Muskie line choice?

[JIvers]

It's getting to be that time when I strip and clean my open water reels, and re-spool them. It's a little early to think about muskie fishing, but I was wondering what kind of line other people use on their muskie rigs? I have a Garcia 6500 reel, and the last two years I used 20 lb. test Trilene XL on it, but I wasn't real happy with it. I've never tried any of the superbraids, but I am thinking about it for my muskie rig.

[delmuts]

eye. alot of us have gone to the braids. i like the 80# power pro.if you do , remember to spool some mono on the reel first so the braid will hold. also; if you go back to page 5 we had a disscussion on line choices . mite give you more info. del

[buzzsaw]

Ditto to what Delmuts said! Right on with the Power Pro and the mono line to keep the braid from spinning on the spool.

[JIvers]

Thanks--for the record, I didn't like mono on my muskie gear because it didn't cast and retrieve real well. I never had problems landing fish with 20 lb. test.

[I'llTakeWhatiCanGet]

With braids you can get over twice the strength in the same diameter. I use 80 or 100 lb power pro, just cause its available. There's enough things that can go wrong when a big girl hooks up, I just like to know that mine line's not going to break. Although my rod will probably go before the line does I've also had some good experiences with Berkley whiplash, but i think they might have discontinued it. Its pretty comparable to power pro though.

[TBone1]

I use 50# Power Pro with flouro leaders and have yet to lose a fish. Of course if I would happen to lose one from line failure I'd be wishing I had 65 or 80#.

[RK]

Hiya,

I've been using Spiderwire Stealth for the past couple seasons and I've been pretty happy with it. Stays round, doesn't hold water as bad as some others I've used, and seems to hold up pretty well. Stealth is basically the same stuff as Berkley Whiplash - they just reshuffeled their product lines so all the braids (except Fireline) were under the Spider brand. They also added a teflon impregnation (rather than just a coating) to the production process, which helps it repel water. I use either 80 or 100#. The break strength is really irrelevant - it's the diameter that matters.

I actually use mono for muskies a fair amount. Use it casting some, and always use it pulling boards or open water trolling. I usually use either 20 or 25# Berkley Big Game. Great stuff.

Cheers,

RK

[andy j]

I am also a 80 lb. powerpro user. I used to use heavy mono but I think the near zero stretch that the superbraids have greatly help with better hooksets especially with big baits with big heavy duty hooks. I all honestly I would not go any lighter then at least 65 lb., no need to go with the smaller diameter and the fish cant tell the difference between 80 lb. and 50 lb.

[Cooter]

I use either Power Pro or Spider Stealth in 80 or 100.

[BigGuy]

If open-water reels are trolling reels ,I agree---80# powerpro.

[RuKiddingMe]

Another vote for Power Pro in the 80 LBS flavor.

Watch out for the original TUFF line, man that stuff suck in the late fall, it retains so much water... COLD HANDS

RU

[captainshane]

60-80# POWER PRO HAVEN'T LOST A LURE YET. I WILL NOW I SAID THAT. KNOCK ON WOOD!

[half2fish]

I was talking to Stefe Felegy (dont know if any of you know who he is but i am sure some of you do. he is a long time guide on mille lacs) and he said that he uses 50# tuff line. thats always what i have used and had no problems on it either.

[Tmeo]

20 LB. makes lots of sense. all you guys that want to use 50-80# need to be fishing wahoo off the coast of mexico. Musky is sport fishing, not meat hunting, give the species a break. Plus you may catch more with lighter line.. Also the leaders I see on the pictures scare me. If your a real angler why don't you use home made leaders with a couple of peferection loops for connector. leave all the chrome'ie swivels and large crimps off, use a neutreal colored wire, say 40# and I would bet your bites increase triple. Also if the fish hits the front of the lure you can just keep the pressure on and it will slide down the wire to the hook. But 50-80# test.. come on now....

