About Lamiglas: Lamiglas was founded 52 years ago not far from their current location in Woodland, Washington. With the Pacific to the West, trophy Salmon and Steelhead rivers to the North, Cascade lakes and streams to the East and the mighty Columbia River to the South, angling opportunities abound. So the team at Lamiglas gets to eat, sleep, and breathe fishing. For 2004 Lamiglas introduces new series of rods, while enhancing their already popular models in an effort to make them lighter and more sensitive. Lamiglas believes that excellent rod design will lead to the ability to employ new angling techniques, and we agree.

Impressions: The Lamiglas G1303-T Back Bouncer is a member of the Lamiglas G1000 series rods. These are Lamiglas’s most popular rods in history, and for 2004 a new hand polished natural graphite finish is found on every rod in the series. While the new look is clean and attractive the real benefit is a noticeably lighter and quicker action rod. When I first examined the rod, I couldn’t help but notice how nice the fresh graphite looked, and I marveled responsive the 7’6” rod felt in basic telegraph tests. When Backbouncing anglers will employ heavy metal and I wondered if it was necessary to wield such a lightweight and sensitive rod, but these fine attributes are certainly welcome.
 

Real World Test: Testing the G1303-T entailed some bouncing of heavy metal and bait on the ocean and river floor. We also found the rod attributes excellent for some additional applications, and put the rod to additional use by bouncing heavy diamond jigs on the sea floor for rockfish.

Casting/Retrieving: Backbouncing is an intriguing technique used primarily by Northwest steelhead and salmon anglers. To fish a run, heavy lead is used to put the bait right on the bottom and, with the help of the current, literally “bounce” the bait downstream, keeping it right in the strike zone. The rod must have the power necessary to lift the weight off the bottom and still have sufficient power to set the hook with authority. A heavy-duty rod with a stiff tip is crucial, because many times the fish are smack dab in the heaviest current and you require a plenty of lead, not to mention big Salmon can weigh excess of 40+ lbs. The rod casts heavy weights and lures a reasonable distance, but most of the time anglers will toss the weight and let the current play into the equation. The G1303-T is perfect for this technique and arcs very nicely on the retrieve, and the extended cork handle provides that extra leverage to help gain control over even the biggest Salmon or Steelhead.