My Birthday Came Early

[O2BFSHN]

My wife brought me home an early gift yesterday. A complete musky set-up. I am a bass fisherman and walleye and crappie when they bite. I have always wanted muskie tackle but knew it was $$$. Here is the grear I received, it would be great on the feedback from others. A GLoomis 6'10'' Heavy muskie jerkbait(is what it says on it). And abu Garcia Ambassador (blue) bait caster. 80lb tuf line, and about 8 baits. (swick thriller, couple of bucktails, couple topwater, basically a grap bag that the salesman told her would work)

I know GLoomis makes a heck of a rod for walleyes, I have the GL2. But don't really hear much about them for muskies. I need to get leaders, and I've been told not to go cheap go with titanium.?

All in all I love her to death for this stuff and I can't wait to get out on the water this fall.

Any feedback on other gear needed would be great.

Thanks!

[cliffy]

Your wife needs to talk with my wife....that was a very nice gift. I great jerk bait set up for sure.

I would suggest getting the proper releasing tools and cutting tools to remove badly hooked fish. Dont forget the big net or cradle. The bigger the net, the better.

The titanium leaders are very nice but there have been some concerns raised by other members. I have used titanium leaders and never had a problem but some members have posted information about them coming apart under load. I don’t know what the answer is….just got to try for yourself. Good luck!!!!

[Scoot]

Wow, sounds like you're a lucky guy! Sounds like you've got a great start. One thought- after many questions and much experimenting, I've found the lower gear ratio reels to be much better suited for sklunge fishing. Sounds like you might have a 6.2:1 reel and you might want to consider swapping it for a 5600 that is 5.1:1. Virtually the same reel you have, but with a lower gear ratio. This'll help keep the gears from stripping out and will save on your hands' wear and tear- pulling in heavy or tough pulling baits is REALLY tough with higher gear ratio reels. Might sound like a very minor thing, but it's actually kind of a big deal.
I agree with the leaders- get a few good ones. A couple solids and a couple 7-strands would be good.
Also, be absolutely sure you have all the tools to unhook and release a fish safely- cutters, needlenose, big ol' net, etc.
Lastly (and this is nothing but my personal preference), be sure you have a topwater plop-plop bait. My favorite is the Pacemaker, but there's a ton of them that work well. Nothing gets me going like a topwater explosion. The time of year is here- get out and give it a shot.

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Scoot

RodsbyEngel: custom made fishing rods

[gundy89]

You better not practice catch n release on her!!! She sounds like a keeper. I just started this year and have slowly started to accumulate things. The GF gave me a jackpot and a phantom, but most importantly, allows me to go out and play. The suick has had some action for me and bucktails work well for me too. I purchased an Abu and it has worked very well for me. Wish you the best of luck.

[Jim W]

Heck the Loomis alone is worth many rounds of dishes, chores and ANYTHING SHE WANTS!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday!!!

Jim W

[cliffy]

I agree with Scoot on the gear ratio issue. I have the 6:1 reel that I use only for jerk baits. The reel is not so much pulling the bait as it is picking up slack line inbetween jerks. I find it works very well in thoses cases.....but it would be difficult to use the reel to pull large cranks or large bucktails all day long.

[RuKiddingMe]

IMHO, if you are going to use the new setup for strickly jerk/glide baits, I would recomend that you leave the higher gear ratio reel on there, you'll really like it for picking up slack fast with little effort.
Now on the other hand if this is going to be an all around rig then you may want to consider exchanging hte reel for the lower C3 gear ratio. Trust me your hands and arms won't hurt anywhere near as bad if you are pulling cranks and big blades.
Plus if you do exchange for the C3 you'll get a little monies back and you can purchase at least one lure with that extra...

Esox23

[taxmancommeth]

Does your wife have a younger sister? Just Kidding I am engaged but if I wasn't!!!

[Muskie-searcher]

It seems as though I might be in the minority here, but I prefer the higher gear ratio. A lot of times it is the faster retrieve that will trigger a reaction bite from the big muskies that have seen a lot of baits. Plus with a hi9gher gear ratio you can always slow your retrieve for the surface lures if you want to, and still be able to burn the bucktails if need be. Unless you plan on more than one reel, I would stick with what you have. Lastly, that pain in your arms at the end of a day of muskie fishing is a great feeling and not one that you should avoid. It is what separates us from the other fisherman.

[TMan]

I gotta go with the high retrieve guys, for jerk baits high retrieve speed lets you pick up that slack faster, after all, that is when they hit a jerkbait usually, on the pause. You need to catch up easily and quickly. And for bucktails I use what I think is the same reel, although you didn't state the model, a 6500 C4 is the 6.3:1 retrieve, very nice for bucktails. I also use it for smaller twitching cranks. Its the big cranks that you need the lower C3 Abu's for in my opinion.

You are a lucky man O2! Good luck.
Tackleman

[Big G]

The reel is PERFECT for jerk baits!!!!!!!

Don't change it!!!!!!!!

The higher gear ratio gives you less cranks on your jerks.

However, for the bucktails and cranks, you want to lower the gear ratio.

Dude!!!!!!!!
You need to take your wife to a nice resturant!!!!!!!

And finally, get your self a good jaw spreader (with rope attached so the fish doesn't swim off with it), good long needle nose pliers, quality bolt cutters, and a overall good pliers.

Get a good Beckman net.

There, you are all set, minus the tape measure and camara to measure up and photo your tunas prior to your release of the fish.

Happy hunting!!!!!!!!!

[delmuts]

02B. give that gal a big hug from us !! she is a supper gal, and must really think a lot of you! del