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Posts: 378
Location: Michigan | Your thoughts are appreciated? Fast tip, or slower action? |
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Posts: 2427
Location: Ft. Wayne Indiana | I think the 9 ft. Mike Hulbert/Musky Armor rod is pretty dang sweet!!! Fast tip, heavy action....perfect combo! |
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Posts: 1996
Location: Pelican Lake/Three Lakes Chain | The "Big Dawg" St. Croix Legend Tournament is the best rod I have ever used for these things. Makes casting them all day a lot easier (notice I didn't say easy) chore. |
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Posts: 1906
Location: Oconto Falls, WI | I use to have huge issues with being able to keep fish hooked on Mags until I found the 8’6” XH Lamiglas rod. What I found was needing a rod that had the backbone to toss/work the big rubber, but yet had enough flex to keep fish pinned. This became apparent while watching video of myself fighting fish, and watching my stiffer rods unloading during the headshakes of larger fish thus losing them seconds later. Once I went with the Lamiglas I kept a lot more fish pinned, got hooks into more fish, and also found it easier to cast the baits farther because of the rod loading up properly and “slingshotting” the baits out. |
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | What Mr. Wild said. Split Grips are the real deal, too. |
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Posts: 574
| Been using the 8'6 premier for a few years now, but bought the new 9' musky mayhem rod this fall. Definately like it better than the premier. loads up better, throws a pounder or blades nicely. Caught a 45.5, and 47.5 and handled them well.
The other rod I was impressed with is the 8'6 okuma. Lee Tauchen has a few 9'3s, and 8'6s in his boat. The 8'6 was really nice, I almost liked it more the the mayhem rod I had just bought... |
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Location: Des Moines IA | Have Frank build you a custom if you really want "the best" rod ..... one_more_cast is his ID on here I believe. |
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Posts: 375
| i second the croix legend big dawg rod...i use it for 95% of what i throw...light to heavy weight baits it handles them all great... |
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Posts: 440
| The Pete Maina 8'6" XH has been working very nicely. I had a Tica and Okuma in the XH and the Maina works better for ME. |
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | IMO you're asking about two different rods. With the Mag Dawg at 6oz and the 11" Curley Sue at 11oz I don't think you want the same rod. Sure you can use the same rod but I you'll be making a compromise. I like the 9'3"H (2-10oz) Okuma for the Mag and the 9'3"XH (4-16oz) for the 11 oz+ baits like a pounder and the 11" C-sue. Can you fish the light 6oz bait on the XH? Sure but it's not the best tool. If you don't want the length of the 9'3" then you could look at the 8'6"XH (great mag dawg rod) and 8'6"XXH. |
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Posts: 1237
Location: South Portsmouth, KY | my slingblade has been tossin the mags and medussas very well and have no problems keepin fish pinned with it. |
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Posts: 231
| MikeHulbert - 1/27/2010 10:17 AM
I think the 9 ft. Mike Hulbert/Musky Armor rod is pretty dang sweet!!! Fast tip, heavy action....perfect combo!
After holding one at the show, I was quite impressed. Especially the price tag. Or, the pricey route= Predator XH, I know you seen that option already, young man.LOL
Chas |
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Posts: 124
| I agree that the two baits are in two different categories, one 6oz and one 11-12oz. When it comes to the Mag Dawg, I really liked the 8' 6" XH Tica. Probably one of the most versatile rods out there. Not only that one of the lightest, telescoping, and a great price point.
Last fall I threw a lot of the 11" Curley Sues and started out with the 9' 3" XH Okuma. Liked the rod quite a bit, threw that weight of bait good... but then one day I gave that rod to someone else in the boat cause the bait on the end of it caught the last fish. So, I picked up the other Okuma 8' 6" XXH, and man what a difference! Not only casting the bait but, pulling the bait through the water was twice as easy! I was amazed. The 9' 3" XH did the job and I liked the length but, the slower action made it more difficult to cast and pull the bait. SO, I really liked the action of the 8' 6" XXH the best for the 11" Curely Sues and Pounders. The telescoping is priceless too.
Hope this helps someone.
Lee Tauchen
http://LeeTauchen.com
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Posts: 727
| I've used the toothtamer jawbreaker for 11inch curly sues and it was awesome. If your on a budget that is the rod I would consider. |
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Posts: 3242
Location: Racine, Wi | For the pounders and 11" sues, I love the 8'6XXH Okuma. It handled the heavier baits just as I had hoped. The 9"3XH threw them well too, but I liked a little less action in the tip for the pounders.
I haven't thrown the 9'3"H yet, but I will have to pick a couple up this year for throwing the mags. The 8'6XHs threw the mags just fine this year, but I like having the longer stick that the 9'3" would offer. |
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Location: Des Moines IA | I actually found the 8'6 XXH to be a little light for throwing pounders, so I picked up another 9'3 XH, I guess I need to learn a little more finesse when throwing the big stuff. I really like the 8'6 XXH for double 10's though. |
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Posts: 378
Location: Michigan | Good stuff gang... I have four of Franks customs already, so actually trying to find a good reasonably priced production rod for these applications. As for the baits being in different "classes" good point, and to further clarify then, lets talk about:
Dawgs/9" curley sue's
Mag Dawgs
11" curley sue's
Pounders
I am not gonna throw 2 pounders, or anything bigger than pounders, so I will stop there.
