musky reels

[freighttrain50]

hey guys,

getting into the ski sport and was wondering if anyone had any recommendations for a quality yet farely cheap reel for a college kid. Thanks for help!!

Train

[JohnMickish]

How cheap is cheap? An Abu 6500 C3 is a pretty good way to go. That will set you back what you would spend at one good night at a downtown club, and it will be with you longer than your girlfriend! Hey, just kidding about that.

[cjac]

Abu 6500 C5 with the full thumb bar versus the C3 with the button is $75 on Cabelas site...... hard to beat a classic.

$15 for a spool of Power Pro 65 or 80 and you're all set.

[Corey Bechtold]

You should be able to find a cheap reel at Northern Hydraulics. Just go back and find a boat winch for a trailer and spool it with some ski rope (about 25.00). A good rod can be found at Menards in the lumber yard (about 6.00). Cut the stud to length and fit it with some ceiling hooks for guides and your all set. You could also save the leftovers from cutting your rod down for a surface lure.

I'm only joking. If you are just starting out I would get a 7'6" medium heavy telescopic rod and put an AbuGarcia 5600c4 reel on it. This is also an excellent all around Bass rod that can handle some of the smaller Muskie baits. After you get going and catch a few fish you can start to upgrade your equipment to suit your fishing techniques.

Good Luck with the Muskies. They are one tough, fun, and addicting fish to chase.

Corey Bechtold

[Muskydanno]

I would have to go ditto on the reel selection except to spend the extra money on a C5 as opposed to a C3.If the price difference is a big consideration go with the C3 Can't got wrong with either for the money. Gander mountain guide series for the rod , i don't think you can beat it for the money and feels exactly like the ST. Croix premier series to me. Usually 69 or 79 bucks will get you a guide series musky rod. Have Had a few for four years and no problems. 65-80 pound Power pro or tuff line would be my choice for line with Power pro being the primary choice.

[cliffy]

The Abu Garcia reels are a good product for the price. I have a bunch of them and no problems so far. I like the Abu 6500 C3, spooled with 80lbs Tuff line or Power Pro. A lot of members on this forum have said good things about the Gander Mountain and Cabela’s guide series muskie rods. I prefer St.Croix but they can be pretty spendy. The length and action is up to you. I prefer a longer rod, at least 7’6 if not 8’0….they provide a little more flexibility at boat side….plus you can toss a bucktail a country mile…etc. Go to your local sporting goods store and check them all out.

Also, if your just getting into this sport, be prepared to come down with a sickness that causes you to spend tons of cash on dozens and dozens of lures, rods and reels. No known cure as far as I can tell. Good Luck.

[cjac]

$125 will get you an Abu C5 on a 7'6" all purpose rod at Cabelas.

Make two more investments, get a good landing net and a good hook cutters. It'll help you land the fish and it's the way to start the whole C&R process right!

[Scoot]

Sounds like lots of good advice here. You can also do a search on musky lures in this forum and you'll find a lot of good info in a question I posted. I would recommend an Abu too. After a lot of homework and some experience pulling different types of baits with different ratio'd reels, I'd strongly urge you to choose a reel with a lower gear ratio. Go for a 5.3:1 or lower- you'll be glad you did. The higher ratio'd reels are tough to pull hard pulling baits (med to big bucktails, some cranks, etc) and the gears don't stand up as well over time.

Good luck and keep this in mind- are you sure you want to pick up muskie fishing? It sucks, sucks, sucks, sucks, is the greatest, sucks, sucks...

[Hwood]

I have a Abu 6600CB. I guess the CB stands for Cabelas and is the only place you can get it. At the time is was the only Abu with a thumb bar and bait clicker for around $80, but I am not sure what they have now. The bait clicker is an opinon thing but I would suggest one with a thumb bar. I was recently rod shopping and went with a Gander Guide Series Pro Select 8'. I thought it was one of the better feeling Rods under 100. Rapala also has some nice ones in the area of 50 I think but I was not able to find an 8 footer. As far as lenght goes I think my 7 foot is going to collect a lot of dust now after I used the 8. I know some guys who had been using there med Hvy rods to muskie fish with and they ended up getting a heavy. Not so much for the fish but the lures. Some have a lot of drag and can really load up a lighter one and it feels like it to.

[freighttrain50]

hey everyone thanks for the posts. i reckin i'll have to buy an abu this fall, maybe find a discount. fished a little for them this past year, had a few follows but no go. had one on walleye fishing, had no chance. determined to get a few next year. By the way, CB, you're a real smart ars. Joke taken, no hard feelings. Thanks again for the info guys.

