Northwest Fishing Reports

Hello.

I mostly attempt to target fish in rivers (very unsuccessfully) and recently I have a job site that is near some shore fishing spots for coho and pink salmon. I was hoping to make a couple fishing trips before and after work on the beach in the next week or two to try for some pinks and coho. I think I'm already too late on pinks for the area I'll be fishing at (MA-10). I don't have a dedicated shore casting fishing rod and was hoping for some advice.

I recently acquired a rod and reel from a coworker a few months back and haven't found a use for them yet. He gave me a 8'6" Okuma Celilo (heavy, 3/4 oz to 3 oz) rod paired with a Okuma CV20DLX reel. I believe he used this rod on his boat trolling or what not. Would this rod be do-able to use for plunking or casting on the shore? I have waders and was planning on wading as far as I could to help get some distance out into the salt. I would be using a minimum of 3/4 oz - 1 oz jigs and rigs to load the rod properly but I wasn't sure if the extra heavy action would propose some issues on feeling any bites etc. I know you guys probably wouldn't initially recommend using this setup from the get go but would it work on the beach?

You wouldn't get much distance with that reel. It wasn't designed to be casted. The rod itself would work if you got a baitcaster reel such as an Abu Garcia ambassador S 5500 or an Abu Garcia orra inshore (both are budget reels). The orra inshore can be found on eBay at a good price and is designed for the salt.

Thanks for the advice on that spokey and good call on that as well. I didn't even think about that. I might give the rod a go and pair it up with my other drifting baitcaster to give it a try. I was worried that the heavy rod may be a bit too stiff but I'll give it a go and see what happens.

Agreed on above points, and with the reel being a limitation. The rod should cast a 3" Buzz Bomb a good enough distance though. I've got an 8'6" MH bait caster (1/2oz-1oz) that will wing the 2.5" and 3" quite a good distance, but it's paired with a Abu Garcia 6601c4 (30# braid). I still prefer a longer and lighter rod for beach casting, but this combo has done well enough and caught some fish. You don't need a hefty rod/reel combo for beach fishing. I've seen a lot of 6 to 7 foot bass fishing combos out there and they catch fish. It'd be a challenge on big or hot Coho, but still doable. Good luck out there!

Good to know BentRod - thanks for the reply. I haven't gone beach fishing really and from coworkers that do they said I'd be better off with a longer rod, like you were saying. I'm going to give it a go and swap out the reels to make sure I can actually get some decent casts in. Thanks for the advice!