I guess it depends on the type of rod you're casting. For me, I fish muskie - 9' rods with baits typically 4 to 9 oz. For a 9' rod, I make an 18" handle. If the exact center of the handle at 9" is the fulcrum, picture me swapping ends by "pushing" the reel seat forward while "pulling" the butt end toward me while the fulcrum doesn't move. I use no shoulder or any
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. All I use are this series MHX blanks, although I use 8', 8'6", and 9' sizes. They are wonderful for muskies.
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Take a serious look at MHX blanks (MU series) sold by Mud Hole. That's all I use now. Favorites are 8', 8'6", and 9', depending on the baits I'm throwing. All are heavy power/fast action, but still "soft" enough to give you what you described. I throw baits from 2 oz to 8 oz on those. The first two rods I built were 8' that I took to Canada last Sept. The first fish on each o
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There's some truth to that. I fish mainly for muskies. For longer muskie fishing rods, I make a slightly longer handle to get more torque to load up a rod when casting, so you can get that distance with a longer rod. If you're casting and trying to hit a specific location next to a rock, between down trees, or a weed pocket, you're better off moving closer to get the precision you need to hit
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I see what you want. You may wish to consider the alconite. If you use it and don't like it, not hard to remove if you use standard tip-top hot melt glue. The MN series differs by the tang on the top. Not really necessary, but would work. Good luck!
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Mud Hole has the SIC option in the MG tip top - I don't know anything about concept O. I've been using these Fugi guides guides and tip tops after consulting a rod builder who is also an instructor for the Mud Hole rod building course as well as a mentor. While I use these, there are many other quality guides out there. My goal for building muskie rods is to use quality parts with no weake
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Guides: Fugi MN Tip Top: Fugi MG Alconite I've built six rods in the last year with those parts. Have parts and will build two more before the muskie season opens in June. I'm especially pleased with how they work.
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Update after my trip with new MHX rods. I left for Canada with two MHX 8' heavy rods with conventional setup and one MHX 8'6" heavy rod with new Revolution reel seat that I designated the "community rod" for the four of us to try. I wanted feedback on how the Revolution reel seat felt to all. In addition, one of our group had an identical 8' heavy MHX rod that I had built for h
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Update - I received a shipment from Mud Hole yesterday with two 8'6" heavy/fast MHX blanks so I built an additional pole with the new Revolution reel seat. Rod is drying now and will be ready when I leave. We'll have four MHX rods there and I'm sharing the Revolution seat rod with the group so we can all see how it feels. Feedback on the rods and the new seat when I return.
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Almost exclusively casting. The only time I troll is if I'm too tired to cast or sometimes while eating a snack. Nothing like feeling that hit while reeling in a bait.
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A week from today, I'll be on my way to LOTW for a week of muskie fishing. In the last three months, I've built three muskie rods using 8' heavy MHX blanks (MU96H). I have two and I built another at cost for a friend going with us who wanted one after seeing my rods. All three will get a good workout. I didn't see much about MHX blanks for fishing muskies so I'll update this thread after the t
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