Unsure of Musky Rod purchase, Opinions please.

[Gus]

I'm looking to add my second musky rod to my boat. I have a xheavy 6 foot rod as my only other rod. I was looking to add length and a little more give to my second rod, but I think I might have gone too far. Does anyone have any opinions on this rod: I ordered a Cabelas Fish Eagle Musky Rod that is 7'long 10-20 line and 2 3/8 to 2-1/4 lure weight rated at MH action. It's also a 2 piece which is what sold me on the rod. My rod locker on my boat will only fit 6'6" rods so this two piece would still work. Now that it came in the mail I am wondering if it is too light of a rod? Has anyone used this rod for musky fishing? Any thoughts? I can still take it back and get something else but what would I get for the same price range? Paid $69 on sale. I should add, the reason I'm not sure if it is stiff enough is that I can get some good flex by just whipping the tip of the rod. I've handled my buddies MH St. Croix Premere and when whipping the tip of that one, you can hardly feel any movement at all. I guess I hope someone has this rod or has used it and can give me some advise.

Thanks

[Hockey Guy]

Gus,

Let me get this straight... You live in Blaine and you ordered Musky equipment from Cabela's? You have one of the best Musky shops right by you! Thorne Brothers will tell you everything you need to know and set you up with just what you need. I have had good experiences there. They have even talked me out of buying too expensive of a rod because there was a cheaper one that is just as good.

I would never use a rod that didn't have good backbone on it for setting the hook. I would also never use a two-piece rod no matter if it fit in my rod locker or not. I will be very curious to read what other people think about a two-piece for Muskies.

My opinion... return the rod and go to Thorne Brothers.

[Scoot]

Can't really say that I disagree with hockeyguy (although I'm a hoops lover, not a hockey liker). Thorne Bros will take good care of you. As far as a 2 piece rod, I totally agree. I'm sure you'll get some people to chime in and say that a 2 piece if fine (you'll hear "I've had a 2 piece for five years and never had a problem" My response is, "just wait"). However, 2 piece rods simply are not as reliable or strong as a 1 piece. My dad's a custom rod builder and I can't tell you the number of stories I've heard from guys he's making a new rod for who bought affordable two piece rods from Cabella's, Scheels, etc. only to have them snap in two on a big laker, muskie, or whatever.

So... even if he likes hockey, I'm still with hockeyguy on this one!

[Cooter]

I'd suggest swapping for the 1pc 7'6" Fish Eagle II unless you need a 2 pc. I used this rod lots last year and was very pleased with it.

[RK]

Hiya,

Well... I'm going to take a position contrary to just about everyone else

From the sounds of the specs, the rod is probably heavy enough to handle a lot of muskie baits. Maybe not the magnum Bull Dawgs or huge crankbaits, but most of the garden variety ones. As for the action, and being able to flex the tip - when you described your rod vs. your friend's, my immediate thought was "you're way better off than he is..." Personally, I have ABSOLUTELY no use for pool cue muskie rods. To me, they're a horrible tool. They make casting harder, tire you out faster, and most importantly, with superlines, they probably cost you fish. The classic pool cue rods were created when 36# dacron was the standard, and it had a lot of stretch - more than you think. The theory was, the stiff rods helped you set the hook. Looking back, it was a dubious theory even with dacron, and with zero-stretch superlines, having no give in the system does way more harm than good. You'll pull hooks out of fish more often than you get a 'good hookset' - especially close to the boat. A longer, softer rod absorbs some of the shock, and is way more forgiving. Most of my rods now - even the ones I fish jerkbaits - with are longer and softer in the tip than most guys use.

Now, I'm not saying they're noodle rods. They're fast action rods as a rule, and have plenty of backbone, but for me, they HAVE to have some give in the upper 1/4 to 1/3 of the blank, or forget it. On the other hand, rods can have the backbone, but be too slow - that is, bend too far down into the blank. If the rod you have bends past the upper 1/3 into the middle portion of the blank when it's loaded up, it might be too slow an action, which is different than it not having enough power.

<Rob is climbin' on the soapbox>

One of my pet peeves with rods is manufacturers using one term to describe two properties. Rod blanks have two aspects - blank speed and blank power. They can be in any combination, so it's possible to have an X-heavy power rods with a slow action, or an X-light power rod with a fast action. Speed describes how far into the blank a rod bends under load. Fast is the upper 1/4, moderate is the top half, and slow is down into the butt, or nearly so. Power is simply how much force it takes to load the blank. So you see a rod on the rack, or worse yet, in a catalog, and all it says is "Medium-Heavy." Well what does that mean? Medium speed, heavy power? Medium Heavy power, and you'll have to guess at the speed? Some rod manufacturers do use both descriptors for their rods, but a lot of them, especially in their entry level or mid-range offerings, just use a single descriptor, and it makes things terribly confusing for consumers, for no good reason. It drives me batty...

