Good paddlefishing combo?

Not as good as a 10'6" Ugly Stick surf rod topped with just about any $40 reel and never look back.  That Ugly Stick has been my favorite p-fishing pole for many years after going through a number of Scenic Sport's combos and a number of my own setups. 

The biggest problem with p-fishing gear is people get tired and screw up the reels by holding onto them as they jerk on the rod.  Tough on handles and bales.

As far as line, spool up a decent reel with superline.  I recommend 50-75 lb braid so you can pull those snags out of the bottom of the river.  Last few times I fished I generally came home with as much or more tackle than I started with and a single spool of braid has lasted several seasons for me.  Lots of people use 30-35 lb mono but it just doesn't hold up as well.  Gets nicked up pretty easily and then you are fighting a big fish in a lot of current with 15-25 lb test.

Kinda hoping to getting a chance to fish this year.  Been kinda toughfor me to get up there the past few years.

Superline is way better because the no stretch will make for easier hook sets and if you get snagged you don't have to deal with a bungee cord that can come back and smack the crap out of you.  Also, the longer the rod, the more tired you will become.  I would go with 10' or less.  One rod for 3 guys is about right.  Just keep rotating.

 Paddlesnagging! Drool 

Rod will work fine, but Allen offers some good advice as well. 

I will hav to try super line this year

I'd try to give some helpful input here, but all my paddlefish have come on walleye rods with 4, 8, or 10lb test.

as far as line goes, Ahab is right, super lines are the way to go, durability and no stretch.  you want every bit of energy on your swing to be put into a hook set and not distributed through the stretchy rubberband known as mono.  a paddlefish's skin is like leather.

Good advice from the guys that posted above. Definately look for a ugly stick in the 10' length. IMO I would stay away from the okuma rod and reels after breaking my fair share and seeing more broke. i won't ever buy another. Just don't have the durability to last more than a year or 2. Although that is fishing almost every catch and release day in ND/MT.  If you will only be using it a couple weekends every year then i think it should do just fine. Personally I use 40 pound mono but super line is very nice if you need to make the long casts. You would not be disappointed in using 50-80# braid as Allen stated above. I just think using heavy pound braid is overkill. This year I got the 10' Ugly and a Penn reel for my combo. Very happy with that combo. Landed its fair share of fish this year.

Allen Said:
Not as good as a 10'6" Ugly Stick surf rod topped with just about any $40 reel and never look back.  That Ugly Stick has been my favorite p-fishing pole for many years after going through a number of Scenic Sport's combos and a number of my own setups. 

The biggest problem with p-fishing gear is people get tired and screw up the reels by holding onto them as they jerk on the rod.  Tough on handles and bales.

As far as line, spool up a decent reel with superline.  I recommend 50-75 lb braid so you can pull those snags out of the bottom of the river.  Last few times I fished I generally came home with as much or more tackle than I started with and a single spool of braid has lasted several seasons for me.  Lots of people use 30-35 lb mono but it just doesn't hold up as well.  Gets nicked up pretty easily and then you are fighting a big fish in a lot of current with 15-25 lb test.

Kinda hoping to getting a chance to fish this year.  Been kinda toughfor me to get up there the past few years.

X2

I used my 8ft catfishing rod with 20 lb fireline last time (granted I didn't snag one) and with a 4 oz weight I was able to cast farther than my uncle with a 12 ft rod, 30lb mono and a 5oz weight. Also, I ended up with more tackle than I brought cuz I was able to pull out other peoples snags. On one snag even, I broke one of the hooks on the treble before I broke the line. One caution though, you WILL eventually get snagged hard enough to not be able to pull it out. The sticks on the side of the river are way too soft to attempt to rap the string around them and try to break the line. The stick will be cut in half first and if you try to pull it out by hand, you may just cut your hand. Might want to bring a piece of pipe or something to wrap around. 

Ok, Im gonna go with a 2 piece 10ft MH ugly stik surf rod, Sounds like people who know agree on that. What do you guys think about this reel?

cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll

That's the one that i got! Good choice :)

10'6 Ugly stick custom.  It has a very powerful backbone, more than the surf rod.  I got a 70# p-fish last year on it with 50# mono from spoonbillking.com  Very low stretch mono.  i have seen a lot of poeple have trouble with the braid due to the tackle breaking the knot while whipping it out into the river.  This may just be a problem with some super lines though.  the most important thing is the strength of your rod.  If it has a ton of bend you can use steel wire and still "tick" fish.

