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Good reel but the HS will get exhausting on inlines. Should be great sledges, spooks and jerk baits

Hi all, The fishing has been as good as the weather here on Wabigoon Lake. I had the pleasure of guiding a father and son duo and then ga grandpa and his grandson on their birthday treat. We got tons of walleye, BIG crappie and decent pike and musky action. Good Times!

Traditionally...for whatever reason...if you're right handed you fish a spinning outfit with the rod in your right hand, and reel with your left hand. With a baitcaster, right handers typically hold the rod with their left hand, and reel with their right hand. However, some folks will use their right hand to cast, and then switch the rod to the other hand to reel with their right hand. Then to make it even more confusing, some will cast with their left hand, but switch to their right hand to "figure 8" at the end of the retrieve. Bottom line...just fish the way that's most comfortable for you. Some guys like the rod in their dominant hand, and some prefer to reel with their dominant hand. I don't think there are any "rules".

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I liked the Calcutta reels and used them for years. The CT's were a good casting reel for bucktails and spinnerbaits but my usual go-to was a TE with a power handle and it was incredible for burning baits fast and working large jerk baits. I also had an Ambassador 5500 with a power handle and while a lot less expensive than a TE it worked quite well for jerkbaits. For trolling I found the Tekota 600LC was a good as they get. All just my own opinion though.

I have only done a bit of musky hunting and last year a few of you recommended the kawarthas and I went out once and had a musky follow which was really cool! I think I will stick to kawarthas-size musky. Seem to be more plentiful. Balsam, Cameron and pigeon are the lakes that I have some familiarity with, Round lake near havelock is on my radar. So I guess the 300s would be appropriate. Gbay skis are just to hard to get! Maybe if I get hooked on the kawartha skis I'll graduate one day to the trophies.

The Abu might be a great reel...I just don't have any personal experience with it. I will say this...I just spent 10 days at a camp in NW Ontario known for trophy Musky. 90% of the other anglers were hard-core Musky guys mostly from the upper mid-west US. 80% of them were running Tranx 400's. If most of your Musky fishing is in the Kawarthas, then a 300 size reel with 65lb braid is perfectly fine. If you plan to hunt trophies on G Bay, the Ottawa, NW Ontario etc, a 400 size with 80lb is probably going to serve you better. I prefer low-profile reels because of the way I cast...wrapping my fingers around the reel. I also find them less fatiguing after a day of casting, as the center of gravity is closer to the reel seat...so you're not fighting to keep the reel upright. Just my opinion....one thing about Musky fishing, there's lots of opinions.

I like Tranx and Lexa..both have been problem free after several years of use and abuse. Don't know about the Abu....but I assume the "HS" model has a high speed gear ratio, which is usually best if you're primarily burning blades. Also, keep in mind, the handle length becomes a factor in terms of cranking power. If you're looking for an "all around" Musky reel, you may want to consider something with a lower gear ratio. My Tranx is 5.8:1, and my Lexa is 7.1:1...so they effectively cover most Musky presentations for me. A high ratio reel (some are as high as 8.1:1) with a short handle pulling a high-resistance bait is a recipe for saying "let's troll" after an hour of casting. I'd get something around 6:1 if you're only going to have one reel...I also prefer low-profile reels over the beer cans, if you're doing a lot of casting.