This year there is an emerging interest among Musky anglers in custom built
rods and in the use of something called a “spiral wrap”. In order to put
this in perspective, a short review is necessary.
Conventional Musky Rods
In a conventional Musky rod, the rod guides are oriented so that the guides
are facing up during casting and fighting a fish. This orientation has the
effect of putting torque on the rod as the rod is stressed during casting
and also during a battle with a Musky. During a fight with a large Musky,
the torque on the rod makes it difficult to reel in line and will, in many
instances cause the rod to fracture.
Spiral Wrap Musky Rods
The concept of spiral wrapping is not new. In fact, the original patent was
issued in 1909. Those who choose to discredit this “fad”
need to realize that this "fad" is almost 100 years old. Spiral wrapped rods
have guides at the bottom of the rod and therefore the torque applied to the
rod is minimal. When a fish is on the end of the line, the line is being
pulled down and toward the fish. A correctly built spiral wrapped rod casts
no differently than a conventional rod with the guides on top.
Casting and ease of use is the key consideration. Musky anglers are
creatures of habit. When we find something that works, we tend to stick with
it but that can prevent us from trying new concepts.
The spiral rod guide concept has the guides closest to the reel oriented
conventionally. The guides further from the reel are spiraled toward the
bottom of the rod to make the best use of the mechanical advantage from the
spiral orientation.
You will be hard pressed to find a spiral wrapped Musky rod available
“off-the-shelf”. You will have to find someone to make one for you. Marc Wisniewski, the owner of Angler Design
out of Greenfield, Wisconsin is now making custom conventional and spiral wrapped Musky
rods. They are priced competitively with mass produced rods and they come
with the advantage of knowing the person who made the rod. I have been using
custom made rods made for me by a gentleman in California for many years and I like knowing the guy who put the rod
together.
I asked
Marc about the susceptibility of the Pac Bay rod guides to grooving by the
spectra lines...he provided the following:
All the guides are Pac Bay Hialoy. I
have never had anyone come back with groves from using Power Pro or
Fireline or any of the braids. The tip top is a
flanged diamond polished silicon carbide. The flanged tip is
important when casting so that the line never touches the frame.
I am going to buy one of Marc’s spiral wrapped rods to use for the
2007 Musky season. I am persuaded by the amount of mechanical advantage
associated with the spiral wrap approach and I am always up for anything
with the promise of making it easier to cast for and land a Musky.
If you
want to buy one of Marc's standard or spiral wrapped rods, you can Click Here to
see Marc's page on Jackson Lures.
Tight
Lines