Train

[Dano_the_jigasaurus]

For your reel I noticed a lot of people are partial to spooling an Abu Garcia up with Power Pro personally I think Spiderwire Stealth 50-65lb is the way to go. The C3 is the workhorse of the Abu Family and is quality.

[ARMAN-21]

Swing on down to the Gander Mt. in Lakeville, we've got them.

later-

[JohnMickish]

Like cjac said, also spend the money to get a quality net. You will want a coated "fin saver" style. Some where between 80-140$. I'm not telling you were to shop and I try to support my local businesses as much as possible but I have picked up a couple of Abu Garcia reels on hsolist for a pretty good price. If you have some money burning in your pocket buy the stuff now as prices are as good as they will get. I ditto the Gander and Cabelas rods.

Funny, how do the words musky and cheap fit into the same paragraph?

[I'llTakeWhatiCanGet]

I gotta agree with the statements about the Garcias. I've used a few and have absolutely no complaints. As far as the rod goes, if you want a rod that's gonna be strictly for muskies, look for a rod with a solid backbone. Lighter action rods bend more on the hookset, and don't bury the hooks as effectively. Remember, the overall goal of musky fishing is to lay into a fish measuring over 50" Thats a horse of a fish, and if that time comes, you don't want to be under gunned. Good luck, just beware of musky fever, its a powerful thing......

[RK]

Hiya,

Lotsa good options out there. As many others have mentioned, the 6500Cs from Abu are hard to beat. I have several, some of which are 20+ years old, and they still keep working (and I'm not exactly famous for my maintenance habits).

Some other thoughts/options:

For combos, the Pete Maina rod/reel combo from Bass Pro is hard to beat for the money. The rods are nice (I use them quite a bit) and the reels, from what others tell me, are solid. In terms of bang for your buck, it's a great deal.

Shimano is coming out with some new stuff too. They have a new reel called the Corvallus, which will retail for around $80 that's pretty nice. I got to play with one for a while this season, and it was a nice reel. They also have some new rods coming out. They did a total redesign of the Compre series (about time - heh) and added some models, plus they have a new line called the Convergence. I have one of the 7' Heavy convergence rods, and I like it. Extremely light, and a nice fast tip for a fairly powerful rod (heavy power rods that are pool cues with no tip drive me batty). The Convergence rods will retail for something like $69, so a combo with them and a Corvallus will be pretty reasonable. Not sure when they'll be on the shelves (they may already be there - I haven't been in a fishing store since July...) but worth looking for I think.

One thought on needing heavy rods, which someone else mentioned. I gotta disagree. In heavy cover (rushes, heavy shallow weeds, etc.) sure, but in the open, on breaklines or away from cover, the muskie hasn't been born you can't whip on 25# mono and a flipping stick. In some respects longer, slightly softer rods (not necessarily buggy whips though) can handle a fish faster than a pool cue. The rod stays loaded and the fish never get a break. If you want to see a fish - even a big one - get whipped in a *big* hurry, watch someone with a 10 weight fly rod. With the long rod, the pressure on fish is constant, and they get worn out amazingly fast.

I'm not advocating using rods that are too light and prolonging the fight unnecessarily. That's no good for the fish. What I am saying though is, in a lot of cases, a heavy 'flipping stick' is more than enough. A lot of times, the heavy rods we use are more a necessity for handling the baits we throw than handling the fish we catch.

Cheers,

RK

[Guido]

Wow R.K that is an interesting post. Never thought about the rod "loading" like you mentioned.

[barnyard]

Longer, softer rods are also important when using any no-stretch braid. Something is needed for shock absorbing and if the line doesn't do it, the rod had better.

Tom B

[rascalP]

Freighttrain,

Check out Thorne Bros. in Fridley. They have the new ABU 6600 series. I got the 6601 (left hand retrieve). It has the thumb-bar and C3 gears. $74.99. One of the guy's also reccomended the Shimano Convergance. Great rod for the money, he said. $69.99. Nice to know they won't take you over to a St.Croix or Loomis and push those. Buy the rod and reel and they will spool it with Tuffline Plus for free. This is the place to go for lures and info. These guys live and breathe muskies. They can tell you what each lure does and how to work it and where. In fact, as of a week and a half ago, all their lures were 20% off. That's big on a $20-25 lure. Beware, buying and using the different lures is highly addictive!

rascal

[fishing 101]

I personally would go to the Reeds HSOforum out of Walker and go to their "combos" and get the muskie combo. My brother ordered one there for $99.00 - awesome rod and reel setup. Abu 6600C3 w/ bucktail rod.

[Dano_the_jigasaurus]

That combo from reed's is a real nice setup. They have an all purpose set up that was tempting for me, but I didn't bite.

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