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Posts: 14
| Hi everyone. I'm looking for some advice on buying a rod and reel. I fish from a kayak, and I am about to be moving near waters that produces good size muskie and tigers, but it's not something that I am experienced with. I'm looking to buy my first rod and reel combo...I have a 7' st. Criox triumph (budget rod) that's a fast action, extra heavy power (rated for 30 to 80 lb test I think). I was going to pair this with an okuma akena 400 (5.1:1 ratio). I was wondering what applications this set up would be good for (if any) and if anyone could point me in the right direction as far as another rod/reel set up is concerned. Ideally I would like one set up that is useful for a lot of different tactics and perhaps one more to cover what the first one doesn't. Any advice on tackle/lures to start out with will be greatly appreciated as well. |
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| That set up should be fine, you just want to stay away from hard pulling baits like double 10 bucktails for a couple reasons, one is your set up is a bit light for them, the other is kayaks tend to get pulled while you are retrieving the baits. It is a blast fishing from a kayak! |
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Posts: 14
| Thanks for the reply! I'm looking forward to hooking into my first, and I'm hoping for a good tow. I know it's going to take a lot of research and even more casting to get myself there. |
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Location: sneaking out to get on the water ;-) | What baits are you looking to use? Imo xh is pretty stiff for alot of baits. My favorite rod is the topntail wich is an 8' mh rod wich I can throw the majority of my baits on. When I need something stiffer for big cranks, big rubber, or big blades I grab big nasty wich is a 9' h action rod. Its mostly personal preference but for most baits I think xh is ovetkill. Really will come down to the baits you are throwing. |
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | I'd go with a 7'6" H or MH for your cranks, topwaters, and bucktails. Your current setup will be good for jerkbaits.
Unless your kayak is stand-up I wouldn't use anything longer than 7'6". |
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Posts: 14
| Well, thats kind of my problem. Id like to know what I can actually do with the set ups I have. Its looking like I'll have two rods:
one medium heavy ugly stick tiger (7', seems like it has a fast action/stiffer tip) paired with a abu 7000i....i've used this for big catfish but i was thinking it would be useful for big bucktails.
The next set up would be a 7' st. croix triumph, extra heavy power (rated for up to 8oz.) paired with an okuma akena 400.
Right now I have everything except the okuma reel so I'm trying to figure out what lures would be best to use given what I currently have. I don't know squat about muskie fishing other than I know bucktails are popular, and I'm hoping that I don't need another rod/reel. |
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Posts: 14
| Thanks for the replies everyone, and good info flambeauski. I can stand or kneel on my kayak, and i've thrown small cast nets from it. I can also anchor with a stake out pole, as long as its in shallow water. I'm hoping that I can get some use out of my old catfish setup (the tigerstick). |
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | Catfish setup will be good for crankbaits. |
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Need advice