[toddb]

Tmeo,

I say what? Muskies can be easily stressed to the point where delayed mortality becomes a factor. Heavy line shortens the fight, which is much better for the fish. 20# line sounds real cool when it snaps, but what isn't cool is a fish swimming off with 8" lure in its mouth. As far as muskie anglers being meat hunters, get real! Catch and release is the norm in the muskie angling community and release % keeps growing closer to 100% every year. As far as your leader suggestions, 3x as many strikes...., if it was only that easy. Maybe you should try muskie fishing before you start throwing out #'s. Not to sound like a smart a$$, but us meat hunters know what we're doing(at least some of the time )

later,

toddb

[guideman]

I wasn't aware they had Muskies in California.

I have caught Muskies on 8lb mono however I think I'll stay with the 80lb Tuff. The reason for the heavy line we use, is to play the fish quickly so the fish isn't at deaths door, when we do release her.

Yes, Muskies are a sportfish however, they are a "VERY" limited sportfish, dispite their tough guy reputation, a prolonged battle with an angler can kill them. As far as the leaders go, you can use whatever you want, and I'll use what I have the most confidence in.

Good luck with those California Muskies.....man I bet there are some real sows out there.

"Ace"

[captainshane]

Ya I must agree with TODDB on this one. Shorter the fight the better for the fish. I use 60# so I do not loose lures. If I loose a fish... no big deal. Meat hunters, your funny! And real fisherman, funny again!

Shane

ps You should go back to 1st grade spelling class, neutreal is spelt neutral!

[Tmeo]

I could never spell, but learned how to make money and do quite well, travel alot and fish all over the world and been doing it since 1972.. does that count.. I could see I made a few people uneasy with my statements,espically meat hunters, sorry, must be the spelling,lol. Not really but I do appoligize ( there goes that spelling again) after reading my remarks I was out of place in the way my remarks were fashioned and deserve the comments. One thing that I do know and where i failed is not to question the locals knowledge in the cook IslandsHawaii, Mexican coast,british columbia or Minnesota. I do plan spending some time this year hunting for muskies just as I did in the late 60's with my brothers. I will leave my Shimano 2 speeds and Internationals at home thou. so ( may the fish Gods be with you)and continue to practice catch and release. One last thing, California may not have Musky's ( but it may), but it has alot of quality game fish.

[RK]

Hiya,

Tmeo, your reaction isn't all that unusual. It does seem odd at first to be using 80 or 100# test. Some background and some reasons for it though...

One is line diameter. The break strength really is almost irrelevant. I've caught lots of muskies on 20# mono. With superlines though, the diameter of 80 to 100# is comparable to the old 36# and 50# dacron, which was the standard for years. As a result, a lot of the lures just plain work like they're supposed to (10" believers are a good example) when they have the resistance of a heavier diameter line ahead of them. Plus, for guys making the switch to superlines a few years ago, the line diameter of 80# was familiar in terms of how it handled, how it affected running depth of lures, etc.

Shock absorbancy is another factor. Lighter superlines just don't take the shock of 6 oz. (or heavier) lures very well. Bet most guys here have sent a bait over the horizon on a backlash with lighter superlines at some point. The rods that are necessary to work muskie lures tend to be pretty stiff (and lots of guys use rods much stiffer than they need to - a holdover from the dacron days when the line had some stretch to it....), and that combined with a thin diameter no stretch line is not a good mix. Mono's another story of course. Like I said, I catch a lot of muskies with #20 Big Game every year.

As for leaders, truth is muskies just aren't line shy like saltwater (or even most freshwater) species are. They really don't care. So little gain in getting stealthy with leaders unless you're on very pressured water. Lots of muskie guys using fluorocarbon leaders now, me included, but I do it as much for how it handles vs. wire and how fish-friendly it is (doesn't cut fish up when they roll in it) as I do for the visibility.

About the spelling: don't sweat it. Hemingway couldn't spell either My favorite Harry S. Truman quote: "It's hard to trust a man who can only think of one way to spell a word."

Cheers,

RK

[captainshane]

TEMO APOLOGY ACCEPTED!