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Best all around reel?


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Im looking to get into muskies a bit more this year and was curious, what would the specs be on a good all around muskie reel? What sort of gear ratio, line capacity, bearings? Whats the best bang for the buck, Abu? Shimano? Guide Series? I would probably be spooling up with 65lb power pro. Good/bad idea?

Thanks guys

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well, I have always been an Abu Garcia fan. I would suggest an Abu C3 6500 as a good all around reel. Are there better reels on the market? Yup. However, the C3 is sorta a work horse...I have a few and never had any problems..as long you do a little up-keeping from time to time...such as cleaning and oiling..etc.

You will probably get a lot of different response to your question...There are a ton of good reels on the market...check them all out and see which fits your needs the best...

Good luck in your search.

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Also another big thing I forgot is price, Id like to keep it less than $100. Ive heard good things about Abus and for their price, thats what Im leaning towards but still am open to other ideas.

Do the C3 only come with the little spool engage button or can you get them with the thumb bar (like a low profile)? I seem to prefer that for some reason, but only appeared to come on the C4 models.

Will 150 yard capacity get me by or would something 200+ be better?

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Good question confused.gif. I am not sure.....I am "old school" and like the button on the side. I am thinking I may have seen a C3 model with the style you are talking about...perhaps someone else will know for sure.

I am sure you could get by with the 150 cap. but I like the 6500 model which I think is 245 yards. I seem to be able to get a whole spool of line on that size of reel....thus I dont have...for example..45 yards of line left in the little spool package thingy...going to waste.

To be honest, off all 6 or 7 Abu Garcias that I own, my favorite by far is the C3 7000 smile.gifsmile.gifsmile.gif. Yeah, its a big reel...but I can palm it pretty easy. It might be worth checking out.....in the future...when you "really" get into muskie fishing. I have seen this a thousand times....you will start out by buying one "all around reel"....and then it happens....pretty soon you will be like the rest of us.....7-12 reels/rods and 1000s of baits.....its a sickness grin.gifgrin.gif.

Good luck in your search.

Cliffy

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For around a hundred bucks if you can find one look for the green C5 magtrax reel by Abu. That one has the thumbar and a 5.3 to one ratio. I have one and its a Great reel. Also cant beat the work horse C-3 . My other vote of confidence goes to the shimano Cardiff once again for the money. Picked one up last year and it gets more use than any others besides the Calcutta.Smooth as silk. Otherwise to get a thumbar you might have to go down to a 4600 series or i think some of the newer D , or CB series reels. Keep in mind though that you probably want to stick to a 5.3 ratio or lower for all around use as the 6.3 is great for jerks and topwater where you need to pick up slack line but will burn up with alot of bucktail use. Not to mention your arms will take a beating too.

Hope this helps you out.

Dan

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If the second number in the reel is a 5 (ie 6500) it's a push-button, and if it's a 6 (ie 6600) it's a thumb bar. The Cabela's 6600CB is basically a 6500C3 made for Cabela's with the thumb bar. Otherwise, there is the 6600C4, and I have seen the Abu Garcia 6600SSC3 (not exactly sure how it differs from the 6500C3 other than the thumb bar) for a very good price but I don't think I should post a link to it. My e-mail is in my profile. If you're interested, shoot me an e-mail, and I'll shoot you the link.

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If you'd like a rock solid reel at a good price I'd suggest the one Ralph did- the 6600SSC3. If you look back through the old posts you'll also notice it's one that has been backed Abu on the rare occasion that they have had problems (Abu does an outstanding job of backing all their products).

Unless you're going to throw small and very easy to pull baits, I'd suggest you avoid reels with the 6.0+ to 1 ratio. I much prefer the 5.2:1 reels and lower. At 5.2:1 with a full spool I can burn a bucktail as fast as anyone would want and I don't get the really tough pull from the bait. Reels with a higher gear ratio also burn out quicker. So... I'd suggest the 6600SSC3, just like Ralph did- a great little reel.

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Has anyone used shimano reels for musky? Ive still been looking around and came across the Corvalis 300 series that's in my price range. It comes with four bearings, 5.2:1 ratio, 190 yds of 14lb. capacity. So would this work good for muskies?

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Yes that will work for the toothy ones. They have enough spool space, good gear ratios and are a fairly smooth reel. I use the the Calcutta TE 300 on most of my rods and have really grown to like Shimano reels.

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I use the Abu Garcia 5600 CB(Righty) and the 5601(Lefty). I love the lefty "5601" because I can go right from my retrieve, into the figure 8, and right back into a cast without changing hands. Efficient and fast. When I get fatigued with the lefty, I will then swith to the righty "5600". Both have thumb bars, witch is very comfortable, for casting and going into free spool for the figure 8. These are on sale right now for $59.99 at one of the big box retailers. Not a big savings considering these reals are priced nicely from the start, but it is always nice to save a buck or two.

