Rods for Musky

C

CPRASAP

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May 30, 2011
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Hey guys,

I'm currently using G-Loomis, St. Croix (10wts) and Diamondback (9wt). for hunting Musky. I've been seeing some newer rods coming out recently specifically for Pike and Musky. I was wondering if you guys have used any or had any info on them. I know one is called a Pikesaber and I think Scott did a special series for Musky. Just curious to see if any of these newer rods are worth shellin out the money for.


Jay
 
IMHO... unless you can "doubleduty" a muskie rod for steelies or salmon I wouldn't spend the $$ for a "specialized" rod. Unless, of course you have a disposable income and like to buy rods... then have at it!!!
 
The Scott S4 Musky Special was a limited edition fly rod.
The Grey xf2 Carnivore. I have casted this stick. Its a ultra fast rod and very heavily built.

The Preadtor is made by redingtion but is under 9ft. and wouldnt recomend a shorter stick for this game.

I fish with a cortland 9ft. 10wt.
 
TFO clouser
8'6 10wt
really nice for shooting heads/sink lines... and that style of casts that you need for large flies

also curious about the TFO Mig-mag series
 
I use a TFO Professional Series 9' 10 wt for pike, muskies (if I can find one) and stripers.
 
If you're looking around, do indeed look at that 8.5 ft. 10 weight. It will make slinging big flies on heavy line, a LOT, easier on your wrist, arm, shoulder, back and who knows what else. But it will also help if you use that rod standing or sitting high in a boat. That way, you won't miss that 6 inches to help keep the line above water if you were closer to the surface. You wouldn't be casting all that far so a 9 ft rod will not be missed.

Syl
 
I do alot of casting from banks and wading. And you can still bang out a 50 or 60 foot cast. trust me you want the extra the 9ft rod gives ya. The 9ft. gives you a slightly faster lines speed than a comparable action shorter rod. The longer rod also airealisthe line higher and the fly further away from your shoulder and head.
 
I completely disagree
the style of cast is what builds line speed and technique is what keeps flies off your head... not the lenght of your rod

you should only be carrying 20ft+- of line
shooting 15 on a back cast and the rest on the forward

or on a belgium... carrying 30 and shooting 50

open loops or underhand casts depending on the surroundings
forget the DTS and LTs... 30ftwf heads at max or heavy and short shooting heads
 
I'd be interested in checkin out the shorter rods if they might have enough backbone to assist with boatside/figure-8 strikes. I've been having a tough time setting the hooks in that situation since the tip of the flyrod is pretty flimsy compared to the pool cues of conventional gear.

On the line side of things I switched from a Cortland Ghost line to the Airflo coldwater line and its been fantastic. I'm not the greatest caster but this line really helps me get a quick accurate cast of big flies in no time.
 
Most of my muskie FFing is done with a 9' 10WT overloaded with a 12WT line. I like a double haul, fairly open loop cast for throwing big muskie flies. I think much of this is a matter of personal preference. The trend in conventional gear muskie fishing has been toward longer rods in recent years, mainly for burning bucktails and getting a longer, deeper figure eight. For FFing, it's tougher as the rods are too soft for the deep figure eights and this procedure (at least in my experience) is better done with the fly closer to the surface and a long or very long fly rod does make this tough.

Use what yuh got.


The key, frankly, is putting in your time and focusing on high probability spots.
 
Thanks for all the input guys.

I'm happy with my current setups but always try to keep an eye on the new gear comin out too. Maybe not for immediate purchase, but something to keep in mind when it comes time to buy.

I've lost a couple of big fish that I got to hit on the figure-8 that were real heartbreakers. I felt that I wasn't able to get a good hookset. I'm gonna try experimenting with setting the hook in the opposite direction of where the fish is coming from to see if I can get lucky and get a hook in the corner of its mouth instead of hittin bone. Hopin I get to give that a try tomorrow morning as a matter of fact. LOL

Good luck to everyone and I hope the toothycritters are hittin with reckless abandon!!


Jay
 
CPRASAP wrote:

I've lost a couple of big fish that I got to hit on the figure-8 that were real heartbreakers. I felt that I wasn't able to get a good hookset. I'm gonna try experimenting with setting the hook in the opposite direction of where the fish is coming from to see if I can get lucky and get a hook in the corner of its mouth instead of hittin bone. Hopin I get to give that a try tomorrow morning as a matter of fact. LOL
Jay
Click to expand...

For what it's worth, I almost never fish muskies with a single hook fly. All my muskie flies have a stinger hook near the tail of the streamer. It's been my experience with conventional gear using bucktails that muskies often seize the back half of the lure, esp when following, and a fly with a single hook in the forward part of the fly may not get a solid hook-up. Strikes from muskies are just so rare that you don't want to blow the hookup bc you didn't have a hook in the back of the fly. Just my 2 cents.
 
My friend and I fish nothing but tandem flys for muskys. We have noticed that the hooks ups on front and rear hooks run about 50/50. We tye tandems for 2 reasons 2 hooks give ya hook set even if the fly take wasnt a headshot. And the second they is just a bigger longer fly profile in the water. I know alot of guys tye long synthertic flys pushing a foot with a single hook. But what happens when a musky comes up and doent take a head shot and just grabs the 8 inches of E.P. fiber behind the hook. Your screwed.
 
I'm right there with you guys on the stinger hood setup. I believe that I missed a lot of fish before I started using them due to the short strikes.

For instance, landed a small Tiger and a nice pickerel today. Both hooked on the stinger hook of a streamer I was using. Missed 3 fish on a surface fly that didn't have a stinger hook. I know I'm a little slow, but I think this is telling me to use stinger hooks more often. LMAO Although I am also aware that hooking percentage is greater on a streamer than a topwater fly, but I still gotta make it happen.
 
I dont like the term stinger hook it serves more of a function than just short strike hook. The way I tye my tandems it severs as more of a function to get more action outta a fly. And to build a bigger profile. Example of the of the 5/0 triple Im tying. It swims like a snake but i clip the middle hook point. So I have a hook at the head and tail of the fly. The 2 joints give it a real fishy swimming action in the water and a bigger platform for me to tye the fly on.
 
For the second hooks that are actually tied into the fly, I agree with you completely. However, the ones that I'm using for most of my single hook flies are what most consider a "traditional" stinger hook that is just slid onto the bend of the original hook.

I can't wait to get back out. I have a trip to Chautauqua coming up in a couple of weeks that I'm REALLY itchin for. I'd love to get one of those Chautauqua beasts on a fly!!
 
Yeah , I'm headed to tionesta next sat. Hopfully i get more than a sore shoulder outta that trip.
 
Cool. Good luck on the Tionesta trip. I believe there are Pike in there too, right? If so, maybe they will at least keep the action consistent so you'll be ready for that Musky when it decides to visit.
 
Pike are a nice side show. But I'll cast all day for abig grab.
 
Good luck guys! If you care to, write up a report and let us know how you made out and what you saw. There's no shame in a muskie fishing report that caught the skunk - it's part of the muskie fishing reality (and we could use some warm water reports).
 
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