I'm in the search for 7'6" and 8'6" budget musky blanks. If anybody has any suggestions I would appreciate it

Try Tackle Industries. Very nice blanks for the price.

Jeremy

Musky Rod Series - MKY72MHFfrom Rod Geeks a good economical blank builds a super rod have built 4 for customers and they love them.

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Wi.

American tackle has a 7'6" musky blank. rated 30-60 I think. I played with it at the expo and it was very nice.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/11/2017 09:13AM by Capt. Craig Freeman.

The Tackle Industries blanks are pretty nice if you buy the 5 pack you can get the $65 a piece free shipping. James is a good guy, email him or shoot him a message on Facebook if you want to mix and match powers on the blanks and he'll make it happen. I've built several rods on the Rodgeeks Muskie blanks, they are fantastic. A little more $$ but in my experience nothing in muskie fishing is inexpensive and most guys that do it often know this. Throwing baits that big for that long it's well worth the extra money to be comfortable.

Now another question I have is proper handle size for the bigger musky rods

Chad, most guys typically want a rear handle length in the 16-18" range and 1.25" diameter. Fore grips are usually 5" with the same diameter.

It's all about personal preference but I've found those to be the most common sizes for my customers.

Jeremy

Jeremy is spot on. It's all preference for me, I prefer a longer but. I want the butt of the rod tucked between my side and my bicep. This could differ on where your customer typically holds a rod. Some guys palm reels, some guys use pistol grips etc. When I build for myself or friends I pick up a rod dry fitted with grips and a reel seat and fine tune it from there to preference. I usually end up in the 16-18" range regardless of length of rod. I typically opt for a 20mm reel seat. When I build for myself I oversize my grips a little bit because I have bigger hands and I don't want my hands cramping up throwing big baits. Since I palm my reel my hands are rarely on the grip itself unless I'm vertical jigging or fighting a fish.

Muskie guys are picky when it comes to gear since you're throwing such big baits for extended periods of times personal preference and comfort really come into play. If dry fitting and getting a rod in your customers hand is possible it is a good idea IMO.

Hopefully this helped a bit. I'm no expert by any means, hopefully Jeremy will pop back in if you have any more questions. He builds some beautiful sticks.

There was an article on building musky rods in an earlier RodMaker mag. Might also be on one of Tom's CD's of articles.

Hello Spencer.

That would be "Musky Rod Specifics" in Volume-7, Issue-3, Page-28, and in SE #2 - Task Specific Rods it is on Page 44.

Tight Wraps & Tighter Lines.

Bob,

New Bern, NC.

Thanks a lot for all your help

Thanks a lot for all your help