</ off the soapbox>

Anyhow...

As far as the two piece rods go - caught lots of muskies, big cats, salmon, etc on two piece rods and telescoping flipping sticks. Had one fail, but it was a cheap rod, so I had it coming. If it makes sense for your situation, go for it. Yes, they're inherently weaker than a one-piece - physics is physics - but nobody says you have to push rods to the absolute limit either...

Cheers,

RK

[Gus]

HockeyGuy, I have been to Thorne a few times. I was treated like a infidel there once because I wanted to get an existing rod I had set up with one of their style spring bobbers. They pretty much ticked me off enough that I won't shop there anymore. I guess it's just been my experience. They seem too full of themselves there to help out anyone. Maybe I just caught the wrong person on a bad day but it really soured me. With all the good things I have heard I should probably give them another shot, but it's going to be hard to bring myself to.

I guess I'm still really unsure of my purchase so I will probably go out and look at some more rods and make a decision soon.

Thanks for the info everyone. Keep it coming.

[Scoot]

In response to RK's comments- I don't think we're in disagreement at all. It seems to me that he's referring mostly to the action of the rod- speed and power (and yes, it annoys the heck outta me when you don't get both bits of info from a rod manufacturer). I totally agree with RK about a slower action being much better than a pool cue (also agree that noodle is too slow). I was only referring to the two piece vs. the one piece. I've seen dozens of broken two piece rods that were broken solely because they were two piece rods. They are inherenlty weaker than one piece rods.

So... I don't think there's any disagreement at all!

If you're at all interested, my dad can make you a custom rod from any blank you could ever find. Prices are typically as good or better than you'll find in any store and he can put any bell or whistle you'd ever want on it. If not interested, that's cool too.

Good luck in your rod hunt.

[lots of luck]

Go look at the Gander Mountain Guide Series Rods.

I think you will find what you want. Good Luck.

[Corey Bechtold]

Here is a suggestion. Buy a 7'6" telescopic heavy action rod and you can use it for both Muskies and Bass. I have 2 rods like this and I also don't have a lot of extra room in my rod lockers so they work perfect!

Good Luck,

Corey Bechtold

[squeedunk]

If you are interested in a rod for around the same price as the one you ordered from cabelas I would recommend either a gander mountain guide series rod or a berkely lightning rod. There are some lightning rods that are telescopic and are reasonably priced. I believe they would fit in your locker when they are not extended and you can get them up to 8 feet long. I have 2 lightning rods as do several of my muskie buddies and we all love them. I have a 6'6" and a 7' version but neither are telescoping so I can't tell how those work for sure. I have heard good things though. I have also used the Gander Mountain guide series rods and thought they were very nice. They also have a nice return policy at gander should your rod happen to break, they will replace it with one off the shelf.

If the rod has too soft of a tip you will not get a whole lot of feel with lures like cranks or bucktails and may not be able to tell if your lure is fouled. The rods I use have a lot of backbone but have a nice tip that lets me really feel my lure. I can easily tell if I pick up a little piece of a weed that fouls my lure. If you can't feel that, you are going to be wasting a lot of casts or time trolling.

I agree with you about Thorne Bros. I love the place because of all the lures they have but if you don't look like a Muskie genius when you walk in there they will treat you like a 4 year old child. You are also not too likely to find a rod in that price range. There are some nice people at Thorne but many of them will make you feel like less of a fisherman if you are looking for a rod for less than $150.

Gander Mountain and Joe's sporting goods have good selections of decent rods and very respectful staff to help you out. Both of them carry the telscoping lightning rods as well as many others in your price range.

Good luck this season~Squeedunk

[Gus]

thanks for the suggestions everyone. I think I'll be returning the rod. I went out shopping last night and I feel that this rod isn't quite what I'm looking for. I'm still shopping for rods so keep the suggestions coming.

Thanks

[delmuts]

gus. try to decide how you will be using the rod too. ( ie. bucktails, jerk baits etc.) tell the guys helping you this info as it can help them in finding a rod that suits your needs. del

[Fisher Dave]

The rod you have is too light.. no need to second guess yourself.. Its hard to buy from a catalog when you cant hold the rod and check the action 1st hand. I'm not sure what line they are using these days to rate a rod .. but it seems most rated at 10#-20# are best rigged with 8# test, and would probably break with 12#.

Theres lots of places you can go to check out rods.. it doesnt have to be thorn bros.. however they are very good when it comes to musky tackle. I would look around at Gander and even WalMart.. they had some nice Fenwick rods in there as of a week ago.. one was about 8', meduim heavy action rated to 25 lb test.. very light, very narrow diameter and a stiff rod, also telescopic. If I were in need of an excellent bucktail rod I would have brought it home... I think it was $50.. I'm sure you can buy it somewhere else for $75 if it makes you feel better.

