St. Croix finally builds a spinning rod specifically for musky fishing.

[Red Childress]

For those of who dislike baitcasters or really dislike palming an aluminum reel in frigid temperatures, St. Croix releases the 8ft. spinning rod for 2017. I just ordered 2 of them.

http://stcroixrods.com/resources/newscenter/of-muskies-misconceptions-and-spinning-tackle/#.WgXQNNFOmhA

[ppalko]

I've been using a collection of spinning gear with my casting stuff for years. I use in-shore salt water rods and a medium heavy regular old spinning rod for jigging with a sizes of lures. The lighter spinning rod works great in winter when I tend to use "smaller" bucktail jigs a lot.

[ppalko]

For those that use spinning gear, what line set up do you use? I use #12 or #14 test mono on my two rigs. I make #80 test fluorocarbon leaders. Does anyone use braid? My casting gear has #60 test braid. I've never had a fish break off.

[Red Childress]

After experimenting with several different reel sizes and braids ranging from 50-80#, I settled with a 5000 or 5500 size reel and 80# for customers. I am definitely NOT saying that is the perfect rig for me but over time, that set-up 'behaved' better than the other line/reel combinations. There can be tons of tangles when using spinning gear with braided line but the larger circumference spool and the larger diameter braid helps to limit these problems.

I just picked up a sweet Penn Conflict spinning reel that holds 130 yds. of 80# to put on this new rod. I will primarily use this new rig for cold weather (>30 degrees) jigging. Another plus for this reel is there is no need to add backing as the spool comes with a rubber coating to prevent braid slippage.