MuskyGreenHorn

Has anyone been out yet? I want to head out next week, any info would be much appreciated.

I disagree with point number 8. Fish should not be moved when waiting for them to revive while you are releasing them. Also, it is true that you should face into the current when releasing them, you should take care to avoid strong currents.

I just got a large order of these (all the largest sizes for pike and muskie) and I have to say, these lures are some the the nicest looking and best designed lures, that I have ever laid my hard earned cash out for. I will post thist fall to report on how they stood up over the season and how many fish the catch me (I plan to fish the hell out of them on Lake of the Woods).

silicone in some pieces of pink Styrofoam. I am thinking building a box made out of this stuff and fiber glassing the outside for durability. My buddy uses pails and hangs lures around the rim. I have read that in the 70/80's guys used to use Styrofoam coolers.

Who owns or has used these and what do you think? There website is pretty nice and informative and they sound like a great product, but I haven't actually gotten my hands on any or tried them out. Who has and what do you think?

Fair enough Walshskie, good advice. I should have mentioned I plan on Fishing Lake of the Woods a lot this year. Whitefish bay in particular and hopefully Sabaskong Bay a fair bit as well. I am leaning toward a 9'-10' Okuma Dipsy Glass rod for about $30 and their convector line counter reel for about $80.

Sounds good, from what I gather a line counter reel is a must for trolling. I doubt I will buy a Loomis or St. Croix, or even Shimano for a rod. I have been a Shimano man my whole life, I fish for just about everything and have all sorts of set-ups, but I find all these brands over priced for what you actually get. They are all top notch and excellent products and I have experience with all of them, but Okuma is really winning me over recently. They use the same materials as the other guys and in fact build stuff for other names (basspro for example), so using their own name they can offer it a substantially better price. Service could be an issue, but I have read lots of good stuff on Okumas service. Plus their EVx rods (including the musky line) come with a lifetime warranty. How can you argue with that at half the price of a St.Croix Premier that only has a 5 year. Does anyone have experience with the Okuma EVx musky rods? Does anyone use inline planer boards for musky trolling? If so what do products do you use?

I was wondering if anyone could help me with picking a rod to do some trolling for muskie. I have been doing a lot of reading and I have come to the conclusion that a glass rod may be better than graphite for trolling??? I have read that a longer (8-10 foot) downrigger or dipsy diver rod may be a good choice as they are more forgiving when a big fish hits at higher trolling speeds compared to a stiffer graphite casting rod. Also the advantage of a longer rod helps keep lines spread out when trolling several lines. I am a big fan of Okuma and I plan on matching this rod with a catalina line counter reel. Okuma has a rod in their muskie lineup that is designated as a trolling rod, but i believe it is graphite??? I have other set-ups for casting bucktails/cranks/jerks. Now I want something specifically for trolling. Thoughts, opinions?