Musky "starter" Rig

[allegheny river kid]

Speaking as a fan of the cardiff reels..I like them, although they are nothing like my calcutta reel they are nice and fairly inexpensive...My advice is to learn how to tear them down and lube them(i really like quantum hott sauce grease and oil)..I try to hit them 3 to 4 times a year with a cleaning and lube(depending on how much time you put on them)..I'm not familar with the rod but am a huge fan of st croix rods. You will appreciate the longer length. A heavy action rod is a good choice is you only chose to have one rig, you can throw jerkbaits,crankbaits, heavier bucktails and fish regular shallow bulldawgs..hope this helped a little...

P.S. I'm not sure what that rod your looking at costs, but you maybe able to find a used st croix or another brand on the net that will throw a wider range of bait sizes..Used tackle generally saves you tons of money. I sent you a pm with a link to a website i like to checkout used tackle