TexasKayakFisherman.com

What rod do you use for throwing Corkies?

I was catching up on some Texas Saltwater Fishing mag and Jay Watkins and some of the other guides were talking about about what rod they use with a Corky. They all said they used a medium-lite and/or the Waterloo Ultra Mag which I guess has a lite tip.

The main reason why I ask is a Corky weighs about 3/4 ounce and they're talking about using rods rated for up to 1/2 ounce. I know those are more guidelines but just curious what everyone is using.

Don't throw'em that often, but when I do I use my Waterloo Slam Mag. I have an HP Lite as well, not sure I'd ever want to use that rod for corkies, but it's action is not as fast as the Slam Mag so that could be why they are using it (especially if throwing braid).

My 8-1/2' Lami G1000 GP86MTC would fish that great - it's rated 1/4-5/8, 8-17#, but I wouldn't be a bit afraid of throwing 3/4 on it.
I'd have to control my casts anyway to keep it in sight.
I definitely wouldn't fish that weight on the 7'1" ML 13Fishing Omen I recently added.

By far my favorite lure for winter trout I use a one piece 7' medium shimano scimitar it can cast them a long way and has a little more backbone to handle big fish around oyster reefs. Not a big fan of a ml with corky or fat boy

Mirrolure recommends using a medium-heavy action with a moderate tip (PB discussion begins @ 14:00):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7iZnkXSSptg&t=532s

Med or Med light with a fast taper will get it done. Paul was probably using mono a lot back in the day. With braid the med heavy is not needed. A good hookset is still needed becuase it's a big chunk of plastic that you have to move in their mouths, that can be accomplished with the right actions of the hookset... point rod at fish, reel out slack, set the hook.

I like the 6'9" 1/4 to 5/8th 8-17 Med light Fast Tip. Mine is a Lews Lite Custom Pro that is High Modulus graphite but even an IM 7 or better in that rating will do fine. IM 6 is still ok but that's the very base blank these days.

Med or Med light with a fast taper will get it done. Paul was probably using mono a lot back in the day. With braid the med heavy is not needed.

What type of leader are you using? And out of curiosity, what rod works best with the TS Lures...same set-up? Thanks in advance Tobin!

I have a Castaway Taranis "The Donk" but I think it would be a little too light for a Corky.

https://castawayrods.com/rods?product_id=551

I might just see what AllStar at Academy has that could be used for other things until I fish Corkies more.

correct Ben, I would hesitate to risk that tip casting 3/4-oz - would definitely stick to the half-ounce rating.

1texag, answering out of turn, I haven't found a wrong rod for TSL grasswalkers - I've fished them on ML 7' to MH 8'2"glass and, other than longer rod for casting greater distance, they fish great on all. You choose to twitch a little more subtle on the heavier rods, and light tip rods walk the lure smoother, but there's really no wrong way to fish the lure. Come to think of it, the glass behaves as a bit softer tip, too.

Ron Mc wrote:correct Ben, I would hesitate to risk that tip casting 3/4-oz - would definitely stick to the half-ounce rating.

1texag, answering out of turn, I haven't found a wrong rod for TSL grasswalkers - I've fished them on MH to ML 7' to 8'2" and, other than longer rod for casting greater distance, they fish great on all. You choose to twitch a little more subtle on the heavier rods, and light tip rods walk the lure smoother, but there's really no wrong way to fish the lure.

Yeah it's a great rod for 1/4 ounce spoons and unweighted swimbaits.

1texasaggie wrote:

Med or Med light with a fast taper will get it done. Paul was probably using mono a lot back in the day. With braid the med heavy is not needed.

What type of leader are you using? And out of curiosity, what rod works best with the TS Lures...same set-up? Thanks in advance Tobin!

Yeah I use the same rod for TSL as for,... everything really. The 1/4 - 5/8ths is a great all around rod and will even be fine casting a super spook as well even though its 3/4 oz. These rod weight ratings are for getting the best cast-ability. Throwing a 3/4 oz lure on a 5/8th or even 1/2 oz rated blank will only reduce the cast distance. You'll get maximum casting performance out of using a lure weight that is within the rods weight rating; using a lure barely under or over the rod weight rating will typically not break the rod unless you use a 4oz weight on a 5/8th oz rated rod you're gonna be fine. Of course I will say in the rod's defense that I've seen this accomplished on piers near Galveston I have started tinkering with an extra fast tip med light and it appears to have more back bone for better hook sets with both corkies and TSL. There does seem to be a slight loss in cast distance but I'm still testing it out. Both are big chunks of plastic and you have to move that bait out of the teeth that are holding it to get a good hookset. I still think the same results can be accomplished with tight drag, taking the slack out, prior to hard hook-set as opposed to buying another rod. Less important with small worms.

Leader, I'm using SeaGaur 100% Fluoro 25lb for when I'm corky fishing. I'm fishing for big fish and won't be willing to take the chance on mono in the conditions that I fish whether that is TSL or Corky. Mono leader is fine for general purpose on grass flats and deep oyster with only targeting small fish for numbers. Also, the fluoro allows me to be less anxious about checking my leader every fish. Mono is doable but I find I have to monitor that leader constantly through the day with every hang up and every fish; I have to retie mono much more often to have an integral connection I can trust. Yeah, when I'm fishing for a limit of just keepers i'm less worried about that and mono is fine for that.

Ben, Ron & Tobin...thanks for the replies!

I have started tinkering with an extra fast tip med light and it appears to have more back bone for better hook sets with both corkies and TSL.

That makes sense and I'll have to try it.

I've also recently seen it suggested that a more parabolic rod (i.e. light / moderate) will improve hook set on topwater lures b/c it's less likely to get ripped out of their mouths, or suffer from "hit it & spit it". I have a few aging rods that I need to replace, so I thought about trying this combo out as well. When I can deliver a face full of treble hooks, it doesn't seem to make a difference and my hook up ratio is adequate. However, I've missed a number of big blowups on topwater frogs that have me scratching my head and would like to minimize this now that the bass spawn is on.