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Posts: 7
| Hey,
I'm new to musky fishing and I'm excited about getting out this summer! I have one question for all of you experts. I am trying to figure out the best rod and reel to get. I am looking to spend no more than $400 for both. It doesn't have to be a combo, as I have no problem purchasing them separately. Any advice would be greatly appreciated! Thanks! |
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Posts: 386
| A really nice setup for a "newbie" in that price range would be a Tackle Industries 8'6" XH rod coupled with a revo toro NACL 5.4 ratio. Alternative reels I would recommend to keep you at that price point would be a Shimano 400B or a Daiwa Luna. Any of those setups would do you nicely on a wide variety of applications. |
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Posts: 149
| I have owned a lot of rods but my main go to rods now are Tackle Industries rods. Favorite reel is my TE400 but I will be buying one of the NACL reels soon for one of my TI rods. |
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Posts: 1638
Location: Minnesota | If you want the best 400 won't cut it. Musky fishing is not cheap keep your eyes open guys are selling rods and reels here all the time. I started out with a cheep reel i think it was a teaka did not last saved my money bought a 400TE best reel i ever bought till i bought the Tranx . I'm not saying go buy a Tranx and a thorn bros custom rod but buy the best you can afford. Just keep your eyes open and you can find good deals from guys that are up grading. |
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Posts: 311
Location: Lake St.Clair | Id go mi super mag pro and nacl used rod if you can find a deal.
love that setup for sure good for the $ |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | I fish pretty seriously and feel that you can get something that will treat you very well for $400. For rods a Tackle Industries for sure. I'd get an 8'6" or 9' rod. If you plan to start with smaller to "normal" size baits in the 2-4 oz range the H is probably the one to get. If you plan to use Double Cowgirls or heavier baits like Mag Bulldawgs get the XH.
For reels, I have used an Okuma Isis 400 for a few years. They can be found on Ebay for about $150. Mine has treated me well. Other popular reels to look at (which I have not yet used) are a Shimano Calcutta 400B for about 220, or Revo Toro 60 for about $300, or even about $240 on Ebay.
The TI rods are great for the price and will leave you enough money to get a pretty good reel.
Edited by curleytail 2/24/2014 12:34 PM
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Posts: 750
Location: Minneapolis, MN | You'll find that there are a lot of good options out there and really it's going to come down to personal preference. Part of it will depend upon if you only want to buy new or if used is also an alternative. Another thing to consider is what style of fishing will you mainly be doing, do you plan to throw pounders and double 10's or 13's your first few years or are you going to stick with the smaller baits. Popular rod brands include St. Croix, Tackle Industries, CustomX, and Tooth Tamer, but you'll also see a number of people who like the Gander Mountain guide series of rods. Like I said it really about personal preference, do you want a fast tip like the St. croix rods or a somewhat softer tip like a Tackle Industries rod.
As for reels it will the same general concept of preference and what your plan is. If you prefer low profile then Abu Garcia has 3-4 good options for you, shimano has 1, Diawa has 2' and there are more still out there.
My first combo was a St. Croix Mojo Musky rated 4-10 oz with a Shimano 400 B. Can't complain about it, caught me some fish so it did it's job. If you can make it to one of the shows that's probably your best option because then you can basically touch all of your options.
Edited by dami0101 2/24/2014 12:40 PM
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Posts: 639
Location: Hudson, WI | I'm a big fan of Daiwa reels. I've have a Luna 300 for 6 years and that thing does everything well. Never had a single problem with it whatsoever. I just picked up a Lexa 400 from Thorne Bros this spring, and the reviews have been very positive on them as well, so I'm looking forward to adding it to the arsenal. I have had a Revo 60 Premier for 3 years, and it's been in for service twice already. Still leaks grease like crazy. Great customer service, but I've definitely had problems with it.