I think have the dawgs and 9" curley sue's covered, and potentially the mag dawgs all with the same rods. I actually throw those with a couple different rods, including 7.5 to 8.5 footers in MH and heavy power and medium to fast action. I have thrown mags with the slingblade and I think it's too slow... I actually like the Premier 7'6" H for Mags... But in general, when throwing these baits, I have struggled with good hookups at times... I can't make up my mind if i like a medium or faster action. With fast, i think I sometimes actually react too quickly and pull the bait out before hooks find flesh. But, the hookset is better if I can wait...
With the medium action, I feel like the fish has more time to actually get it bit before my reaction applies force to the bait, hence a delayed hookset (albiet fractional). But, the hookset is not as good because more of the rod loads.
So fast or slow???
That said, if we leave the dawgs, curley sue's, and even mag dawgs on one rod, can you ideally cover the 11" curley sue's and pounders with the same rod? Sounds like the XH or XXH are the ticket. Are the Okumas in those powers fast ? |
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![](<a href="http://flmnetwork.com/content/generators/skinny-sig-generator/">")
Posts: 485
Location: On my favorite lake! | BIG DAWG -St. Croix. Its just sweet!!!!!!!!!!! |
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | I think Joel and Lee described them well. The 9'3"XH is a more moderate action rod than the 8'6"XXH, with that you gain more fish fighting ability (my opinion) and hookset should be similar. This is all personal preference though. My favorite rod action was always the premier 8' w/ decent power but a moderate action that keeps fish pinned (obviously not baits in this class). As Travis mentions a fast action can lead to the rod not keeping a bend then a lost fish.
Edited by Will Schultz 1/27/2010 1:21 PM
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Posts: 378
Location: Michigan | How long is the butt section on the Okumas? |
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Posts: 231
| 17" I believe, Chad |
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Posts: 285
Location: Price County WI | Tooth Tamer Jawbreaker XXXH is rated up to 48oz and sells for $150
And New for 2010 is the 8'6"XH Jawbreaker JR that sells for $150, It was designed for double 10's but I threw Mag Dawgs last fall with this rod and it worked good for me. It has a 18" rear grip that I fell in love with. |
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Location: Grand Rapids, MI | 16" rear grip.
Specs on the rods can be found here: http://www.okumafishing.com/family/299655/EVx_Musky |
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Posts: 547
Location: Oshkosh | I also use the Big Dawg for about 95% of the baits that I throw. Great rod for this application!
Peter |
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Posts: 202
| For Curly Sues / Suzy Suckers I would recommend the Tooth Tamer Jawbreaker rods in 8' and 8'6". These rods have a lot of back bone and can handle lots of heavy use with these baits. Check out there new website at http://www.toothtamerrods.com.
Captain Doug Kloet
http://www.dougkloet.com |
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Posts: 288
Location: Montreal, Que. Canada | Would the St.Croix LT "the Jerk" be enough rod to handle the 11" Curly sues ? I realize it's 3-8oz. if I lobed them it should be ok?
Thanks,
David |
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| after busting my primary pounder rod this weekend in a little trolling incident that involved the kicker motor, i was "forced" to use a different rod for pounders that i normally save just for jerkbaits and ripping minnowbaits - the Black River 7'6" Heavy.
i'm as much a fan of the bigger, longer rods as anyone, so i have to admit my surprise at how great this rod was for tossing the heavy rubber. it made for easy casting and i could rip and jerk the baits in the water easier than the longer rods i'd been using for it, and i've tried them all.
it gives up a little bit in figure-8 depth, but it also made for much less strain on my casting elbow since it's not so far out there when loading up the rod - and that is becoming more important each year older that my joints get...
great rods at a better price, check out the full lineup: http://blackriverrods.com/index.html
Edited by lambeau 7/6/2010 9:02 AM
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| Once you throw a 9' XH Predator from Thorne Bros. you'll be $400 poorer and 400X's happier. Best rod out there for big rubber by a long shot. |
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| I love my Calstar rods from Frank's Custom Rods. I have thrown mags on many different rods and imo the Calstar blank is the best. They are a little spendy though, but if you want the best I would say this is it. I believe Thorne's can get the blanks as well and build you one to your specs. Thorne's or Frank's is a great place to start. |
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Posts: 157
| For the Mag Dogs I prefer St. Croix's Premier 8'0" Heavy. I used to use the Premier 8'6" XH, but found it a bit to stiff for my liking. The 8'6" now has my Saltist on it for rolling the big blades. She works great for that. With the 8'0" I feel like I get a bit more feel and it's a bit easier to finesse than it was with the longer rod. |
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