Rock fish/Ling Cod rod

I just saw that Lamiglas rod at Bi-Mart yesterday while chatting with BSteves on the phone about sturg fishing gear.  Still $75 and will probably be the unit I end up getting for both sturg and ling. 

My dad scored me a custom made 1973 11' surf rod a few years ago from a guy he grew up with.  His friend was going to haul it to GoodWill and donate it.  Dad said, donate it to me, so I can give it to my son (me ).   The rod is nice and light and works great in the surf, but the bonus is that it has a next to cherry Penn 209 mounted on it.  After I cleaned it up and got the 30+ years of dust off of it, it looks like it's only a few days old. 

I'll be pairing the Penn and most likely a Lamiglas Cascade Pro XT together.  I'll need to take your advice and look for a backup unit, too.

Nice! I would wait until the sale at Bi-Mart (If you can) to save some bucks.  I think it's pretty cool you scored that 209.  Any salt crud? You might think it's permanent- but use fine steel wool, and bam! Insta shine.  I just use a bio-degreaser on the plastic to be safe.  Anyway...cool.

  Looking foreward to cruising the low tide at night for giant spiders.

-Scott   

No corrosion.  It's purdeeee!

Alright, so I was thinking the Lamiglass Cascade Pro XT from Bi-Mart would be my primary sturgeon/ling/rock pole with my Penn 209 until I find a deal on more gear. 

Then today I wandered through our local Buy/Sell/Trade shop and found some items I thought I'd throw out there for comments/suggestions. 

They have a Lamiglass 6'6"  BFC 66 XH 30-80lb rod with a Penn 210 Highspeed ball bearing reel at a combined price of $89 obo. This rod feels about the same as the Ugly Stik Tiger I borrowed from BS the other day. 
 
The reel looks exactly like this E-Bay auction. http://cgi.ebay.com/VINTAGE-PENN-210-LEVELWIND-REEL_W0QQitemZ160317669090QQcmdZViewItemQQimsxZ20090223?IMSfp=TL090223132004r1101
 
They also have a Penn 310 GTI Highspeed ball bearing (4.3:1) on 2 piece surf rod.

They said I may be able to swap reels if I really wanted to.

That Lamiglas rod new goes for about $150.  I have to imagine that it's of better quality than an uglystick.  The newer versions of that reel sell for about $90.  If everything looks to be in good shape $89 seems like a good deal.

I guess I need to check out my local pawn shop. I'm guessing there might be a lot of stuff coming in these days.

Insayn, I'm guessing that the 300 series reel would be a better match with that XH rod. Either way, that does seem to be a good price, for a combo.

I just picked up a Penn 209 @ Joe's for $50 the other day and a Daiwa wilderness 8' rod today for $13 @ Outdoor Emporium.  What can I say, I'm cheap.  I wanted to get the Trevala, but my wife would've killed me.

Now I need to actually hit the salt...

Sounds like a nice deal.  I am wondering if that Lamiglass has a roller tip?  If I were you I would base the purchase on the quality of the Lamiglass rod, and the reel you pick is a bonus.  The question is how sensitive is the action at the tip for those sturgeon?  I also have an Ugly Stick Tiger, the Tiger is one tough mother. 
-Scott

A cold water sturgeon bite is on par with an small trout bite at best.  If I could have a rod with the backbone of a 30-50 lb line rated rod with sensitivity of the tip of a 1-4 lb line rated rod that's what I'd go with.

I've been thinking about adding something like this to my sturgeon rod.
http://www.easybite.net/

this one is designed for ice fishing with small weighted (1/2 oz) jigs, but it seems like the principle might work if you upscaled it a bit.

very cool find B.

Z

Both reels appear to be in really good shape, spin cleanly and don't show any corrosion.  The Lamiglass rod does not have a roller tip.   
I think I'll go in there tomorrow and haggle for the giggles of it and see how cheap I can score the rod and the 310 Gti reel. 

Then when the other rod goes on sale at Bi-Mart, I'll grab that one too.  It's got a really nice sensitive tip.  I can put my P 209 on that one, and have a back up on either sturgeon or lings.   

Thanks for your input!

A cold water sturgeon bite is on par with an small trout bite at best.  If I could have a rod with the backbone of a 30-50 lb line rated rod with sensitivity of the tip of a 1-4 lb line rated rod that's what I'd go with.

I've been thinking about adding something like this to my sturgeon rod.
http://www.easybite.net/

this one is designed for ice fishing with small weighted (1/2 oz) jigs, but it seems like the principle might work if you upscaled it a bit.

  What works for me,,, 10' ugly big water, take tip guide off, go to pawn shop.  Find a fiberglass rod with perfect tip action, cut it long, keep triming back till kit goes over  the solid glass tip of the ugly.     Usually end up with 18" to 2 ft of tip. Don't worry about it as it will be pointing strait at fish when hooked up. set in ballence , can see a crab chewing on it.

Have spent a lot of money in search of the perfect sturgie rod. 

Don't get caught up over thinking gators to much..  More often than not the amount of weight you need has more to do with the choice of rod than anything else.  My all around keeper sturgeon rod is a Lamiglass 7ft GC7XHC with a penn 320 loaded with 65lb high viz tuff line. I have used this rod for years everywhere from the estuary to the Willy/columbia.

  Agree on the weight  thing, depth and current,. Down in the south land of Oregon we can use light  lead. My standard is 2  oz, 4 oz in the umpqua if lots of grass and leaves in the current. Need more of a finesse rig here, getting one bite in three days is good fishing most of the time. Very seldom get a undersize fish. No competition  for the bait here, they are in no hurry.
  My  long whippy rigs would not work in the big water  with heavy current up north. mostly fish 3 to 15 ft here.   royg

For those who don't have the scratch for the GLoomis, take a look at the specs and find something similar in a different brand.

For example, Shimano has a few salmon/steelhead rods that fit a similar niche..

the Shimano CSCX79MHA Clarus at $80.
7'9'' 1 Pc.   Medium Heavy   Extra Fast   15 - 40lb   3/8 - 6oz   
 
or if you like something longer the Shimano CSC90H2A Clarus at $90
9'0'' 2 Pc.   Heavy   Medium Fast   10 - 30lb   1 - 6oz   

Berkeley Air IM-7 and a few other brands also have decent lower cost solutions.

CSC90H2A Clarus at $90
9'0'' 2 Pc.   Heavy   Medium Fast   10 - 30lb   1 - 6oz   have this rod and absolutely love it, have an abu 6500 c4 with #20 on it and let me tell you it will cast a 2.25oz dart darn near a mile!  If you want a 7 to 7.5 rod though look into the Ugly Stick custom series of rods or the Tigers and Tiger Lites