Best fishing rods for Alaska fishing come in a variety of lengths and actions tailored to target different species and techniques. Whether you’re casting for salmon in freshwater streams or jigging for halibut in the deep ocean, there’s a rod designed to meet your needs in Alaska’s diverse waters and these are our favorites at Fish Alaska.
Best Fishing Rods
Batson Rainshadow Eternity RX10 6-weight Fly Rod Blank RXXF906-4
This 9’, 6-weight is a very fast-action blank. Editor George Krumm built it with the recommended Batson components from their build-sheet. He initially fished this rod at the Togiak for indicator-bead fishing for rainbows and dollies. Paired with a Scientific Anglers Amplitude Textured Anadro Indicator line and a Cheeky Sighter 375 reel, this combo is a great match for indicator-bead fishing, but it also makes a powerful stillwater rod. Some may find it helpful to over-line this rod by one line weight. It’s a great casting and fish-fighting tool, comparable to the very best fly rods on the market.
G Loomis IMX-PRO 1023-2S STR
Publisher Marcus Weiner used this rod to hook many steelhead on the Situk River in April 2024. The 8’6” rod is a multifunctional stick. Marcus used it as a float rod to drift jigs. He can see using it to side-drift aeropuffs and soft beads, and potentially to toss hardware. The 2-piece rod is fast-action, medium-heavy power, rated for 8- to 17-pound-test line and lures from 3/8- to 1-ounce. It’s light, responsive, comfortable to fish and an overall sweet rod.
Greys Wing Double Handed Fly Rod
The Wing series of two-handed flyrods includes a 12’ 6”, 7/8-weight; a 13’6”, 8/9-weight; and a 14’6”, 9/10-weight. George Krumm tested the 9/10-weight at the Togiak for Chinook. It cast a 650-grain RIO Elite Gamechanger Body Float/Hover/Intermediate Skagit head and up to 12.5’ of T-17 well. George called this his “long ball” rod on the Togiak, for when he really needed to reach out there. If you need a Chinook-capable Spey rod, this 14’6”, 9/10-weight gets you there without breaking the bank.
Lamiglas BattleGlass CG90DR
Looking for a versatile, durable salmon rod? The BattleGlass CG90DR is a 9-foot, 2-piece rod rated for 15- to 30-pound-test. It’s an excellent heavy salmon troll-, plug-, and downrigger rod. Double-lock reel seat, double-foot guides, and a fiberglass blank result in great durability and excellent fish-fighting characteristics. The continuous moderate bend of the proven fiberglass blank optimizes your downrigger program, trolls baits flawlessly and allows your plugs to dance, yet quickly responds to the bite. These versatile rods are underrated, value wise.
Sage SPEY R8 13’, 9-weight
Looking for a refined, yet powerful two-hander for Chinook that hits the sweet spot regarding length for big, heavy sink-tips and flies? You might not be able to do better than the Sage R8 13’, 9-weight. We paired it with the Sage Spey II 8/9/10 fly reel with a 625-grain Skagit head and sink-tips from 10’ of T-11 to 12.5’ of T-17. Says Editor and Flyfishing columnist George Krumm: “If I was headed to the Nush’, the Togiak, the Sandy or any of the other few reliable king-swing rivers, and could only take one rod, this would be it.” He landed numerous bright chum salmon and tide-fresh kings on this rod this summer.
Olympic Peninsula Skagit Tactics Two-Handed Rod, SHS 8WT
This is a revised, beefed up 11’6”, 8-weight for targeting the biggest of rainbows and big winter steelhead. It has a down-locking reel seat, REC CERECOIL stripping guides, REC RECOIL snake guides, and a burl reel seat. This rod is about perfect for winter steelhead or big Naknek rainbows. We used it with sink-tips up to 10 feet of T-14. For a Skagit head, the OPST Commando Groove in 375-grain was money. This rod casts much like the original OPST Pure Skagit 8-weight, but has more power in the butt section, making it a much better tool for fighting larger fish.
Shimano Technium B Salmon Steelhead Spinning Rod TNS106MH2B
10’6” long, rated for 8- to 17-pound-test and 3/8- to 1-ounce lures, this composite, medium-heavy rod is a great choice for a salmon and steelhead bobberdogging rod and can easily double as a bobber/jig rod or traditional bobber/bait rod. Since it’s a composite (graphite and fiberglass) it is more durable than rods constructed of graphite alone. We found this rod to be stouter than most rods with this line rating. This rod is capable of handling the largest steelhead, as well as your average 12- to 25-pound Chinook. The swirly blue finish of the blank is quite attractive.
