"Ken Blevins" wrote in message
...
It's rained steadily for 3 days now and I've started thinking about
building a couple of musky rods for my winter projects. I know some of you
fish regularly for musky, so what would some of the qualities be that you
look for in a good musky rod?? Length - material [glass-graphite etc?] Do
you prefer spinning tackle -Bait casting.

Thanks

Ken Blevins

PS I did catch a small bass at the river this afternoon [10 inch]


The criteria I use for muskie rods isn't much different than that of a good
bass rod. I want it to be lightweight, made of quality components and have
the correct action. If you look in my boat, I have at least 1/2 dozen
muskie rods, and they all have different lengths and actions, for different
types and sizes of lures.

Actually, one of my favorite muskie rods is a 7 1/2 foot flippin' stick. I
use it for tossing bucktails as well as 6" tubes, 7 - 8" crankbaits and 10
inch lizards. If you were to build two muskie rods, I would make one of
them the flippin' stick, and I would build a 6 1/2 - 7 foot heavy action rod
for tossing jerkbaits and larger cranks. Look at the St. Croix Avid line.
Being in the heart of muskie country, they understand how to build a great
muskie rod. The flippin' stick from St. Croix is a 2C76HF (7'6" 1/2 - 1 1/2
oz. lures) and the muskie rod that would do decently for general purpose
muskie fishing is the 2M70HF2 (7' 2 - 6 oz. lures). Both blanks are
reasonably priced at under $100.00 if I remember correctly. I would use
alconite guides too, because you're probably going to be using some form of
braided line and alconites hold up well.

I prefer to use baitcasting rods for muskie fishing for several reasons.
The first is weight. Most spinning reels that are of the size and strength
to handle throwing large lures all day, as well as handling the line weight
needed are big and heavy. This might not seem to be a big deal now, but it
certainly will after repeatedly tossing that combo all day. Muskie fishing
is hard enough without handicapping yourself with heavy equipment.

The second reason is that seasoned muskie anglers understand the importance
of doing a figure 8 at the side of the boat after each cast. This often
times results in an explosive strike at close quarters. Fighting a 15 - 40
pound fish on a tight drag, with 12 inches of line between the lure and the
rod tip will result in shattered nerves, broken line, straightened hooks and
not much more than a great fish story. Whenever I go into a figure 8, I put
my baitcasting reel in freespool and clamp my thumb down hard on the spool.
This way, if a muskie does hit, I can hit it with a small hookset (just
enough to get the hooks stuck), release a bit of pressure on the spool and
allow the fish to get away from the boat. THEN, I'll stop the fish with
thumb pressure, engage the reel and pound the hooks home all the way!

I've had clients in the past that refuse to use a baitcast rod/reel. For
this reason only, I did build one muskie spinning rod. But most of the
time, it sits in the rodrack here in my office. Spinning and serious muskie
fishing just don't go together.
--
Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers
http://www.outdoorfrontiers.com
G & S Guide Service and Custom Rods
http://www.herefishyfishy.com