Good morning Steve

Thanks for pointing me in the right direction in choosing a blank for my
musky rods. I've never fished for musky but I thought I'd give it a try next
spring. Cave Run lake is about 1 hour from home and the locals say it's
got some really big musky's in it .

Thanks again

Ken Blevins

"Steve @ OutdoorFrontiers" wrote in
message ...

"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