Long rods are great for bucktails. The rod does not have to be super heavy for hooksets on bucktails, but it does need to be stiff enough to load properly while making a cast.. that extra 20' per cast makes it easier to cover water.

[Huskiedevle]

My past experiences with Thorne Bros. have been decent.I have purchased 3 different Falcon Silver Series Musky Rods from these folks over the last 10 years. I remember from the last rod purchase I made there the sales guy talked me out of a more expensive rod, and persuaded me into getting another Falcon. Falcon was also discontinuing their Musky rods, as I was told,so that influenced my decision to buy another one.The rods I have are heavy/xtra heavy duty actions in 6 foot, and 6 ft. 9 in. lengths.I like these heavy rods for my fishing, but am not against using a couple of my 7 ft. 6 in. flipping sticks if I need to. Different strokes for different folks. Thorne Bros. service has been decent for me, but I have seen the less than decent,or snotty treatment, at other fishing stores,too. At least Thorne's has everything you need to get going after Musky right there in the store.

[Quackaddict9]

I like my 6'6 St.Croix Avid musky rod and I am looking into buying a new one and I think the Pete Mania reel/rod combo will be my next selection. Questions for some of you.. The Shimano Corsair 300.. would that be a okay reel for musky fishing? I bought it for bass but it does not cast far and i figured it out that it will cast better with heavy lures so i was thinking of putting it on a musky rod and try it out?

[CodyDawg]

I can't say enough good things about Thorne Bros. I shop there quite a bit and have never seen anything but great treatment to customers. They really know their stuff and if you tell them your experience level they will try and fit you to the right equipment. That has been my experience.

As for your rod choice, be sure before you buy. If you dont like the one you got, return it and stop in a few places and try other ones. I personally feel you buy a rod more for the lures you will be using than for the fish you will be catching. Hooks bite into soft tissue ( I have yet to pull one out of bone) and most rods capable of throwing the kind of lures we use are more than capable of setting the hooks into the soft tissue. However, where you will really see a difference is what lures you can effectively use with a particular rod. So think about the lures you use with your existing rod, think about the lures you want to use and buy a rod accordingly.

[Gus]

I figured I would update those of you who gave great advice on my final decision. I did return the rod and I ended up getting a St. Croix Premer 7ft MH rod. I am very happy with the rod and the action. I loved this rod when first picked it up long ago but I didn't want to swallow the price tag. I eventually convinced myself that I should just bite the bullet and get a rod that I'll be completely satisfied with. Thanks again for all the advise. Now if June would just roll around....

[muskybuck]

As far as talking you out of a more expensive rod, you never know if maybe there was a better mark up on the cheaper rod and therefore they made more money selling the cheaper rod. Just a thought.

[Ralph Wiggum]

Now that is what I call rationalizing, muskybuck!

[scsavre]

I think you made the right decision with getting the St. Croix, Even though it likely cost you an additional 60-70 bucks. Jumping up to the 7 foot is also a good decision. Having that extra lenght and backbone of the premier will definetly make you more versitile on the water. It is also a great second rod to get. If I remember back my second rod was a 6.9 premier.

As far as thinking that the other rod was too flexible, I agree with others who thought so. I know what RK is talking about when he describes what all the diferent actions and weights mean and he is definately right. My first rod I ever bought was a 6.6 fenwick, 10-30 line weight and seemed to get the job done. However I was also 14 and couldn't handle a bigger rod. Last year for whatever reason I pulled the old girl out a took a few casts. It actualy tired me out more then my regular rods. It was too flexible with too much mid length bend. I hammered back on 2 fish and couldn't get a hook in either one. I blammed it on the rod flex (You gotta blame it on something).

As far as 2 piece rods go I have never used one. I just don't trust them. As hard as it is to get a musky to hit a bait, I don't want to risk loosing any fish because of equipment failure.

As far as thornebros I have never had a problem. I think their great, and have spent many of hours and dollars there. They seem to always be ready to point out the best deal like others have stated. They once pointed out a deal that if I waited 1 day I would save $50 on a musky box that I was alraedy going to buy. Ofcoarse I came back the next day bought the box and still spent the $50 on new baits. Muskybuck your likely right about the markups.

By the way guys it doesn't seem like any of you guys like GLoomis rods. I have four of them and never had a real problem with any of them. I actually like them alot better then my 2 avids.

I got one question for all of you guys. Have you ever had any probs with your Abu reels. I have had atleast 3 fall apart. 1 even came unsodered from its bracket. Iv'e swithched over to the mighty Calcutta seems to work.

Bottom line with rods and reels use what ever feels good to you. In time you will develop favorite brands and models.