As far as rods, Okuma makes some nice ones for the price, and their service is excellent. I've heard good things about TI and Bulldawg rods as well. I would probably go with a St. Croix Mojo 8'6" XH with a Lexa 400 or a Luna if it were me (and since I just bought that exact combo so it's fresh on my mind :). You'll be around $400-$450 depending on when and where you bought it, and you'd be getting a very high quality product with great warranties. |
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| I think much of the equipment issues are because we over think everything. When there were less choices we managed. Now that we have a ton of options, we need a ton of gear. I typically take a couple set up with me, but I use a 2 piece custom 9' 1-6 oz with a 400 TE on it. I also have a curado 300 ej on it from time to time as well. It travels well and throws everything from DBL 10s, topwater, suicks, smaller rubber, cranks/twitch baits. BR |
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Posts: 334
Location: Madison, WI | Chaos tackle has a new line up of rods that are high quality but do not break the bank. They have one that is one of the best "all around" rods available. Pair it with a lexa 300 and thats less than $400 and able to throw a wide variety of baits. |
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Posts: 216
| I have a few customs and almost one of every off the shelf rod out there.I just recently purchased a 9' xxheavy from Ti and I tell ya for the money you don't get much better.you have to spend twice as much to find quality componets on a rod this nice anywhere else.you can save some coin with a rod from them and have over $250 left for a reel. Gives you a few options. Id buy a new 5.4 revo toro and put it on a 8'6" or 9' xheavy Ti. You can throw a lot of baits with this set up.or see if you can find a used Calcutta te or d to pair it with.Spend more on a big money rod and your gonna limit yourself big time on a reel and you don't wanna skimp there. |
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Posts: 177
Location: ON | Who has more info on the Chaos Assault sticks? Any pics or info on handles? Not a ton on the web of facebook showing the product to well yet. |
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Posts: 216
| Check eBay for the chaos rods, they have em on there for sale with some info I was just lookin at em |
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Posts: 427
Location: Planet Meltdown | So many options out there but as others have said, you can't go wrong with a Tackle Industry rod and either a Abu NACL, Shimano Curado, Okuma Komodo. |
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Posts: 334
Location: Madison, WI | As far as chaos assault sticks are concerned they have a website with all the info. (Www.chaostackle.com - i believe thats it)"and they have good pics on their facebook page too. Ive tried all rods from compres up to legend.tournament rods and id rather spend money on baits then $300 rods. But thats just me. |
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Posts: 192
Location: Quebec, Canada | I would definitly suggest buying used. It's amazing the amount of people selling mint condition reels. For the reel, you can always send it to PIKEMASTER for a Pimp My Reel service to make sure it's even smoother than new. Most people seem to stop their choice on either Shimano, Abu Garcia or Daiwa reels. Personally, I'm a Shimano (reels) and St.Croix (rods) fan. I have a Curado 300E, 300EJ, Calcutta 400B which could all be very good used reels to start, mixed with a good 8'6" STC Mojo Musky or Premier 2-6 oz or 4-10oz could be a pretty good combo start up kit for less than 400$ used and still have money to buy a couple of lures (used once again). |
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Posts: 109
Location: Wisconsin River | Sling blade/Nacl. Go used if you have to. |
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Posts: 7
| It seems like everyone really likes the TI rods, and they are having a great deal right now. As far as the rods, has anyone heard anything bad about the telescopic rods? I like the idea of them saving space, but I'm just afraid the mechanism may fail. Or do you think an 8 ft or 8" 6 ft rod would be fine? Also, do you think it would just be smart to go with an xheavy rod or an xxheavy rod? I don't know much about the difference, so wondering what everyone is thinking. Thanks! |
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Location: Oswego, IL | I suggest to buy a less expensive rod, and more money into the reel. That way once your completely hooked on fishing for muskie you'll know what you really want, and know what YOU want to spend your money on. It becomes an addiction to wanting/needing the "best" of everything. Truth is, the "best" of anything is how you feel about it, not what everyone on a website says. If you go by the website answers you'll have about 20 of the "best" rods and reels in your garage in the next 2 years. First year, go cheap because it will be your last time spending $400 on a combo. Most importantly buy release tools - hook cutters, a decent net, good braid, and good leaders, etc these are more important than the "best rod and reel". So to join the crowd here if i were buying one set up for $400 - Id buy a Abu Revo toro 50/60 or a Winch (check the specs yourself on which one fits you) from Muskytackleonline, I believe you may be able to obtain the Toros for ballpark of $249 - the other $150 you got left there is a lot of choices for a rod in that range. Again its all personal pref as to length and ratings.. Lastly set up a savings account and good luck and fish safe. |
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Posts: 865
| I bought a 9'xh TI. telescopic for all med baits and double 10's and mag dawgs..... When it came I liked it so much I bought a 9' TI telescopic XXH to use for lg and Xlg Baits and Pounders...I did a lot of homework on these before purchasing and the results were all Very Favorable on the telescopic rods. GO for it you won't be Sorry
Mike Sr |
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Posts: 4053
Location: Land of the Musky | Out of about 3000 telescopic rods sold to date we have had maybe 3-4 rods fail at the telescopic joint. I have not had one customer email me with a complaint about the rods collapsing during fishing. Maybe 5-6 rods have gotten stuck in the out position and each one was successfully fixed. Overall the TI telescopic rods have been a huge success! We sell about 50:50 blend of telescopic 9' vs 1pc 9' which is surprising to me but I guess that many people need the storage options of a telescopic rod. For the rod power, the XH sweet spot is 2-8oz lures and the XXH is between 6-16oz lures. Both rods can throw larger lures but they just start to load up a little too much. Feel free to email me with any Qs or visit our booth to check out the rods at Wausau or Minneapolis musky shows coming up.
