Best Casting Rod For LSC

[Stephen]

Guys,
I'm ready to drop some $$$ on a casting outfit for LSC Pike & Muskie. I'll be throwing mostly crackbaits / spinnerbaits and the occasional jig. I'm thinking a 7' MH Fast Action. I've fished similar set ups in the past for pike on smaller lakes and liked it.

Any one have any tips or reviews of their favorite set up for the big water? Let's pretend $$ didn't matter for the time being.

Thanks for the help.
Steve

[ESOX]

First question, what weight cranks and spinners? Any casting rod will perform best when casting a bait towards the upper end of it's weight rating. I will use anything from a heavy bass flipping stick to a telephone pole.

[fishinthed]

For casting, I like 'em long, Steve. About 8ft minimum.

I have a heavy power BPS Pete Maina all-purpose 8.5 footer I really like, and serves well for casting and trolling with typical size musky baits of about 1 to 5 oz.

As for reels, I'd also recommend going big, mainly so you can crank fast with power. Dunno much about specific models, 'cause the best ones are all way out of my price range. I do know Abu/Ambassadeur and Shimano make some nice ones with large diameter spools and high enough gear ratios to really crank.

[Roughneck1860]

Most of my casting rods are 7'6"-8" 1-6oz rods. That covers most of what I throw. I have them paired up with Abu 6500's and 80lb Power Pro. I've got a couple of StCroix Preimers that are nice but for the money my favorite are a pair of Okuma EVX series rods. They were $75 less than the SC and if you close you eyes you'd never notice the difference between the EVX and SC Preimers. I really recomend takeing a look at them. One other thing I'll memtion is when it comes to reels try and keep your retrieve ratio under 5.4:1. Any higher than that it becomes a real work out cranking in the bigger spinners and crank baits. I like the 6500 becuase they also have a clicker on them which somes in handy because often when Im done casting an area if I've raised any fish I'll go over it with a quick trolling pass. Haveing a combo that will do both is nice. With an EVX rod and Abu reel you could get into a very nice combo for under $200. I guide over here on our side of the river and lake and my equiment takes a beating. Those combos have held up very well to it all. You could spend ALOT more but there really isnt any need to.

Good Fishin'
Tim

[Stephen]

Looks like I'll opt for a bit heavier rod than I thought. I have the reel covered with a Shimano Cardiff. I'll definately check out the Okuma's.

[Roughneck1860]

I forgot to mention that the Gander Mountain line also has some decent rods for the money as well. I have a couple of their 7' H that I use as jerk bait rods for clients.

Tim

[ESOX]

Take that Cardiff back to the store and get an Abu Record, they have much better drags and stronger drive gears, besides casting better, all for a couple bucks more. Hard pulling muskie baits will trash the drive gears on that Shimano in a year of hard fishing.

I realy want to try one of these for a year. If money were no object, I would just buy one. How do I become a Daiwa field tester???
http://www.tackledirect.com/daiwa-td-pluton-200h-team-daiwa-pluton-baitcasting-reel.html?productid=daiwa-td-pluton-200h-team-daiwa-pluton-baitcasting-reel&channelid=FROOG


For a rod, the two I use the most are a St Croix Avid AVC710HMF, a 7' 10" 2 oz flipping stick that is great for smaller cranks like the Super Shad Rap, smaller spinners, and jig and creatures combos. That has an Abu Record 50 spooled with 50# Power Pro.

The other(s) that get the most play are a pait of discontinued muskie sticks, but they will give you the idea. They are both just under 8' One is a Loomis Muskie series the other a St. Croix Avid muskie series, both rated to 3oz. They are used for regular sized muskie buck tails and medium sized cranks. One had a Record 60 on it, the other an Abu C4 6500.


To round out the arsenal at the light end ends are a pair of 7'6 rods one an All Star flipping rod (rated to 1 1/2 oz) with a Daiwa Millionaire on it for smaller offerings.

The other a rod that excells at post cold front husky jerkin, a 7' 6" Loomis GL3 light flipper, rated to 3/4 oz, Daiwa TDX reel on it.

On the heavy end, some more discontinued Loomis rods, up to 4 and 6 oz respectively, for those days I feel 30 again. LOL
One more record, and another c-4.

You may notice there are a lot of abus and daiwas, and no shimanos. Thats because I discovered a long time ago that they hold up better, Shimanos just arent made with the same high quality gears, spool axles etc.

[Roughneck1860]

You may notice there are a lot of abus and daiwas, and no shimanos. Thats because I discovered a long time ago that they hold up better, Shimanos just arent made with the same high quality gears, spool axles etc.

I'm with you 100% there. I used to have a couple of Fenwick rods with Diawa Millioniares on them. What a sweet combo they were. Somebody else liked them aswell and they dissapeared out my boat one day while I was parking the trailer.......:rant: . How do like the Record? I've bene thinking about picking up a pair of them.

Tim

[ESOX]

I love the records, one heck of a lot of reel for the money. Cast a mile, smooth as silk, with Abus usual powerful and smooth drag on them. :)

[headbanger421]

I like the Gander MTN Pro Guide models. For around $80 you get a pretty good rod. You can get 8-8'6" models.

[fishinthed]

I haven't used Daiwa or Shimano casting reels, but have used a smaller Ambassadeur and it was great.

Anybody use the big game Ambassadeurs, such as the 9000 or 1000?

I've been considering those or the Record if I upgrade from the Penn 309s I've been using (the only bad thing I can say about which is the lack of any anti-backlash device).

Do you know how much line the Record cranks per turn, Esox?

I also have an Okuma EVX 7'4" extra-heavy rod that is my giant bait rod, and served me well in my rookie musky season. It's pretty much a "broom-handle," but could probably cast a 4lb downrigger ball, and is great for trolling the giant baits in the late fall when a lot of backbone is needed to get those big hooks set moving relatively slowly.

[Stephen]

Well I'm stuck with the Shimano so we'll see how long it lasts. I don;t get out much so maybe it will hold up ok.