I've got a friend looking for a Musky rod. I've never Musky fished, so I'm looking for a blank suggestion. He's throwing Chaos Tackle Medusa Husky and Medusa Monster baits, so 10-16 oz. Most of the blanks I've seen seem too light for the bait, but I was hoping someone with some experience could tell me if they're capable of throwing 16 oz baits. He requested a 9' blank, but I'm opening the search up from 8'6" to 9' because there is only one 9' rod I could find rated anywhere close to high enough. Here are some of the blanks I'm considering, but I'm open to any suggestions anyone may have.

St. Croix 4M86XHF. 8'6", 50-80 lb Line, 4-12 oz lure, XH Fast

MHX MU108XXH-MHX. 9', 50-100 lb line, 5-16 oz lure, 2XH Mod-Fast

Rod Geeks MKY86XHF. 8'6" 50-100 lb line, 8-16 oz lure, XH Fast

Rainshadow Revelation REVM810XH-GBY. 8'10", 50-100 lb line, 6-12 oz lure, XH Fast

Seth,
Give Thorne Brothers a call:

[www.thornebros.com]

They have worked with St. Croix rods and have developed a line of Musky Blanks called the Predator blank that can be had in the exact configuration that you wish.

I do believe that they sell the blanks themselves to the public.

These folks specialize in Musky Rods, as well as all of the tackle that goes with Musky fishing. They are one of the #1 Musky equipment suppliers in the US.

Best Wishes

p.s.
I have built some Musky Rods using the Predator blanks and as expected, they are really wonderful blanks and the clients are very happy with the rods.

Like Roger said, the predator blanks would work. The St. Croix blanks tend to be labeled a little lighter than they are capable of. I have built on several of the Legend Tournament musky blanks. The 9’ heavy “Big Nasty” will handle the baits you mentioned above. If he really wants the XH blank, you could get the “Big Dawg” 8’6” and extend it to 9 feet. To date I don’t believe that 5he 10’ Legend Tournament blanks are available to custom builders...or that would be a great option as well.

Trinity Lindseth Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> Like Roger said, the predator blanks would work.
> The St. Croix blanks tend to be labeled a little
> lighter than they are capable of. I have built on
> several of the Legend Tournament musky blanks. The
> 9’ heavy “Big Nasty” will handle the baits
> you mentioned above. If he really wants the XH
> blank, you could get the “Big Dawg” 8’6”
> and extend it to 9 feet. To date I don’t believe
> that 5he 10’ Legend Tournament blanks are
> available to custom builders...or that would be a
> great option as well.

Interesting. That 9' heavy is labeled really light then, wasn't even considering it because it's 3-8 oz.

I use these and my customers are well satisfied with their builds

[tackleindustries.com]

Mega Heavy” XXH Power Blank:
– Blank length is 7’6? or 106? (9? blank)
– Lure weight rated: up to 16oz
– Power: XXH or Mega Heavy
– Speed/Action: Medium Fast
– Blank weight 5.9oz (7’6?) or 9.8oz (9?)
– Butt dia. 20mm/0.7875?
– Tip dia. 3.22mm/0.1265? (we use BMNAT8-3.6 Fuji Tip Top guides)
– Application: All purpose rod

The best day to be alive is always tomorrow !!
Think out side the box when all else fails !!!
Wi.

The 4M86XHF should handle 16oz without an issue, I've used this rod for Bulldawgs and never had an issue. I have a friend that uses Billy Vivona's XC804 and XC805's for heavy baits, he likes the fact that the rod isn't as fast at the tip and seems to take less effort to throw heavy baits. The downside to this blank is that it's only 8' long [rodgeeks.com] .

The MKY86XH with a few an inch or two off the tip is a fantastic big rubber rod. You would have to extend it to get it to the length you'd like but you'd be happy with it.

The predator blanks from thorne bros are outstanding but definitely pricey.

TI XXH will get the job done and won't break the bank.

Chaos Tackle shock and awe is probably considered the best bang for the money when tossing big rubber because that's exactly what it was designed to do. You could contact Rick about purchasing a blank or buy the rod strip it and build it to your preferred specs.

We are still on the blank search, so I'm thinking about the guides now. The plan is to use a Diawa Lexa 300 or a Shimano Tranx 300. What guide trains are you guys using to build these 9' rods?

The Rod Geeks 8’6” XH is a great big bait blank. Trim 1”-1.5” off the tip and extend it to 9’. I built one for myself just like it.

I prefer the Fuji K framed Alconites.

Jeremy