Thanks,
James
froghopper2 - 2/25/2014 11:03 PM
It seems like everyone really likes the TI rods, and they are having a great deal right now. As far as the rods, has anyone heard anything bad about the telescopic rods? I like the idea of them saving space, but I'm just afraid the mechanism may fail. Or do you think an 8 ft or 8" 6 ft rod would be fine? Also, do you think it would just be smart to go with an xheavy rod or an xxheavy rod? I don't know much about the difference, so wondering what everyone is thinking. Thanks! |
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Location: Grinnell, Iowa | Not sure how tall you are or what your past fishing experience is, but throwing 8'6"-9' musky rods can be intimidating and awkward starting out. I would suggest starting out with 7' - 7'6" musky rods. Once you get more comfortable throwing and working your baits and you have decided you are going to stick with musky fishing, then I would definitely upgrade to longer rods. Start mid-range to small and figure out what types of baits you like to throw and go from there. If you are willing to spend up to $400 you will have no problems finding a good quality set up. Good Luck! |
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Posts: 216
| cast4musky - 2/25/2014 11:47 PM
I bought a 9'xh TI. telescopic for all med baits and double 10's and mag dawgs..... When it came I liked it so much I bought a 9' TI telescopic XXH to use for lg and Xlg Baits and Pounders...I did a lot of homework on these before purchasing and the results were all Very Favorable on the telescopic rods. GO for it you won't be Sorry
Mike Sr
When I got my xxheavy I was thinking similar thoughts, "man these are real nice,and for the price I think I need an x heavy too." if it were me buying a first rod I'd get an 8'6" x heavy. maybe just because I'm not a real big guy at 5'10" 200lbs and when I hold that 9' xxheavy with fat 18" cork handle it does make ya smile and say "wow! This is a big rod! It's light but just the size of it could be a little bit to get used to. And I've thrown 8'6"ers for quite a few years now. |
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Posts: 200
Location: Twin Cities | TI rod and Shimano 400B reel-can get both for about $400 |
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Posts: 2687
Location: Hayward, WI | One of my two TI rods is telescopic and one isn't. I think my next one will be telescopic. I really haven't found a downside to the telescoping rod. I'd challenge somebody to be able to tell the difference in weight (tiny) the telescopic feature adds at the end of the day.
I guess I did musky fish through the long rod revolution, starting at a 6'6", then to 7', then to 8, 8'6" and finally 9'. With that said, I think I'd still recommend an 8'6" to 9' rod for a beginner. No less than 8' for sure. Figure 8's start to really suffer for me with rods below 8', and I never really caught much in the 8 till I went to 8'6" rods. I'm only 5'9" and have no issues with 9' rods. I started my 5'4" wife with an 8' and it didn't seem to give her any issues.
You might have to adjust your timing a little compared to a 6'6" walleye or bass rod but it should be an easy enough transition. |
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Posts: 994
Location: Minnesota: where it's tough to be a sportsfan! | T.I. telescopic rod and a Revo 50 or 60 HS. would be my choice. I have all TI telescopic split grips and not a lick of problems. Great rod at a GREAT price.
