Dean's Muskie Corner
A gathering of Muskie fishing information and lore.
The Rod
Herein lies the area where most unexperienced muskie hunters will lead
you astray. You do not need, nor want, a short stiff broomstick like rod.
They were popular in muskie fishing history, but since "modern" rod technology
came into being are no longer the tool of choice. Years ago, before my
time, it was common to see a 5 - 5 1/2 foot heavy power, slow to medium
action rod that could double as a crow-bar. This rod works against you
rather than for you. It actually defeats the entire idea of a rod to handle
a large fast fish. It would be a great rod to retrieve sunken tires, but
not a fast, powerful fish like a muskie.
A great all around muskie rod would be a graphite 7 foot medium-heavy
power fast action casting rod.
Let's step aside for a moment and look at rod power vs. rod action.
Rod power is the strength of the rod, whereas rod action describes the
type of flex the rod blank has, specifically where in the rod this flexing
occurs.
Rod Action:
Given the lure weights and line strength used, you need to pick a rod power
which will handle these variables. This is what you normally see printed
on the rod. Perhaps somthing along the lines of: 7' Medium Heavy (MH) Line
Weight 15-30 lb, Lure weight 1/2 - 2 oz. Unfortunatly most rod manufactures
do not print the rod action, or state the power as action. Action is slow
to extra fast; power is ultra light to extra heavy. If you keep that in
mind you can decipher the power of most rods. If the rod does not have
the action information you can try to asertain this by loading the rod
on the floor (please not on a hard floor, find some carpet or your buddies
shoe to protect the rod from damage) and seeing where in the blank the
rod flexes. This is not scientific, but you can compare rods side by side
and see which is "faster" than the other with this method.
Back to our all around muskie rod of graphite 7 foot medium-heavy power
fast action rod. Why is this better suited to handle a muskie? It offers
the fisherman several things over a short stiff rod. A longer rod, combined
with the fast action makes casting eaiser. It's a matter of leverage. The
fast action makes the rod act more like a whip, to give the lure an added
kick on the way out. A longer rod also helps in fighting a fish. It acts
as a shock absorber, and allows you to more eaisly maintain a tight line.
You can pick up more slack line with a sweep of a longer line, so hooksets
are more effective. A short stiff rod has none of these advantages. In
fact near the boat it is really working against you. If you have only a
small amount of line out as you attempt to land a fish, and the fish makes
a run, the short rod cannot help absorb that stress. You are now relying
on your drag to be set perfectly and to start slipping perfectly. Further,
you put a large amount pressure on the hooks, which can give the fish leverge
to throw them, or simply tear them from the fishes mouth. A longer rod
in the same situation would absorb the shock of the run, allow you to slowly
lower the rod while keeping firm pressure on the fish and help overcome
the "sticktion" most drag systems have.
Longer Than 7 feet?
For all the advantage of these long rods, combined with the castability
of faster actions some people are using 7'10" medium heavy, fast action
rods for casting bucktails and smaller crankbait and topwaters.
Larger Lures:
Large lures, and hard pulling deep diving crankbaits call for a heavy power
rod, with a "slower" action, moderate to moderate-fast action is my choice.
The heavy power is needed handle the weight of the lures while casting.
People have also been sucessful with 6'9" or 7' fiberglass medium heavy
to heavy power rods, which typically have a "slower" action than it's graphite
counterpart. I don't like the softness of a fiberglass rod, and choose
to use a heavy power graphite rod for my
large lures. My favorite BullDawg rod is a 6'9" rod rated
for lures 1-5 oz! St. Croix used to make this blank in
a moderate action, it has been replaced with a fast action.
Trolling Applications:
Trolling rods for use with with planer boards are usually made of fiberglass,
8 to 9 feet long, medium-heavy to heavy power with medium to medium slow
actions. These rods are under a constant load while in use. The large portion
of the blank flexing acts as a shock absorber, as well as allowing the
rod to "spring" to eliminate any slack line should the line come out of
the board releases when a fish strikes. Fiberglass is strong, durable,
and inexpensive, perfect for planer board trolling applications where sensitivity
is not important. These rods actually handle fish very well, the long length
and slow action gives you all the advantage in the fight.
Last modified: Jan 18, 2000 by Dean Jansa
jansad@sgi.com