I want to Start Muskie Fishing

[Mike the Pike]

Well folks with my new fishing machine on its way and a young son who is into fishing as much as me and sometimes out fishes me

 

I have decided to invest more time this year for Muskie.

 

What I need is advise for is a choice of reel good for casting and trolling.In the past I just used my Daiwa reel that I would use for planer boards.

 

I have only been fishing for Muskie 4 times without a sniff.

 

I have 2 broom sticks so I am ok for rods.

 

I have about a dozen lures, a frabill cradle, the big landing net, cutters, long pliers, replacement hooks, all that stuff.

My choice of line is Stren Super Braid.

 

I have never caught a Muskie so hopefully 2008 will be the year.

 

Marc has given me some great advise on how to catch and quickly realease without harming a fish.

 

I need to know where to pick up those florocarbon leaders.

 

Any additional advise would be welcome as well as additonal gear that I would need.

 

Thanks Mike

[Greencoachdog]

I'm glad you said "fishin" and not catching!!!

 

My advise to you would be to stick with Perch and Bluegills for a while longer.

Edited March 2, 2008 by Greencoachdog

[mepps]

What is teh price range you have for a reel?

 

You cant go wrong with a Shimano Calcutta.

[mikeh]

I know lots of Musky fishermen make there own fluoro leaders, but last year I decided to buy a few. I found them on ebay for about $4 each including shipping, the sellers id is charlier2753. They are top notch leaders for a reasonable price.

 

a couple of tips would be to sharpen your hooks when you buy new baits and also as they become dull.

 

also I use the palomar knot and have never had any knots pull out on me.

 

good luck in finding that 50 incher.

Edited March 2, 2008 by mikeh

[Mike the Pike]

What is teh price range you have for a reel?

 

You cant go wrong with a Shimano Calcutta.

 

$200 to $250 Mepps

[lew]

Check your PM's Mike

[Weeds]

You've got a pretty healthy budget there. I'd still say C3, I did a fair bit of research and the general concensus seems to be real solid reel for the price, which is cheap (140ish). I bought one last year and really like it. You could spend the extra cash on baits or even pick up a C4 for an extra reel as they are sale for rediculously cheap during the bass reel trade in event, working out to about 80 bucks for the 6600 including tax. Or Just go straight for the C4 and buy a ton of baits. I am no expert though so there are others out there who may have much better advice than me.

[irishfield]

If you only have $250 for a reel Mike... I'd go with a CABO 30/31 and spend the left over on a Perch Bait!

 

 

Leaders... go into any good shop (Like JB's) and buy the Stingeze 130lb premade for about $8 in one foot length for casting and three foot for trolling.

Edited March 2, 2008 by irishfield

[muskymike]

For that price range definitely stick with the Abu 6500, great reels for low cost. once you get into the Calcuttas or Curados the price bumps to almost $400. The Abu's seem to last forever too. i have a calcutta, curado and 2 6500's and i am just as happy with the 6500's as the others.

 

Hope this helps

 

Mike

[Mike the Pike]

I'm glad you said "fishin" and not catching!!!

 

My advise to you would be to stick with Perch and Bluegills for a while longer.

 

 

I knew I wouldn't get muskie advise from you Dog because you are the Pan fish King

[Mike the Pike]

If you only have $250 for a reel Mike... I'd go with a CABO 30/31 and spend the left over on a Perch Bait!

 

 

Leaders... go into any good shop (Like JB's) and buy the Stingeze 130lb premade for about $8 in one foot length for casting and three foot for trolling.

 

Wayne how high can a reel go?I don't mind spending the money for a good reel because I want something built to last questions is can I get something decent in the $250 range or should I spend more.

[BillM]

Sounds like the OP is in the same boat as me!! I picked up an Abu Garcia Record RCN60 lastnight off Ebay, probably going to go with a 8" Shimano Compre rod. Assortment of used Suicks/Cisco kids/bucktails and 1 Butcher Top Raider. I need to pick up some release tools before I hit the water also. From what I've read and the advice I've got on here, most likely going with 50-65lb Spiderwire Ultracast for my baitcasting setup. My oldman has some nice trolling setups from our salmon days out on Lake Ontario, those should take care of any trolling we will be doing.

 

Read as much as you can and maybe land yourself in an empty seat on a boat with a seasoned vet.

 

Good luck!

[irishfield]

There's so many options and so many opinions Mike. If you search this subject has been beaten to death around here.... from back before I was asking what reel to get. The CABO came highly recommended and hasn' t let me down. It's what I had on my "Spiel Special" Loomis while pullin in them monsters..... while casting on the St. Lawrence last fall. You can pick one up off ebay if you're lucky for under $175 and over the counter at JB's and others for about $200/210

[silveradosheriff]

Morrums to cast and Catalina linecounters to troll....my Calcutta (not the TE) is now a paperweight.

 

 

:-)

[BillM]

Morrums to cast and Catalina linecounters to troll....my Calcutta (not the TE) is now a paperweight.

:-)

 

The Morrum I had my eye on went for $243US...

 

I settled for the Record instead, lol.

[silveradosheriff]

Holy Crap - they certainly have dried up and shot up in price....never paid more than $130!

[BillM]

Yeah, insanity!! I picked up a Abu Garcia RCN60 brand new for $107US.. Can't complain about that.. Hopefully I can pick up a rod at the Sportsmen show, maybe a Shimano Compre 8' or something similar.

[Raf]

If you aren't out to break the bank, I think your 1st all-round reel should be a 6500 C3. Has a loud clicker, casts a mile and takes a beating. It'll likely last you a long time and for $100+ it's a steal. For the price of other reels up to the job you can buy two!

Edited March 3, 2008 by Raf

[BillM]

My next purchase is going to be some chloroform and some rags..

 

You know, so I can kidnap one of the local muskie experts for opening day :)

[gone_fishin]

if you want a good place to start fishing muskie, try scugog, that lake is absolutely loaded with muskie. use a double black bucktail spinner and burn it just above the weeds.

[BillM]

I'm thinking Moon River, Byng inlet or 12 Mile Bay for opening day... Unless some of the Georgian Bay pro's can tell me somewhere else I should be concentrating my efforts.. I'm really thinking of selling my oldmans Humminbird 747c I picked up for him last year and get a model that does chartplotting + sonar (595c, 757c etc) Would make running out and around the bay quite a bit less stressful.

[silveradosheriff]

You might considering keeping that unit and adding a standalone chartplotter, cause splitting the screen really sucks.

You can pick up an Eagle GPS chartplotter for around $350.

 

Here are ones that will do the trick.

 

http://radioworld.ca/product_info.php?cPat...roducts_id=1460

 

or

 

http://radioworld.ca/product_info.php?cPat...products_id=383

Edited March 3, 2008 by silveradosheriff

[BillM]

Rod, you rock man! That will do the trick nicely. My poor dad with all these electronics in front of him, it's going to be priceless!!!

[Zib]

Abu Garcia Record is an excellent casting reel for musky. Cabelas sells flouro leaders made by Spro.

 

Leaders

[bigbuck]

Leaders are fairly easy to make yourself, but there are lots of options. I'd suggest a trip to JB's, the boys there can hook you up with anything you need with regards to musky fishing.