I however have mostly regular Revo's. The NACL has a real nice looking handle on it and sexy colors otherwise as far as I know they are the same. I personally feel that if I had one NACL I would have to convert all mine over just because of the huge difference's in handles. So I stay with my Revo's. I did buy a used Revo on M1 that came with reel grips on the handle. By the end of the season I had them on ALL the reels. Mine and my guest's. You can find a used Revo in the $175-$195 range. You can get the TI rod for $150 or so. That leave you $65 under budget to spend at the Muskie show on baits!! Or think of it as FREE braid for the reel. |
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Posts: 139
| gopackgo - 2/24/2014 11:14 AM
A really nice setup for a "newbie" in that price range would be a Tackle Industries 8'6" XH rod coupled with a revo toro NACL 5.4 ratio. Alternative reels I would recommend to keep you at that price point would be a Shimano 400B or a Daiwa Luna. Any of those setups would do you nicely on a wide variety of applications.
this is good advice. TI rods are good for the price, i would also throw in the Shimano 400D as well. I would probably start out with an 8' rod however. To me its the perfect length.. you don't have to worry about fishing out of a boat to low or high from the water. |
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Posts: 219
| All reel options mentioned are good. I like the Abu series of reels. For Rods - ToothTamer 8'5' heavy is really hard to beat for an all aroung rod: great balance, priced right, great value. Check them out, definatley worth it. |
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Posts: 7
| Thanks James! Just bought two TI rods for my brother and myself. Can't wait to get them in the mail! Now just got to test out some reels and I'll be ready to go! |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | Frogghopper it really depends on how much fishing you are going to do, and how you plan to fish. A lot of the opinions here are based on each person’s personal preference in fishing style. For a lot that has becoming burning big, hard pulling bucktails and chucking heavy rubber baits. So if that is what you intend to do the options listed are good ones. If starting out you want to keep it simple, have one all around set-up for most applications, and keep it fairly cheap ($400 is actually a lot) you can do so. You’ll still be able to chuck the rubber and double 10 bucktails, but just not as efficiently.
As a beginner I would highly suggest going with a Shimano Cardiff, and a St. Croix Mojo rod. Get the rod in MH action and between 8-8’6”. If you have not used a long rod you may find a 8-6”-9’ rod just being a bit much like some of my past clients did. If you know you are going to be doing this a long time I would upgrade the real to a Shimano Calcutta 400B or a Shimano Curado 300E (low profile, bass style reel). I have used a lot of reels in the past and the Shimano by far hold up the best day in and day out.
Dang I just saw you already got a rod from TI so you can ignore my rod suggestion. |
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Posts: 667
Location: Wisconsin | froghopper2 - 2/26/2014 2:25 PM
Thanks James! Just bought two TI rods for my brother and myself. Can't wait to get them in the mail! Now just got to test out some reels and I'll be ready to go!
Which rods did you choose?? |
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Posts: 7
| Hey. I chose the 8'6 xxh and the 8'6 xh rods from TI. They should be here this week! |
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Posts: 31
| TI rods I don't know. Stiff as a broom and the idea of having thicker handles and length of 18.5 will sure make a figure a work out. Not sure where the idea of thicker handles and comfortable came from. And length of handle sure makes transition from one side to the other awkward. Recommend Okuma Evx perfect handle size and diameter. IMO |
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Posts: 31
| Just bought TI 9 xh telescopic and as stated above not a fan. Anyone in Chicago area pick up for 90. Used it twice. PM or text at 773-704-5879. Thx |
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Posts: 1084
Location: Aurora | jakeeu - 4/25/2014 10:55 PM
TI rods I don't know. Stiff as a broom and the idea of having thicker handles and length of 18.5 will sure make a figure a work out. Not sure where the idea of thicker handles and comfortable came from. And length of handle sure makes transition from one side to the other awkward. Recommend Okuma Evx perfect handle size and diameter. IMO
I'm sure that everyone who loves a nice limp rod and short handle when working a fish boatside will agree with you.
Also, what you're saying about TI's stiffness contradicts several past posts stating that TI's are actually a little on the softer side when it comes to action.
Lastly, you should try and sell your rod on the Buy,Sell, Trade board.
Best of luck!
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Best Rod and Reel