Batson Rainshadow Eternity RX10 8-weight Fly Rod Blank RXXF908-4
Editor George Krumm initially tested this 9’, 8-weight blank at the Togiak and landed approximately 200 salmon using heavy, lead-eyed streamers. This rod is very fast and powerful. George paired it with a Cortland Streamer WF8F line (which is heavier than the AFTMA 8-weight standard) but thinks a 9-weight line might have worked better because this blank is so fast and powerful. Whatever line you choose for this rod, it might be helpful to upsize it one line weight. For this build, George used Batson components including a carbon-fiber full-wells grip and 2” carbon-fiber fighting butt. This blank is an outstanding blank for steelhead and all salmon except Chinook, though George did land a couple small Chinook with it.
Batson Rainshadow Revelation RX7 Salmon/Steelhead Baitcasting Rod Blank REVST100ML-2SB
Publisher Marcus Weiner was looking for a rod to free-drift jigs to salmon (other than mature kings) and steelhead. After conferring with the experts at Batson, he settled on the REVST100ML-2SB blank. Marcus built this rod using Batson components and their rod-build sheet. The resulting 10-foot, medium-light, moderate-fast-action, 2-piece rod, rated for 8- to 12-pound-test, is exactly what he was looking for. It’s very light, sensitive, looks great and fishes even better. After landing hundreds of salmon, trout, and char on the rod in 2024, Marcus puts this stick up there with any others in the collection. To see this rod in action, watch the newly released Episode 8 of our “Jig Life” series on YouTube.
G.Loomis IMX-PRO V2 8100-4
This is a light, but powerful, 10’, 8-weight fly rod that casts well and is a bargain at less than $600. Editor and Flyfishing columnist George Krumm paired this rod with a RIO Striper line and used it to fling streamers from 2- to 5” long for lake-dwelling char. The 10’ length allows for a little more casting distance. If you’re in the market for a quality 8-weight and don’t want to spend $1,000, you should consider this one.
Lamiglas Redline Salmon Bouncer, Hover Rod HS710MHC
At 7’10” long and rated for 1- to 5 ounces of lead and 10- to 25-pound-test, this fast-action casting rod checks all the right boxes regarding specs for a light backbouncer or hover rod. The smooth texture of the sanded carbon-fiber grips are comfortable in hand, and the double-locking reel seat ensures your reel doesn’t come loose. We used this rod hover fishing for Chinook and landed many fish with it. It’s a great rod.
Toadfish 7’2’’ M / MH Stowaway Travel Spinning Rod
This is an interesting solution for a traveling angler. This 3-piece rod comes with 5 pieces: a butt section, 2 middle sections and 2 top sections. The middle sections are medium and medium-heavy, and the top sections are fast and moderate-fast. This combination allows you to create 4 unique fishing rods. The 7’2” rod is rated for 8- to 30-pound-test braid. This range of options allows you to fish for a variety of species using different techniques, all in one rod. We used the rod to catch rockfish last season.
This summer we intend to take it to Kodiak and use it to catch rockfish, cohos, pinks, and smaller lingcod in the saltwater, then turn around and throw lures to pinks and cohos in the freshwater, as well as downsizing to the lightest configuration and drifting beads to dollies. Think of this rod as a multi-tool player, which can serve you in a range of situations. It comes in a super-stout aluminum tube, well suited to the abuses of travel.
Douglas Outdoors Buzz Ramsey Series 360T Trolling Rods
We tested the BRS 360T 9’6” heavy rated for 30- to 65-pound-test braid and 4- to 16 ounces of lead, and the BRS 360T 10’6” XH rated for 40- to 80-pound-test braid and 8- to 24 ounces of lead. These rods could be used for mooching with fairly heavy leads or for downrigger fishing, but they were designed for heavy-lead trolling with 360 flashers such as the Pro-Troll ProChip 11. In addition to the perfect action for 360 rods, they feature double-foot and tangle-free guides, high-density EVA grips, trigger reel seat with double lock nuts, and a powerful butt section for leading big fish to the net. Buzz lives near the Columbia River and knows exactly what is needed for a Pro-Trollin’ rod. These are good ones and carry a limited lifetime warranty.