Help with gift

[hhomedog]

My son is graduating soon and his mom and I are looking to buy him a nice musky set up. He has only a few lures and an old rod/reel. I have never fished muskies. He bought everything when he was 16 himself. I am more a walleye guy. Well we have about $500 combined in the family to spend on him. So what would be a good set up? Are there packages out there with lures/rod/reel combos? Good stores? Any help is appreciated.

[Scoot]

Very cool for him! Question- how high end do you want to go with a rod and reel? It would certainly be possible to spend the whole shot on a rod and reel (although, that's not what I'd suggest). You could do a relatively inexpensive rod and reel (like a Pete Maina combo) and have a lot of money for lures, or you could spend more on the rod and reel combo and have less for lures. Do you have a preference? Also, do you know if he has some release tools already? How about a net? Where does he live and where will he be chasin' muskies most of the time?

Try give us a feel for how much you'd like to spend on the rod and reel and how much other gear he has and we'll start spendin' your money with no problem!!!

BTW, if it were me, I'd probably spend somewhere in the neighborhood of $250 on the rod and reel and the rest on a net, release tools, and a small number of lures.

[hhomedog]

He lives up by Little Falls. He spends a lot of his time on the river or Lake Alexander, there is a couple others, just don't remember off the top of my head. But Alexander about 75% of the time. He could use both a new rod/reel and lures. He has just a handful of lures, actually most of the them are bucktails and then a couple plastics. He always seems to have luck on those bucktails. I just want a good combination of a rod/reel and lures. He does have a net for muskies, but really nothing beyond that. If that helps?

[lunge]

check out the outdoors first- muskie forum: there are alot of peole selling nice stuff on there. same as above, make sure you get the proper realease tools. may not seem like a big deal but it'll reduce the chance of delayed mortality. you can get some nice rods in the 100.00 range and reels in the same range. you can mostlikley get rod/reel/spool of braid for 250.00, the HSOforum I mentioned, well you can get a good deal on lures as well. alot of times you can get lightly used lures for half the price. some even sell the lures in lots. id recomend looking on c-list I always see combo's on there. you can go along way with 500.00/ or it can go quick just shop around. Id go with a bucktail, large spinner bait,topraider,super d,suick,beliver, and some sort of crankbait, and if there is money left throw in a weagle/doc------ good luck, awsome idea.... I got a food plan for school

[lunge]

long needle nose pliers, something to cut heavy hooks,jaw spreader

[BrianLucky13]

My parents have a cabin on Alex. This is what I would do. As Scoot said get a cheaper rod/reel combo like the Pete Mania ones. Then buy him some 80 pound power pro for the reel!!

As for lures:

Double Cowgirls- Pink, Red

TOPWATER-lowriders and topraider

Creepers- black and orange

Bulldogs-walleye, black, and white

Also a good net, bolt cutters, long nose pliers, and time!! If I forgot something someone will chip in!! Good luck!!

[DHanson]

Here's what I would do. Since there are so many options of rods and reels, lures, etc. etc. We could give a ton of different options, but it really comes down to what your son wants. Only he really knows. I would bring him shopping with you since he can look at the rod and reels and get a feel for the one he likes best. He probably knows exactly what kind of lures he's interested in as well. Make sure he buys a good quality hook cutters (knipex), very important. It is for safety reasons for both him and the fish in case he happens to get hooked while trying to unhook a fish. If you don't want to bring him shopping because you want to surprise him, I would suggest gift cards. My absolute 2 favorite places to buy my muskie stuff is Reeds and Musky Tackle Online.

[Scoot]

Lots of good info/suggestions here. If you don't want to do what DHanson said and you want it to be a complete surprise, I'd suggest getting 1) Pete Maina combo rod and reel ($180; I'd suggest at least a 7'6" rod, but longer if he's going to usually be in a boat that sits high out of the water), 2) knipex bolt cutter ($50), 3) long needle nose pliers ($20), and 4) some lures!

When you pick out lures, think about covering all the bases to the best of your ability with a small number of lures: deep to shallow, light and dark color, big and small.

More specifically, I'd think about:

Topraider

Walk-the-dog lure like a Weagle, Doc, or Jackpot

Shallow Invader

Double Cowgirl

Single bladed Showgirl

At least two Radd Dogs (medium or really heavy ones)

Believer

Jake

Depth Raider

[Aaron Carrell]

Great post Scoot... If I were a parent that didn't know a ton about muskie fishing specifics, thats exactly the type of summary I'd want!

[mrklean]

like they said dont spend all on a combo, get a decent rod and reel and get him a bunch of different lure. Good luck

[CodyDawg]

I would contact Thorne Bros, they are sponsors here, and ask them the pros/cons of the equipment you want to buy. they are experts at setting people like your son up.

[Scoot]

I would contact Thorne Bros...they are experts at setting people like your son up.

That's a good suggestion! I can't help but think that we're not exactly a bunch of rookies around here though!

[bronzeback]

I would say skip the Maina combo and just bring your son to the store and surprise him with your idea there. Let him choose the combo he wants and the lures he'd like to purchase.

Not that all of this information isn't good stuff, but my parents were considering doing a similar thing for me, but if they would've gone out by themselves they would have come home with a right-handed reel and a heavy bass-rod.

I'd say your best bet is to take him to the store, tell him his spending cap, and let him run wild. Heck as a walleye guy i'm sure once your son gets around all of these things you'll end up learning a thing or two.

[bronzeback]

and i'm exaggerating about the heavy bass-rod. my parents know how to ask, "where are the musky rods?"

[50inchpig]

Shimano Calcutta or Diawa Luna

Gift Cert for $250 for Custom Rod - something special to commemorate his graduation.

Give the rest to him in cash for baits.

[mrklean]

a gift certif is a really good idea then he can pick what he wants

[hhomedog]

Yeah I thought I we would just get a gift card, but as it goes he wants us to pick everything out. So I will most likely take your advice on different things to buy and start looking.

[Rebel9921]

Theres so much you can do with $500 if you look around carefully...

If I had that $500, I would contact Keith Terlinden from KT Pro Edge... He has a demo 8'9 Edge rod for sale at $160 then I would order a Daiwa Saltist 20HA or 30HA from Thorne Bros or online auction site...

The rest of the money would go for safety items he doesnt have such as Knipex Bolt Cutters, gloves, release tools, etc etc... then if theres any left, I'd definitely go for some lures like Double Cowgirls or Gerry's Girls (Bucktails), Weagles or Satisfiers (WTD), Bulldawgs or SuperD's (Plastics), Pacemaker or Topraider (Topwater props)...

Hope this helps...

[riverkid21]

I just graduated from college and I would agree with bronzeback. I would love nothing more than to pick out a combo myself. I fish the river frequently in that area and the new revo toro would be a reel to look at. I would recommend a shimano compre rod, I have on and like it. I saw gander has new muskie guide series rods that are supposed to be pretty nice. Both will run in the 70 to 100 dollar range. Overall I would surprise him with a gift card or just take him to the store. Then he can get lures that fish his style and a combo that also fishes those lures the best. On the river I personally dont throw the cowgirls so I dont need to heavy setup to do so. I'd go giftcard, just my 2 cents from someone in a similar position.