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Posts: 8
| Hi all. New here.
My goal for the year was to branch out from my normal fishing and to get into muskie fishing. I went out and picked up a Mojo Musky and now I'm searching for a reel to pair it with. My issue is that I need a left hand retrieve and my options seem limited. My top two suggestions I've got were an Abu 6501 or a Calcutta 401 TE. What do you's thing? Good choices to look into? |
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Posts: 218
| You are going to find that there will be about as many answers as there are reels available. If you're getting into musky fishing I would consider getting the best reel you can for the money that will work for the widest selection of lures. The Calcutta 401 TE is a decent choice but those were discontinued about a year ago so it's almost impossible to find new in the box reels. You can take your chance on a used reel but if you want to buy new, the updated Calcutta 401 D (took the place of the TE model) is a good choice. Also take a look at the Abu Garcia Revo Toro NACL models and Daiwa Lexa series. The Abu 6501 is a good entry level reel but not in the same league as the others mentioned. |
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Posts: 209
| or get the one you will want at the end a TRANX
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Posts: 8
| Yeah, I'm aware they're discontinued. I love shimano and every reel I own is a shimano, so a Calcutta would be my first choice. Maybe I could find a 401 TE in the buy/sell forum here? There's a ton of information on this site. I've been reading for a few hours now! |
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Posts: 47
| I have a couple 6600 c4 in I've had very few problems with em that I didn't cause directly and trow everythin with em. Good luck with your adventure into the money pit lol |
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Posts: 8
| The good thing about spending the money for a Muskie setup is that I can also use it as a jetty tog setup. I'll use that as my excuse to not feel bad about the money I spend! |
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Posts: 667
Location: Wisconsin | Can't go wrong with a TE! |
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Posts: 8
| Hopefully I can find a decent one in the buy/sell section here. If not, I'll have a fun search for one! |
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Posts: 1638
Location: Minnesota | the TE would be my choice. I picked up a lefty last year 401 TE just if I take any one fishing and there a lefty I have a set up for them to use |
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| Check ebay. I picked up a 400 te, was basically new just sat as a back up. Sent it to pike master for some TLC and the reel is awesome! |
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Location: Sawyer County, WI | I have a few 401TEs and love them. I have them tuned regularly by Pikemaster and they are actually better than when I bought them new. If you find a used one in decent shape I'd recommend doing the same.
If you can't find one you can always opt for a Calcutta 401D, which is the new model that replaced the TE.
Good luck with your search. |
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Posts: 791
Location: WI | Abu c3s are decent entry level. If you like shim ami the Cardiff is about 120 bucks and is available in lefty. If you can spend a little more there's lot of good options. |
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Posts: 68
| I'm still a big fan of the round Abu's. Easy to clean, repair and for about $50 you can upgrade it to a C6 with some Carbon drag washers and a power handle. On 4 of my rods I'm running Abu's I upgraded to C6's and none of them cost more than $100. |
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Posts: 556
| I have them both--and the CALCUTTA's are much nicer than the ABU 5000 or 6000 series----spend the money and buy the best reel you can. REVO TORO can be put in the class of the Calcutta. |
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Posts: 295
| Revo toro. For everyday all around muskie fishing, its really nice to be able to comfortably palm these low pros. they stand up to a fair amount of abuse. and my main concern... its half the weight of a tranx. A tranx alone weighs the same as a whole rod and reel setup. Also, I sold my Calcutta 400te's after buying my first toro. Now if we we're talking about price tags.... |
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Location: Waukesha, WI, USA | 401 DE for me.
I own 9 - 6501 Abu Garcia reels (older version when they were great) and I'm slowly replacing all reels with Calcuttas. |
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Muskie Reels