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Posts: 102
Location: Bowling Green, KY | What kind of reel do you use? I have decided to try and catch a musky on the fly this fall and am wondering do I need to cowboy up the dough a reel with a cracker jack bonefish and tarpon landing drag system or can I get by with palming the rim for muskies? It doesn't seem to be in a musky's nature to try and peel off a 100 yards of line. |
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| I have a 30 dollar buggati (sp?) 8wt reel that does just fine. I would worry more about the rod than the reel. |
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Posts: 1060
Location: Palm Coast, FL | Definitely worry more about the rod than the reel. My advice would be to get a large arbor reel 9-10 wt.
Now...if you want to impress and your pockets are DEEP...try this out for size:
http://fly.hardyfishing.com/en-us/products/reels/performance-reels/...
rotflmfao |
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Posts: 102
Location: Bowling Green, KY | That take would take bottomless pockets!! I have a BPS Gold Cup 9 weight that is practically new with a Gold Cup III reel on it. I feel it should be adequate to get me started, though the general consensus seems to be a 10 wt. is the way to go.
So a good large arbor like a Ross Flyrise or Redington Redfly 2 should be adequate in the reel department if I decide to step up to a 10 or 12 wt.? These reels run in the $60.00 to $110.00 dollar range. |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | I use Tibor reels, but that's my saltwater background showing through. No, you don't need anything fancy for muskies. I would concentrate more on the rod and line, which is what you're using to actually move your fly, which is more than half the battle. You still get what you pay for, and fly fishing is just like any other fishing for muskie in that if there's a weak spot in your system, a muskie will exploit it. Not saying you gotta drop $700 on a reel, but don't totally discount a reel's place in your system. Because when the time comes when you're on the reel, you'll suddenly be thinking about how well your reel is going to handle this fish boatside. |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | Performance_Tuned - 8/11/2010 8:34 AM
That take would take bottomless pockets!! I have a BPS Gold Cup 9 weight that is practically new with a Gold Cup III reel on it. I feel it should be adequate to get me started, though the general consensus seems to be a 10 wt. is the way to go.
So a good large arbor like a Ross Flyrise or Redington Redfly 2 should be adequate in the reel department if I decide to step up to a 10 or 12 wt.? These reels run in the $60.00 to $110.00 dollar range.
Your 9 wt will work fine if you're just fine, especially if you're just trying it out. I use 10's and 11's, but there's alot of guys using 8's. I think 8's are a bit small for larger fish, but if you're on a numbers lake, even an 8 is fine. Alot of what you need in a muskie rod is the ability to move the fly, which means moving the line. That's why I like 10's; I can move 350-400 gr and get the fly out there into the wind, over open water.
But if you do move up to a 10 wt outfit, then yes, Ross and Redington make pretty decent reels. 12 may be a bit much, as 12's tend to turn the corner from a casting rod to a fighting rod, like for tarpon or sails where you're making only a few casts a day and then fighting a huge fish for half hour or more. You need a rod that you can still cast all day long. |
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Posts: 624
Location: Bloomington, MN | I went with Lamson Velocity's (3.5 & 4), and wish I saved my money and went with the Lamson Konic's. |
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Posts: 37
Location: Rhinelander, WI | I agree on putting the emphasis on rod over reel. Muskies won't burn off a full line and get deep into the backing. For rods, get a good fast action 9 or 10 weight rod, I like St. Croix Legend Ultras and Legend Elites, but there are some good middle of the road rods on the market. Hardy now has a blue collar line of rods, Grey's Saltwater series, that are good musky sticks as are Diamondback's Flawless series. For reels, I just got a Ross CLA #4 and I'm thinking of upgrading all of my reels to Ross reels. If you're dedicating a reel to fishing for pike and muskies, most any reel rated for an 8 weight line and 200-250 yards of backing should suffice for a 9 or 10 if you cut back to 100 yards of backing. |
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Posts: 102
Location: Bowling Green, KY | That Lamson Konic looks like a nice reel that a common man could afford, and it comes in a 10 wt. size. I have a SA concept II on Redington Redfly 8/9 with a cortland 555 sinking line that a plan to use if I feel the need to try deeper. I just bought an Orvis Warm Water Big Bug taper WF9F for my Gold Cup, so I should be set, at least to give it a try and see if its something I want to build on. What would be some good starter fly patterns and a good place to get them? |
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Posts: 1663
Location: Kodiak, AK | Performance_Tuned - 8/11/2010 11:03 PM
What would be some good starter fly patterns and a good place to get them?
From me! I'm a tier and most of my muskie business is bucktails, but I do have several muskie fly customers. I don't tie dries for trout...I tie muskie, halibut, salmon, pike and offshore flies. I like tying big and aggressive flies for big aggressive fish.
I've done some pretty exotic flies, but I keep coming back to tying and using your basic, big streamers. (6"-12" usually) They're easier to cast and fish and are faster to tie. I like Flashabou if I'm looking for synthetic materials and yak hair if I'm looking for naturals. You'll hear alot of guys recommend deer and rabbit. They work, but deer breaks and sheds, and rabbit picks up alot of water in the size flies I use. That's just my take on it and my preference, alot of guys love deer and rabbit. I use alot of rattles, diving lips, big eyes, and sometimes trailer hooks. The sky is the limit man!
The top two pics are tied on 10/0 and the bottom pic are on 8/0. In the bottom fly, in the middle pic you can see a trailer hook the customer wanted.
Edited by esoxfly 8/12/2010 1:17 AM
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Posts: 75
| I think the reel discusion is a bit down do personal preferrences. I like the Vosseler S-2 for fitting on #10 rod.
Takes enough backing and a reasonabel speed winding in for trying to get the fish on the reel. Drag is Oke and saltwater proof. |
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Posts: 102
Location: Bowling Green, KY | Have you ever tied a Brad Bohen pattern called Hang Time? That's a really interesting fly, and that guy sure seems to love it. Those tinsel patterns look good too.
Edited by Performance_Tuned 8/12/2010 6:11 PM
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Posts: 994
Location: Minnesota: where it's tough to be a sportsfan! | I use some pretty cheap reels for fly fishing. When the water turns colder I do want a reel with a good amount of line capacity. I have a larger one from G.M paid like 49$ for it. Holds allot of backing plus the fly line 9wt. I use a heavy action 8-9 wt rod in the fall also. Personally I wait until the water gets down into the 60's again before I bring the flyrods back out. It can take some time to get a good sized fish under control to get her unhooked. For the limited time I fly fish for them I do not want to put in a huge investment. |
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