Rod/Reel Combo for musky

[Croix]

Question for all you musky experts, looking to add a combo to the collection. Here is what I have in mind. An 8 foot St. Croix Premier Medium Heavy with a Penn 975LD International bait cast. This would be for dogs, DC, and various other big baits. Thanks for the input, it is really appreciated!

[MuskieMojoTackle]

You'll be reasonably happy with that rod, but I would suggest going with a Heavy action.

The Penn is a great choice for the reel, but I would stay away from the 975LD. That is a lever drag reel. Go with the plain old 975.

[10,000 Casts]

Luke is right. The MH is rated for 3 oz. Thats fine but for the hard pulling stuff, why not go with the H action that is rated for 6oz? It will throw mag dawgs alot easier too.

[fishwithteeth]

I have the 8' MH St. Croix with a Garcia 7000 reel. Works great with CG's, Bucktails, and top water, but if you are throwing dogs you'll want to go to a heavy action rod. If I throw a dog with my MH rod it feels like it may snap.

[Croix]

The Penn is a great choice for the reel, but I would stay away from the 975LD. That is a lever drag reel. Go with the plain old 975.

Why the 975 over the 975LD?

I get 40-45% off St. Croix rods and anything made by pure fishing due to the fact that I am on the UW-Madison fishing team. Both penn and Abu are a part of pure fishing, I cant go wrong with the penn 975 or the abu 7000, both great options?

Thanks for the input fellas.

[ole matty]

I love my mh 8' sc but I would not use it for mag dogs, I wld size up to heavy n get penn instead of 7000...only difference is 100 -120. bucks between 2 of them.

[MuskieMojoTackle]

Originally Posted By: MuskieMojoTackle

The Penn is a great choice for the reel, but I would stay away from the 975LD. That is a lever drag reel. Go with the plain old 975.

Why the 975 over the 975LD?

I get 40-45% off St. Croix rods and anything made by pure fishing due to the fact that I am on the UW-Madison fishing team. Both penn and Abu are a part of pure fishing, I cant go wrong with the penn 975 or the abu 7000, both great options?

Thanks for the input fellas.

The drag adjustment is the only difference in the two reels. Lever drag is just a pain in the @ss. Conventional star drag on the 975 is much easier to adjust.

The 975 is a very good, nearly bulletproof reel. I have personally had very good luck with Abu 7000's in the past, but there have definitely been some quality concerns in the past couple years.

If you can swing the extra cash, I would definitely to with the 975 over the 7000. Much more durable.

[8-Ball]

I have a St. Croix PMH/6'9 and it is rated 1-5 oz... I don't have any DC's or Mag Dogs ,etc. but have trolled some pretty large Believers, etc. w/no problems to date.

[10,000 Casts]

Just a quick question for me,

The 975 has the level wind right? The 975CS is Non level wind?

Also,

Garcia has the Toro comming out and it is going to be super sweet. It's a low profile with a huge winch and it has the line capacity of a 6500. You can get it in either a 4-1 or there is a faster version. It should be out anytime if it isn't already.

[MuskieMojoTackle]

yep, 975 has a LW. 975CS does not

[JRedig]

I always see people posting that they need a big rod/reel combo for double 10's and dawgs. IMO, I don't feel these two style's of lures have the same need from the perspective of the rod and reel setup's. I've been out trying to throw DCG's with a dawg rod and it sucks, maybe it's just the setup I was using. But I was with Jonesi this year and same thing with Hamernick last year. It seemed like a helluva lot of work to load that big rod up to throw a DCG and it didn't go nearly as far as with the setup I use for the same bait.

I understand needing a big/powerful reel for the DCG's, but dawgs retrieve pretty easily with just about anything. I find if i'm ripping them, I like a higher gear ratio reel too for picking up the slack, my 4.7:1 reel for DCG's doesn't do that well...and a 6.2:1 for DCG's is a fast lane to the pain room, IME.

Just my $.02

Jeff

[Rmac]

I agree with Jeff, those baits are a lot different. I like a rod that will throw the dcg better, rather than stay straight during the retrieve. When retrieving any bucktail, I will usually point the rod towards it so the rod isn't doing all the work.

By the way, Jeff were you putting in on WBL right before sun up this morning?

[JRedig]

By the way, Jeff were you putting in on WBL right before sun up this morning?

Only in my dreams, I was out semi-late last night and haven't done the early morning weekday thing for a while now. Might need to start though, evenings are getting short/tiring thanks to work.

Which launch? I don't use the public launch there anymore either, the permit is worth every penny.

I've got a blue upper/white lower 16 foot crestliner with a 35hp evinrude and a blue 01 chevy tow rig, for future reference.

-JR

[Rmac]

I was at Ramsey county. I am gonna have to bite the bullet on the Manitou pass one of these years though.

I don't know why I thought it was you, I think cause I've seen you mention a smaller rig and there were a couple of us there.

Morning was slow though. Not much happening. I got a grey 03' Lund Rebel with a 40 yamaha tiller. See ya out there.

[b1gf1sh1]

go heavy on the rod. maybe you prefer the MH because it's what your used to? you'll get used to it. go with your prefered style reel but beware durability issues and customer support. cheap reels have cheap components, go figure huh? had my TE three years and it punked out on me in july. had a brand new one sent to me in 10 days, free from california. i'm thinking now it always had issues. this one acts nicer for some reason. maybe something was tooled wrong? who knows. but if you don't mind changeing reels more often with a new one why not go a little cheaper.

[HugoBox]

I'd not tell you what to do with your $$ but I went real heavy with a 9 footer and was nervous that I wouldn't use it enough. Its a bit long for my comfort with jerk-baits and WTD's but I've thrown pounders and DCG's right down to Fudally's musky candy. Point is if it was lighter I think it would be a bit more work to throw the big stuff. Also, regarless of the weight you choose I'd go as long as you can. RK and Cjac have both commented on fewer lost fish with the longer rods and from what I can tell just one year into it is that they are on to something.

Also, I throw with the 7000 and its been good for me. I don't burn 'em though, I'm too lazy!

Good luck - erik

[b1gf1sh1]

Quote:

RK and Cjac have both commented on fewer lost fish with the longer rods and from what I can tell just one year into it is that they are on to something.

yep. it's true. when setting a hook a longer rod picks up more slack line. resulting in a better hookset, not to mention force and... another time maybe. off topic a little... when purchaseing a rod for a child consider that. those three footers aren't the ticket. long rods are better for kids. besides, kinda cute when the rod is twice their size, lol.

[Croix]

Thanks for the responses/information, it made my decision alot easier. Going with the penn 975, especially since I get 45% off through the uw-Madison fishing team!