I live in Wisconsin, and have very little exposure to saltwater rods. I have been wondering about the Pac Bay PBXII or Batson live bait blanks as Musky rods.

I know they are heavier than standard graphite, but probably tougher too. Are the actions on these fast enough to throw 1-1/2 to 4 oz. musky baits? I have not handled any live bait blanks, and am not familiar with their characteristics. Generally looking at 6'6" or 7'0" lengths.

Thanks,
Marc

Just so you know, a lot of SW fishermen are using Musky blanks for quite a few applications. I know Loomis used to sell the SAME EXACT blank labelled as Musky for one price, and for a higher price would have it labelled SW. EXACT same blank, no difference.

Live bait rods are for "live baits" ie mackeral, herring pogies, etc. They tend to have a more sensitive tip. Unless of course you are using some sort of live bait for Muskie...

I think if you are looking for a SW for Muskie fishing just look for a "beefier" salt water casting/spinning rod....imo.

Tom Kirkman had an article regarding Live Bait rods about a year ago. It was on a Seeker CLB 702, CLB704 or CLB 706 blank. I've made about a dozen of them in the past year, using his specs for Live Bait Striper rods and they work quite well. If you'd like more info, let me know and I'll look up what issue it was in.

Bob Turpen
Tiger Rods
Dawsonville, GA

Marc - just curious, with all the great choices out there for Musky specific blanks, why are you looking to a SW blank for Musky applications? I don't know anything about SW blanks either - I also live in Wisconsin :-) But, St. Croix and Batson make some very nice blanks that would be tough to beat no matter what they are "labled" for. All these rods are going to stand up to some serious big fish abuse - as long as they are treated well by the angler that is.

Good luck in your search - I'll be curious to hear if you find some SW blanks that fit the musky bill. Wait, muskies don't have bills.....

Hey Rich,

Two reasons. I think a lot of the musky blanks are great tools for casting baits, but have little to no flex for fighting fish. Also, it seems that SW blanks are more often available in colors other than flat black/gray.

I guess I am always looking for something a little different to play with. I have found many fly blanks that make great spinning rods (especially if you are an old Nightcrawler Secrets guy!), and just decided to play with Musky rods a bit.

You are right, muskies don't have bills - it's the musky fisherman running up the bills with those $15-$20 lures!

hat is what you're looking for, something with "cushion" when fish fighting, maybe a GUSA SW0MH would work? THE ratings are about dead on, I'm not sure if that blank has the power neccesary for Musky fishing. I know one guy who uses it for Kingfish with a Penn 535 and 40# line, but the fish take quite a bit of drag. I've got no clue when it comes to Musky fishing, at all.

MARC:

The Batson catalog has some Rainshadow Musky/Saltwater rods listed. You could compare those to the SW's. I was just looking at those, wondering if they might make a decent Sturgeon boat rod... now those seem to be hard to find....that is, to have the kind of action you are describing.

RON.

That's pretty much it Billy. Backbone with "cushion" - if that's makes sense. Musky don't make many long runs, but have some heavy head-shakes. With the no-stretch braids and a no-flex rod, when a big one pulls off, I wonder if sometimes it could have been landed if there were just a little give.

Thanks for the direction,
Marc

Lots of head shakes with a graphite rod are tough, they recover VERY fast and probably lead to a lot more lost fish. I'm running into this with certain blanks and certain fishing - what I've done to prevent tis is add a longer Mono leader and loosen teh drag a drop.

Having said that, you might want to look into a Composite rod such as a Calstar GFX or Lami CGBT. THe problem with these blanks, imo is they are physically heavy compared to an all graphite, which I don't think is comfy for a spinning rod in the FW. It's too hard for me to give you a recommendation not having Musky fished and not knowing the blanks you are currently fishing. MAybe if someone has tehy will be able to tell you if a CAlstar Gx 700L or a Lami CGBT 841ML would work. Actuall, teh 781ML is a light rod with not too much diameter, adn it might be a really good choice. I built one for myself for SW spinning using 1-4oz diamond jigs for Striped Bass and it came out pretty good.

Having said all that, I think teh Lami CGBT841ML might work for you.

Keep in mind I have not used or even held this blank and know nothing about musky, but you may want to look into a Rainshadow SW967. I was looking for something for throwing large swimbaits for bass and this was one that was recommended to me here... as well through some swimbait specific cites. Supposedly it has the ability to cast the large baits (3/4-4oz), good backbone, and has a mod-fast action that flexes down deep to help prevent tearing the trebles out when a big fish shakes its head with one of those big baits in its mouth. I have one on order as we speak, so we'll see how it turns out. Just thought I would thow it out there for your consideration.

TJ



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 06/05/2007 07:54AM by Tim Harris.

Marc - I see your reasoning - I like to play around with blanks too - have built a few spinning rods from fly rod blanks - great stuff there. I think the heart of the issue here is that most of the musky blanks on the market are built for jerkbait applications - and you aren't going to be able to put any action into the lure with a softer rod - so the rods are a bit like pool cues. Another school of thought is that you want a ton of power to bury a 5/0 3X treble into a mouth full of teeth and bone. The final school of thought is that you don't want to "play" a musky if at all possible - due to the fact that they are much more releasable if they are not fought to exhaustion. I'm certainly not trying to argue with you - I'm just stating my opinions as to why you see the musky blanks on the market that you do. FWIW - I've also heard good things about that Batson SW967. I've never seen one in person - bear in mind it's an 8' long rod, much longer than the 6'6" range you mentioned...

Seeker’s CLB series blanks are composite graphite/E glass/boron. They have a very sensitive tip with. . . plenty of give . . . and plenty of backbone.

Bob Turpen
Tiger Rods
Dawsonville, GA