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Quote:

grin.gif

Deitz, I find it funny that the two of us are in the Musky forum. I guess there's more action here than in the cat or bass forum today.


Welcome boys. I can tell you are beganing to see the light, we just need to work on your figure 8s and your in. laugh.gif

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Jon,

They are jealous of our cool lures and great big Lakewood boxes!!

I learn a lot off Deitz's bass site and like to chase the big bass around too from time to time! I learn a lot from the "crossover" visits between species!!

I agree with Deitz on an earlier post, spend the extra $20 for the Cardiff. I picked a Corvallus up last year and I think it's about to become a hand-me-down reel to one of the nephews already. Skies the limit, up to the TE, but the Cardiff 300 is a nice reel for the $$$.

Chris

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After being given a 6600CB/Eagle II Musky Rod combo from Cabela's for christmas... I decided to do some more research into Abu Garcia baitcasters, especially the 6500 and 6600 series, so I could make few more purchases to improvise my musky arsenal...

From what I have found out, the designation "CB" is a C4 packaged in different color (gloss dark red) and made exclusively for Cabela... You cannot find CB at any other retailers... You might find them on hsolist, but they originally came from Cabela's...

Now as for the 4 number designation such as 4600, 5600, 6600, and on... the first number (4,5,6) usually denotes the size of the reel... higher the number, bigger the reel... second number (5,6) usually denotes whether its a push-button or a thumbbar for line release...

Currently, I have three musky combos... all reels are Abu Garcia... All three are 6600's (with thumbbars)... I got the 6600CB for christmas, then bidded on a 6600C3 (brand new, no pictures,) on hsolist thinking it was a 6600C3 Lever Drag model, then went to Gander Mountain and purchased the 6600C4... at that same time, I noticed Gander Mountain had 6600C3...It was not the lever drag, but a "6500C3 upgraded with a thumbbar", exactly what I had won on hsolist... I did some more research online and found that if I had wanted to purchase a 6600 with C3, the closest thing I could get was the 6600SSC3... I have tried to disginuish the difference between 6600C3 and 6600SSC3 but to no avail, I couldnt... except that the 6600C3 is silver, like its brother, the 6500C3 series... and that the 6600SSC3 is flat maroon... So if you wanted the 6600C3 you'll only be able to find it at Gander Mountain, otherwise just purchase the 6600SSC3 which can be found at Thorne's, Rollie & Helen's, Patiskas', etc etc..

You also might have noticed 6600CL, which also is called 6600CL Rocket... this is also a varation of the 6600C4, this time orange, and from what I learned, was made exclusively for Wal-Mart...

One major difference between the C3 and C4 reels is the extra ball bearing and the gear ratio... C3 has the gear ratio of 5.3:1 and C4 has the gear ratio of 6.3:1... I do not know of any C3 that comes with 6.3:1 nor do I know of any C4 that comes with 5.3:1... I did find one auction for a C4 with gear ratio of 5.3:1 but the seller admitted that he swapped the gears out of a 6500C3 and into the 6600C4... It does seem that the parts for 6500 series and 6600 series are very interchangable... I do not know if this is the same for 5500 and 5600 but Im fairly sure since I have seen several postings indicating that some parts can be interchanged btwn 5500/5600 and 6500/6600... Now for the C3, C4, D5, D6 designations... I have not discovered the meaning behind the letter C and D, but the number after the letter designate the number of ball bearings in the reel... But I have noticed that the spool seems to be smaller in the D series than it is in the C series regardless the number designation...

I have also discovered that not all 6600 are made with 3 or more ball bearings... I have found one model number (it seems to be discontinued, but I could be mistaken) 6600 Brute... this model seems to only come with one ball bearing (roller) and the rest are just bushings...

Some of you might would want to bring up the 5000 and 6000 series... I did check into those and found out that they do not have ball bearings, but bushings instead... Basically, the 5500/5600 and 6500/6600 are improved version (with ball bearings instead of bushings) of the 5000 and 6000 series...

I hope this information is helpful for all of you who swears by Abu Garcia... or for those who would recommend Abu Garcia...

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I picked up the new Abu 7000HSN reel this spring. Very nice combo with a huge power handle for burning in those Cowgirls and also for working baits much faster all day. Very solid reel with metal and not plastic parts. You could also get the Record reels for the same price.

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I used the Shimano Cardiff 401 all last season and was pretty happy with the quality but the large real size does get to my hand after a long day. This season I decided to step up to the Calcutta and in a smaller size to save my hand. I got the calcutta 201 I believe it will be a nice change for holding on to all day and the calcutta reels are rock solid. Does anyone else use the smaller reel size. I was slightly concerned with the line capacity but I was able to get nearly a whole spool of 50 lb tuf line on the 201. Good luck at opener!

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