsection for the ability to set the hook, and finally a butt with enough power to land a large sturgeon easily. Blanks for these rods can be of fiberglass, graphite or a glass graphite composite. Many people prefer the all fiberglass blanks as this material does not have as high of modulus (stiffness) as the graphite rods, this gives them a softer tip for seeing that subtle bite.

This sensitivity is also available in graphite composite (hybrid) blanks that use fiberglass tips blended into graphite butts. The graphite in the butt gives you a lighter but stiffer material for that extra power needed for whipping that big brute, and also reduces the weight of the rod over the thicker heavier fiberglass butt. Hybrid blanks that utilize full length graphite and fiberglass fibers can also be used quite successfully, but will require a little closer concentration to see those almost impossible to see bait pickups. All of these blanks with graphite butts have the ability to quickly set the hook with more than sufficient power and little effort.

Here in Northern California the premier blank manufacturers for these rods are; Cal Star, G. Loomis, Lamiglas, Seeker, St. Croix, Shakespeare, Truline and many others. The first four are the primary blanks used on custom rods for this type of fishery.

We've decided on the type of rod we want and now we need to put it all together. Starting at the butt, we should be in the neighborhood of 12 to 14 inches from the bottom of the butt cap to the bottom of the reelseat, a little shorter or longer is fine if that is what you desire. The most common grip material is Hypalon foam, which holds up well, is comfortable, inexpensive, and relatively easy to install. It comes in 5 colors, black, brown, blue, green and red. In the most common sizes it comes either straight or tapered.

Cork rings glued up into a handle is probably preferred by many, but the wine cork market has driven up the price and lowered the quality of the available rings. This along with the difficulty of shaping (its hard to do well by hand without a lathe) puts them a distant second.

The third most common type of grip material is EVA foam, which is called by many trade names such as Mooseskin or Mouseskin among others. This is easily machinable, but has a strong tendency to take a set when placed into a rod holder or other hard object. These markings tend to be somewhat permanent.

Fourth in our choices is a cork tape handle with no reelseat being used, just utilizing the clamp on the reel for securing the same. This is obviously the least expensive way of making a handle assembly and also the fastest. These are typically found on rods called the "Deckhand Series" when looking at factory rods.

Moving along up the rod to the reelseat, we have quite a few choices. You can choose a standard reelseat like a Fuji graphite, with or without a trigger in various finishes including gold plating. Also available are the more expensive machined anodized aluminum seats from Perfection or AFTCO. A lesser grade of machined aluminum seat is also available from Lakeland, along with probably the last chrome plated brass seats being manufactured today. The fore grip for this type of rod can be any material of your choice. Lengths from 2 inches to whatever can be used, the most popular range being from 6 to 12 inches.

The choices for guides is varied, but could be narrowed down to these few; Perfection wire boat guides, available in bright or black. I do not recommend the braced guides as they stiffen the action too much and they allow the blank to flex underneath them while they do not, causing excessive cracking of the guide wraps.The next choice would be the Fuji series of guides with either Hardloy or Silicon Carbide inserts. Many models of frames are available along with many frame finishes. There is a considerable difference in price between these two rings, with the Hardloy series costing in the range of $10.00 to $20.00 SIC models being 3 to 5 times more expensive. Stay away from the larger and heavier boat models as the tend to weight down or soften the action. Pac Bay also has guides that can be used successfully. Another choice that is becoming more popular are the AFTCO Light series of roller guides. These have a graphite composite frame with titanium rollers and line guards. They are rated for lines from 2# to 30# and cost in the $40.00 to $60.00 range for a set. These guides work and cast well for sturgeon rods.

For tip tops on this rod, you can match the guide model you are using or go up to a heavy duty style, SIC or Carballoy.

If I was building the ultimate sturgeon rod for myself, I would choose the following; Cal Star blank in either a T 196-7 (10 -25 #), T 270 (12-30#) or T 870 (15-40#) in fiberglass, or GF 700XL (10-25#)in a hybrid blank. A 12" Hypalon rear grip, Fuji Heavy Duty reel seat in the appropriate size, 10" Hypalon fore grip, Fuji heavy duty casting guides (BNLG-H) and a Fuji heavy duty boat tip (BULT). Double wrap this rod in the color of your choice and cover with a Hi - Build finish and you will have a rod that will do everything you need it to at a reasonable cost.

NOTE:Triple wrapping is not necessary but is considered to be essential by many rod builders.