PS I broke the part of the reel that connects to the rod last year fighting that fish.  It seemed my reel was too big for the reel seat.  i would definitely look for something that will fit on your rod like it should, i m going to fabricate a new seat for my reel to fit better and not snap off causing me to run up a snowy hill!  Cabelas Salt Striker 40.

Captain Ahab Said:
Superline is way better because the no stretch will make for easier hook sets and if you get snagged you don't have to deal with a bungee cord that can come back and smack the crap out of you.  Also, the longer the rod, the more tired you will become.  I would go with 10' or less.  One rod for 3 guys is about right.  Just keep rotating.

1 rod is definitely fine for 2-3 guys.  Then you have time to drink beer!

Looks like the ugly stik custom isnt made anymore. Any other suggestions? The regular ugly stik doesnt have enough backbone for this application? Looking for something in the $100 range...

Dang that sucks.  i haven't looked at the ugly surf rods in person so can't help you there.  They look good from the specs on the internet.  I agree with the shorter pole though, 9-11' works just fine. 

Ok, I read that some people get the standard ugly stick surf rods in a length slightly longer than what they want and cut some off the end to give it more backbone and get rid of the flimsy tip, what do you guys think about that idea?

Might work, the surf comes with that clear tip section that has a lot of give.  I bet if you get one and don't like it you can saw off that last section and have a much stiffer rod.  I wonder how that would affect the castability with a larger eyeloop on the end?

BWS 1100 100*	10'0 "	2	J	MH	12-30	1-6	5 + Tip
BWS 1100 110*	11'0"	2	K	H	12-40	2-8	6 + Tip

Model                                          Line       Lure Wgt   Guides

The two I would look into, they are in the Ugly Stick Bigwater Rods.  Fresh off their website.

p.s.  If you use braided line you can get away with a little more limber pole.  An ugly stick with mono would be kinda soft IMHO, but with braid it's the cat's meow. 

I suppose I have owned about 20 different p-fishing poles over the years.  The Ugly Stick is the only one to make it more than 2 seasons of full use.  The rest all fatigued and snapped while pulling even when I didn't have a fish on them.  The ugly stick I have now is about 12 yrs old with about 5 seasons on it.

As far as number of rods/reels per people.  You need about 2 rods for 3 people.  If you go with one rod and have an equipment failure, it sucks to have to drive back to Williston all the time for parts.  The last few times up I have taken the ugly stick and another old piece of junk rod that doesn't get much use and 3 reels along with an extra spool of line.  

Back in the day when I fished regularly and people were renting tackle from Scenic Sports it seemed as if you spent about as much time traveling back and forth to Williston as actual fishing.  Sadly, p-fishing has become quite the damn zoo and isn't nearly as fun for me as it used to be. 

As far as your reel goes, Walmart handles a Quantum (not sure the model).  It is the largest reel they carry.  They sell if for 30 bones and I bought two of them about 3 years ago and they are working great still (handles the braieded line just fine)....before these I had an expensive diawa and it only lasted a couple years ( i know they still have them, saw them last year when I was buying line).  You want to go as light with the equipment aas you can, but still be able to lean into a fish with it without fear of breaking. 

I have 300 yards of 40lb braid laying around here. If you go with a thiner than mono braid like that, can you also decrease the amount of weight you need and still get out there a good distance? That would save some fatigue on the arms also Im sure.

Casting a p-fishing rig is not the tiring part.  Jerking, or better yet, just pulling hard on the rod is what wears a person down.  A decent rod like the ugly stick will cast just fine with 4 oz weights, and you are right about really getting some distance.  Use 40 lb braid and that line will just sing coming off the reel.  A 5 oz weight won't give you much added distance but will help your tackle settle to the bottom faster and keep it down. 

A really good fraction of the fish caught are hooked swimming along the surface, so you will want to mix up the target depth a bit until, or unless, you see a trend.  Fish are also commonly hooked within 30 ft of shore, especially as they try to hide in an eddy for a rest.