The muskie has been called the fish of 10,000 casts, but Iowa Great Lakes muskie expert Lance Christensen says that"s an overstatement.

"It takes patience and persistence to catch a muskie," he says, "but if you are fishing good muskie water in the right way, they are not that hard to catch."

Christensen has a great track record on muskie tournaments over the years and who catches a lot of muskies each year on Upper Midwest and Canadian waters as well as the Iowa Great Lakes.

"Successful fishing begins with selection of the right equipment," Christensen said.

When it comes to rods, Christensen recommends two rods of different lengths to cover most muskie fishing situations. He likes a 7 or a 7 1/2-foot rod for casting bucktails and jigging and a 6 1/2-foot rod for fishing jerkbaits. But the most important thing is weight.

"I use Fenwick rods because they are about half the weight of a lot of rods and a few ounces means a lot after 10 hours of fishing," he says.

"When you are selecting a muskie rod, pick one that bends in the tip," he says. "You don"t want a pool stick for a rod. When that rod tip bends, the rod loads and does the work for you. The main thing is you want a rod that is light and comfortable and in your price range."

Casting reels are really the only choice for muskie fishing and Christensen uses Abu Garcia reels.

"They have withstood the test of time," he says.

Line choice is also very important. For years most muskie fishermen loaded their reels with dacron line because it was strong and didn"t stretch, characteristics needed for good hook sets.

That"s changed now and most muskie anglers have switched to the new braided super lines.

"I use Spiderwire Stealth line," Christensen says. "I use 100 pound test which has the diameter of 20 pound monofilament. Muskie lures are designed to be used with large diameter line and line diameter dictates what your bait does."

There"s another advantage to using super lines.

"I don"t set the hook anymore," Christensen says. "You don"t have to with the super lines. There"s no stretch. It is like a wire between you and the fish."

Speed is an important factor in eliciting muskie strikes, Christensen feels.

He characterizes most topwater and spinner baits as "reaction baits." And speed often triggers the strike reaction on those baits.

"The spinnerbait is really a versatile bait," he says. "You can cover a lot of different presentations with the spinnerbait without ever changing baits."

Crankbaits, on the other hand, are "feeding baits." The crankbaits often represent something upon which the muskie is used to feeding upon and Christensen fishes them with a "stop and go" action to simulate baitfish.

"Jerkbaits have been very good to me," he says. "They are a lot more work to throw and I can"t fish all day with them any more.

"Trolling is also a key tactic," he says. "I don"t like to troll but my biggest fish in West Okoboji, a 52-incher, was taken in the fall on a Swim Whiz. The biggest mistake you can make while trolling is putting too much line out. You want to keep the bait close to the boat. They may hit only 20 feet behind the boat.

"You also want to watch that you are not trolling too deep," he continues. "You have to have that bait where the fish are in the water column. A muskie will always come up to hit a bait but will seldom go down. They simply don"t see well below their position.

"As far as speed is concerned when the water warms up you can"t troll too fast and a fast speed does trigger fish," he says. "However, a fast speed will usually catch smaller fish. If you are looking for bigger fish, slow down or cast.

"I consider a speed of about a mile and a half to three miles per hour as slow and three to five miles an hour fast," he said.

The wire leaders traditionally used for muskie fishing are being replaced by monofilament. Yes, monofilament. Christensen now uses 100 pound test Vanish or Big Game leaders approximately 18-inches long. "I"ve had muskies nick the line but it has never broken," he says.

The line is attached to a swivel at the top and a large Berkley Crosslock Snap at the bottom by using a knot called the Perfection Loop.

Monofilament does not develop the kinks and bends for which wire leaders are notorious. Wire still may be the best choice in weeds, however.

Other supplies Christensen feels are essential when muskie fishing are a pliers to cut hooks ("I"ve never been hooked by a fish but if it happens I want a way to get loose."), sun block, polaroid glasses (both amber and dark lenses for seeing fish), a GPS unit ("I use them like other people use marker buoys.") and lead wire (solder wire) for weighting baits or to modify their action.

Larry Myhre is outdoors editor of the Journal. Reach him at (712) 276-5965 or email at: lfentfish@msn.com