Thumper rod par deux

[Gotta Bite]

Yea, It's me again. I can get a great deal on a 7' one piece ugly stik casting rod. It's pretty stiff and from some of the responses to my earlier post thats what I want to look for. Would that work well as a thumper rod? I would run wire off of it so I would have to put on a twilly tip like I did my Dipsey rods. Do you have any brand or model reccomendations otherwise. I am somewhat frugal (cheap) so keep that in mind. Thanks guys.

[ray koziatek]

OK >GB. now ive been fishing a few years and reading just a few post over the years (12,237),now other than post about "thumper rods do work" ive maybe seen 5 post of getting the fish on the thumper..i suppose if you dont have riggers ,or boards,or dypsy,or copper and lead,then you might wanna get a thumper rig.if you fish alone it will(could) give you grief on every turn with riggers out if you have em .not to mention hooking a object on bottom and pulling your spread before you spool your new rig.after reading yourlead experience i just hate to see you get fusterated trying to set up another rig ....youfigure out what rod you want and reel and ill give you a s close a match as i have stacked in the basement ill even pay shipping all for free you cheap bas%%#@(frugal). i might even have a spool of power pro for you or some kind of line.Id be happy to help you out....

[Gray Fox]

We run our thumpers on 9'6 Heartlands. There pretty cheap, around 30 bucks and work great. I also have used the Daiwa Firewolf rods which are chaper yet. They work well and hold up nice. I still run them on occasion but they are now set up with 1000 ft. of Power pro so they can double as braid dipsys.

[Gotta Bite]

Frugal: Frech word for cheap bas%%#@(. Like most people today I try and stretch a buck.

Ray you are definitely one of the most active posters on this site and I'm sure you know your stuff by what I have read and seen The guide I went with swore by his thumper rod, but his boat was probably twice the width of mine, though which may be a factor. I have had some nasty tangles without a thumper and that was not fun, plus the fact I lost a ton of line and two out of three fish on my first triple last season. Maybe I can do without a Thumper afterall. I just wonder how I can judge the flashers action without it. My DR tells me speed at the ball but no telling how the flasher is moving down there. Just looking to put the odds in my favor.

I have been fortunate not to have any eqt. failures or have a salmon smoke a bearing in one of my cheaper cabela's or gander branded eqt. I do have two penn 310 downrigger set ups, though that I started with over 15 years ago. I never really dedicated alot time to trolling. I would fish a few hours get nothing and would fish for smallies. something that I knew how to catch. It all changed after going with a charter 3 years ago. I was hooked after that and since then have been adding rods, reels, new fishfinder, bigger boat, Depth Raider and hope to upgrade from my easi trolls to electric down riggers next season. All in due time I will get to the level I want to be at. Unfortunately, I live down here in Pa where the fishing is OK at best, at least in my area. I come up about 6 times a year, last year was more and hopefully with my boat slip on the little salmon, I will be up even more. I appreciate all the knowledge gained from this website. I think its a great tool and I have met a few lou members and can call on some if I have a question. I do appreciate the offer to send me some gear for free. I couldn't ask you do that, but I would be glad to pay you if you wanted to part with some of the fishing gear that I may need and you no longer use. I'll send you a PM. Sorry about the long post, but like most people I am trying to put more fish in my box or at least get more fish on the end of the line. All your feedback is put use at one time or another. Thanks guys.

[Rich D]

Chris,

Like was posted earlier the Heartland rod is a great rod for the Thumper rig. Cheap, and you can use it as a back up dipsey rod also. Yes to the twilli tip for wire. As far as getting tangled in the riggers, it won't happen unless you have motor problems and get swung around real tight. Rememebr you will be oout behind the boat 75-150' and down of course. By then you are running your rigger leads short, 10-20' max ususally. I have run it off my boat, 8.5' beam no problem, and have taken fish. It is just another tool to have in the arsenal. Do you need it, no. With the DR you have a good idea what the speeds are doing down there. If you want to add another rod, then I would save the $$$ and get a copper setup. Look for a used Tek 800 on ebay, or the Okuma 55l and get a 400-600' foot copper setup. These you can put out to the side on the boards. JMHO. If we get together this weekend, I will show you my setups. Good Luck.

Rich

[rustyrat]

I ran copper all weekend. I had to make 2 sharp turns and funged it up in the wire dipsys twice. I'll run my thumper from now on. I've caught a lot of kings on the thumper and never hung it in any other rig.

RR

[CBish]

'cause your cheap you may like my philosophy on twilli tips; that is – why cut a perfectly good tip off a new rod? Use it with the original tip until the wire ruins it, then put a twilli tip on it. (I have a pair of 10’ eagle claws with the original tip for 5 years now – still haven’t had to buy a new tip for it.)

This is a borrowed philosophy from a cheaper fisherman than I.

CC

[Gotta Bite]

CBish,

You may have me beat in that category. When I bought my two Dispey rods last year I replaced them with twilly tips. What was I thinking! They do work well, though.