clouserguyky
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Hey folks. Hate to give you another gear thread (maybe this should be in the fly rods forum?), but I'm looking into entering the musky game and I am needing some help considering rods and lines. Right now my heaviest set up is a 9' 8 weight rod, and while I think it could probably handle an average sized musky or pike, I don't think it'd be up to the task of casting a ten or twelve inch musky fly, but I could be wrong. A trophy musky would probably destroy it.
In my area, musky inhabit several streams and lakes of various size, so I'd like something versatile. I'm not going to be fishing for these guys a ton, probably just a few times a year, so I'm probably going to stick with either the TFO Esox or the TFO Mangrove as opposed to buying another Sage or other high end rod. I'll leave the high dollar stuff for my "daily drivers" so to speak.
Here are the two routes I am considering. I could sell my 8 weight rod and replace it with a 9 weight TFO Mangrove. That 9 weight could cover Musky, although it would struggle with some larger flies, yet it'd still be a suitable rod for all around salt water use, pike, etc.. I don't need a high end salt water rod either, so this would be killing two birds with one stone. I have a good 7 weight that gets much more use than the 8, so I'd be comfortable making this transition. This "all around" big game approach is attractive, and this is the route I'm leaning towards at the moment, but I'm not sure if it's realistic.
The other route would be to keep the 8 weight, and jump the 9 weight to snag the 10 weight TFO Esox rod. It's the same blank as the Mangrove with some specialization towards fishing for big game species. Rod designer Blane Chocklett describes those features in detail here: YouTube. With this rod, while it's a bit heavier, the extended fighting but could aid in reducing the fatigue of casting large flies hundreds to thousands of times. Supposedly the burled cork helps reduce fatigue too. I've searched this forum and others for info on these Esox rods, but haven't found a ton of detailed information from people who have them.
Let me hear your thoughts, especially you guys who fish for esox species.
In my area, musky inhabit several streams and lakes of various size, so I'd like something versatile. I'm not going to be fishing for these guys a ton, probably just a few times a year, so I'm probably going to stick with either the TFO Esox or the TFO Mangrove as opposed to buying another Sage or other high end rod. I'll leave the high dollar stuff for my "daily drivers" so to speak.
Here are the two routes I am considering. I could sell my 8 weight rod and replace it with a 9 weight TFO Mangrove. That 9 weight could cover Musky, although it would struggle with some larger flies, yet it'd still be a suitable rod for all around salt water use, pike, etc.. I don't need a high end salt water rod either, so this would be killing two birds with one stone. I have a good 7 weight that gets much more use than the 8, so I'd be comfortable making this transition. This "all around" big game approach is attractive, and this is the route I'm leaning towards at the moment, but I'm not sure if it's realistic.
The other route would be to keep the 8 weight, and jump the 9 weight to snag the 10 weight TFO Esox rod. It's the same blank as the Mangrove with some specialization towards fishing for big game species. Rod designer Blane Chocklett describes those features in detail here: YouTube. With this rod, while it's a bit heavier, the extended fighting but could aid in reducing the fatigue of casting large flies hundreds to thousands of times. Supposedly the burled cork helps reduce fatigue too. I've searched this forum and others for info on these Esox rods, but haven't found a ton of detailed information from people who have them.
Let me hear your thoughts, especially you guys who fish for esox species.