With more people in Ireland beginning to fly fish for pike, I seem to be getting more questions on my set-up and what I use. When choosing a rod, reel and line or set up I like to look at the bigger picture. This ensures I get the most from my selected set-up, after all it’s a predator set up, and we have many predators in our waters, both freshwater and saltwater.
In previous selections I would select something solely for the job, in this case pike fishing, as seasons pass, rods get put to pasture. Looking at sea bass fishing, we for sure can’t use the rod we bought for pike fishing, or can we?
Let’s work on picking a multipurpose rod here that spends as little time as possible on pasture or the press under the stairs as it’s more commonly known in my house.
What to consider when choosing a rod
I needed to select rods that were “hybrids”. I needed to take a look at some different species. I have access to pike fishing, bass fishing and some decent grilse fishing during the summer. An interesting method, if you like, is to work from the fly back.
For the chosen species, I will be using large flies, so will need a heavy rated line (#9/#10), remember mass moves mass. To cast a heavy line, I require a high line rating on the rod (#9/#10). To hold the thicker line and sufficient backing, I will need a matching line rated reel (#9/#10).
I generally use a #9wt or #10wt rod for pike fishing. When I chose this set up, I had kept in mind that it can cover me for bass and grilse as well. So now I have opened a door to three new species with one start-up cost, excellent!
Deciding on a hybrid rod can take some research and questions, after all, rods vary, if all designers had the same thoughts, then all fly rods would be identical. We need a set of characteristics. Let’s take some from each fishing situation of our three chosen species.
When talking about pike fly-fishing, we think large flies, strong fish, winter conditions, snaggy areas. For bass, we think sea breeze, hard fighting fish, sinking lines, long casts. For grilse, we think Spey casts, hard fighting fish, medium-sized flies. The lists of characteristics here are ones that just pop into my head. Looking at them, I need a rod to cover as many as possible and as well as possible.
Having a look at my rods of choice, which are from the Cadence Predator Range. The predator range consists of a 9ft 9wt and a 9ft 10wt. The rods were designed with pike predominantly in mind. However, the rod can cross over to saltwater applications also. This makes it a great hybrid as now it can be used for bass, mullet, and pollock here in Ireland.
Of course, if anglers are travelling abroad for species like permit and tarpon, the rod would be sufficient.
The #9 #10 weight classes were made to be able to handle fish from 5 – 25kg. The rod action is more about hooking and dealing with big fish. The rod is made to be robust yet make it easier to cast large flies.
The Cadence Predator Rod range was designed with some of the team over in France, they opted for an EVA handle on this rod. Personally, after many trials and fishing hours, I have come to love fishing with an EVA Handled rod, it is now my preferred handle material for rods in the higher weight class.
My first experience with the Cadence Predator Range
I test cast both rods, but my list of characteristics had me choose the 10wt. I did cast both rods over grass, and it was a close call, but the 10wt just called my name. The rod had a Cadence IG Spey Line on it, and it just flew out, loaded beautifully and made me smile. The rods also come with a free Cadence fly line, which is quickly becoming a popular line among anglers due to its design, performance and very competitive price point.
I had planned to take the rod to the river for further testing, after all, there is only so much testing you can do on grass. I went through some of my Poly Leaders from IPS3 to IPS6, then tried a DI5 sinking line. The rod handled them all very well, extending your casting stroke really unlocks the power in the mid-section and top of the butt section.
Moving to the Spey line, it was an absolute joy to cast. Circle C, Snap T, Snake Roll, Single and Double Spey were easily achievable. The feedback through the blank made the casts effortless.
The line I see some beginners struggle with is the full sinking line. It can be troublesome at times, especially the casting part. It can lead to people recasting too early or trying to. I needed this rod to load and spit out line quickly when using a sinking line. Retrieving in my pike fly I got it nice and close, as pike are quite frequently at our feet. They’ve frightened the daylights out of me numerous times by hitting my fly as I watch it dance around in the water.
Although Quick Shot Lines are popular, as their special taper allows them to cast a line quicker, I want this rod to cast my general purpose lines. The rod is multipurpose for me, after all.
Picking up the line and going into my back cast, I used a short casting stroke to push some line out using the tip. Some line went out, easily, I found after the second false cast, I was in a position to shoot line out to my drop zone. The rod recovers quickly, which I like. The line speed generated by the rod is exceptional and is there if you want it to be.
I did find when I extended my casting stroke the rod took off and produced incredible line speed, hearing the pike fly rip through the air surprised me. It moved with pace and power and right to the end of the cast. I have had rods before that generate power, you hear that fly rip through the air and then visibly die and drop like it was shot down.
I find it easy to feel the rod load, and it really assists with your timing on a cast. Cadence has hit the nail on the head with this rod. It’s a super fun rod to cast, and you have great fish playing power for those hard fighting predators.
