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Posts: 209
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota | This year I got really into throwing smaller baits for trophy pike/river skis. All of the best pike I caught this year we’re on small bait, with my pb 44.5” caught in southern mn on a 4” phantom softail. I’m looking to get a dedicated rod for throwing small twitchers/gliders, bigger swim jigs/swimbaits, and small blades. I really like the looks of the 7’10” medium legend tournament downsizer. My favorite rod I own is a 9’ heavy legend tournament, the big nasty, so I know I am a fan of the line. Does anyone here have experience with the new downsizer line? I am not interested in the longer ML rods as this will mostly be used for pike fishing and throwing small baits from my kayak at river skis. I already own a 7’9” h cabellas swimbait rod, while it’s a good rod it does not have enough of a tip for me to use it for twitching. Any other suggestions would be appreciated.
2nd part of the question is reel. For my other musky rods I have Calcutta’s but I am trying to decide between a tranx 300 and a Komodo ss. I have been a fan of Shimano for a long time but I have been really interested to try the Komodo as I have heard nothing but great reviews about it and it is much cheaper. Any input would be appreciated thanks |
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Posts: 342
Location: Western U.P. | I can maybe give you a little insight into the rods you're asking about, and the Komodo SS. I've built rods on the new downsizer blanks, and like them a lot. They are lighter weight, with a lot more flexible tip (faster action) than most Musky people are used to... not that it is a bad thing at all, just something to keep in mind. The 7'10" is a good choice for kayak/small river fishing. It's the one I use for Musky on small rivers in my area with a Revo Beast 40. The Beast 40 and Komodo SS 364 work well on the downsizer rods. The Komodo SS has a really solid feel to it, a smooth drag, and great cranking power. I like this reel on the 8'8" & 9' downsizers, but would work fine on the shorter ones also. |
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Posts: 209
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota | Thanks for the insight on the softer tip. Would you feel that it is too soft to twitch say a 6 inch jake or even an hj14 effectively? The reason I don’t use my swimbait rod for those is due to the the rod having to much give in my opinion to twitch anything well. I think I am going to go with the Komodo, been wanting to try it for awhile and I always like to try new equipment. |
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Posts: 342
Location: Western U.P. | The 7'10" downsizer is a little different animal than the longer models. The tip isn't as soft or fast, and the blank has a more moderate action. This works fine for twitching, but check one out in a store, or at a show if you can before buying. Twitching with the longer ones isn't a problem either, you just have to take the softer tip in account while working the bait. |
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Posts: 155
Location: Cedarburg, WI. | I have the 9ft downsizer and for lipless cranks, baby depth raiders, mepps musky killers it is awesome. I have thrown 700 buchertails on it but wouldn't go bigger. Also it will cast a smaller bait a mile! Fun rod to fish with. |
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Posts: 209
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota | Thank you for the replies. I’m going back and forth about weather I want to get the downsizer or if I instead want to get one of the Dobyns champion xp 795 swimbait rod, or their 805 flip. That is a 7’9” medium heavy fast action bass swimbait rod rated for 1-5 ounce lures, or a 8 foot heavy Flippin stick rated from 1/4-2-1/2 oz. Might not be as good as the downsizer for throwing big lipless cranks and such, but it would have a little bit stiffer tip which I generally like for twitching and throwing gliders. Only issue is nowhere in Minnesota carries Dobyns so it will be hard to get my hands on one before buying it. Dobyns makes some incredible rods, I actually have used their 908 bass swimbait rods for throwing huge 10-20oz baits and it handles it as well as you can wish for a big rod to. I’m sure I’m just over thinking this and will end up liking whichever option I go with. |
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Posts: 71
| The rod you want sounds just like the last two I built!!! Both made on custom rod component blanks. 1 Korean and 1 usa made. I made a 7'9" and took an 8' and took 2" off the tip to make it a 7'10". Both rods built are around 6.5 ounces too! Only got to cast the 7'9" so far but was impressed. Just finished the 7'10" last week. These type of lightweight musky rods are kinda unicorns. I also don't like huge back handles so I keep the rear cork to around 14". If you are ready to spend that much money on a new Croix find a rod builder you can work with. I'm new to all this building...I make them for myself and friends. If you're around SE WI I'd be happy to build one for my cost....just to practice. |
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Posts: 209
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota | I had been thinking about getting one custom built, I’m from Rochester mn and there is a shop that does it in town. I was also thinking about saving some money and just getting a 8’ or 7’6 mh mojo musky but the 8 is 10 ounces which seems pretty heavy for a rod that length. Ordered a Komodo 364 already with the tackle warehouse Black Friday sale, they are 30% off until Tuesday |
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Posts: 1209
| Have you touched a st croix swimbait rod? I use a mojo bass swimbait rod for 4"-6.5" lures with no issue? To me having a slimmer lighter rod is better for downsizing |
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Posts: 71
| KT edge rods can build you one he is out of MN. Pretty good feedback on his stuff. I saw some TFO rods awhile back and thought they'd be great for a lightweight musky rod. Those mojos are just too heavy! I'm trying to keep all my builds with reels at 16 ounces or less.....tough to do. I also find these are my go to rods as I hate tossing big stuff all day. |
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Posts: 127
| I really have enjoyed using a 7'6MH St Croix Mojo for targeting large pike (40+"). I put a Tranx 400HA with 100lb braid on it. The rod has enough give that 30" pike still put a bend in the rod, but it has enough power to really handle the 40+" pike with ease.
My favorite lures to use are regular size bulldawgs and 6" phantoms. I can jump up to 7.5" phantoms without much issue (I actually prefer working them with the MH rod vs XH rods).
Not sure if this is helpful for you - I am always in search of the "optimal gear" for how I like to fish. And for me, this is the perfect setup. Good luck! |
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Posts: 209
Location: Minneapolis, Minnesota | Went to my local cabelas go get a feel for the downsizer and all they had was a regular lt 8’ mh and the downsizer 8’6” medium light. Although both rods are rated for the same lure weight there was a huge difference between the two. The ML was much lighter than I was expecting and the medium heavy felt like it was really close to what I’m looking for. Can anyone who has handled the 7 10 downsizer tell me how they compare to those two? If the tip is as light as the ML I might just go with a regular MH |
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Posts: 1
| Ogandrews - 11/28/2019 3:15 AM
Thank you for the replies. I’m going back and forth about weather I want to get the downsizer or if I instead want to get one of the Dobyns champion xp 795 swimbait rod, or their 805 flip. That is a 7’9” medium heavy fast action bass swimbait rod rated for 1-5 ounce lures, or a 8 foot heavy Flippin stick rated from 1/4-2-1/2 oz. Might not be as good as the downsizer for throwing big lipless cranks and such, but it would have a little bit stiffer tip which I generally like for twitching and throwing gliders. Only issue is nowhere in Minnesota carries Dobyns so it will be hard to get my hands on one before buying it. Dobyns makes some incredible rods, I actually have used their 908 bass swimbait rods for throwing huge 10-20oz baits and it handles it as well as you can wish for a big rod to. I’m sure I’m just over thinking this and will end up liking whichever option I go with.
I'm about 2.5 months too late for you but as someone who started musky fishing using a Dobyns Champ XP795, I'd be careful about the rating. I think it is a little overrated. It is probably closer to a 1 to 3.5 ounce rod.
I loved the action of the rod so I went with the St Croix Legend Tourney "Lip Stick". Which is a 7'9 moderate fast 2 to 6 ounce rod. Pretty similar feeling and just a bit heavier. Although I'm finding the palming seat a bit hard to get used to. |
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