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Location: Latitude 41.3016 Longitude 88.6160 | MACK you so right, also this is my I think NO reel mfg wants to build a reel for MUSKY fishing, because of all the old school ways that tear up reels in 45 days. Look at the Okuma Indurion reels { not made anymore} a great reel for the $$$ but when you lock down drags and push open the spool release when there is pressure on the spool, no reel will last !!!!!!!
Edited by PIKEMASTER 12/10/2009 1:54 PM
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Posts: 32880
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | let's see:
Abu--yep, builds a muskie reel
Daiwa- Yup
Shimano- yup
Okuma- yup, and the reason the Induron is not offered for 2010 is they have a new reel coming.
Shakespeare- yup
Quantum-Yup
Penn-Yup
Pflueger- yup
Tica- Yup
Seems like most of the reel builders want to build a Muskie reel....because they do build one. |
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Posts: 136
Location: Chicago | I got taken to the gunnel this summer with the drag locked down It was an awsome display of power. |
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Posts: 3864
| I buy barely used ABU5600s for about $25 and put about $50 of new, better parts into each. With the 80# PowerPro I have a killer reel for about $100. I might replace a part here or there during the winter tear-down, but otherwise, these reels have performed very well for years and years.
Um, anybody have a slightly used Abu 5600AB with all that backlash crap on it? Yep, everybody hated them, that's why they're all slightly used. I'll give you $15 for it. |
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| I would have to agree with Hulbert on this subject as would the majority of professional muskie guides. The guides I know or have hired lock down their drags when casting. However, whether they lock down the drag or not on their client's reels depends on the level of experience or preference of their clients. If they're guiding newbies they'll loosen the drag a little.
I think everyone might be surprised how little pressure you put on a muskie when your fighting one or setting the hook. Even with XXH 9' rods spooled with braid on a locked drag. There is no way you could physically bend hooks (quality hooks) just from the pressure you put on the muskie through your rod/reel/line etc. If your ending up with bent hooks it's one of three things causing it. One, most of the time the hooks probably hung up in the net when the fish first entered the net putting alot of torque on them especially if the fish is going nuts. Two, a muskie has powerful jaws and when they open and close there mouth during a fight the power of there jaws is enough to bend hooks. Three, crappy hooks.
Some reels are very tough to free spool when there is a large amount of pressure on them. I know TEs are doable in this situation and Lunas are pretty good too. If you have a high quality reel I'd lock the drag. Also, I figure every winter I'll pay $150-$300 to have my reels repaired from either freezing and ice damage, or damage from locked drags which is new to me. Gotta pay to play. Oh well. |
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Posts: 814
| Locked Drag or Not do what your comfortable with. People land fish both ways and have done so for years and will continue to do so. there is no wrong or right answer to this. I use both locked and unlocked depending on the reel as some push buttons are very hard to depress under load and some aren't. I land fish both ways. again use what your comfortable with. |
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | guest - 12/10/2009 8:27 PM
Some reels are very tough to free spool when there is a large amount of pressure on them. QUOTE]
I agree. However, if you freespool correctly.... you should NEVER get to that point. I put the reel into freespool immediately whenever I stop reeling. Usually you can anticipate runs from a fish and avoid the situation where you are trying to hit freespool before you get yanked into the lake by Moby Dick.
Also, I've bent hooks many times upon hookset. Some obvious situations where it happens is when you set the hooks into a rock. When you inspect your hooks for rounded points at the end of your cast... you see the point bent out at a 45 degree angle. Seeing is believing for me.... and I believe I can bend hooks via the power of a hookset. I'm seeing less of this now that I'm also running much larger hooks (up to 10/0).... but when running those monster sized hooks... sure they may not bend... but that extra energy has to go somewhere. It either rips a hole, tears flesh, or turns the fish so its now swimming AT you. None of which I want to happen when I finally get a bite from a true Biggie.
Also keep in mind that what has worked for you landing many many many smaller fish MAY NOT WORK when you finally do battle with a big heavy. Little fish hide your mistakes..... such as over-pressuring a fish (see DougJ's post).... and all your successes with small fish may lead you to believe you've been doing everything right.... until the moment that fish of your dreams finally shows up. I suspect that those who are chuckling at this post are also those with either very few big fish encounters or lots of stories of "the big one that got away".
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | Delete: double post....
Edited by jlong 12/11/2009 8:21 AM
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| Mike Hulbert wrote, "Please also keep in mind that when I free spool a fish during a fight, I might do this as little as zero or once or as many as 10-12 times, depending on the size of the fish, how the fish is behaving, etc... "
Mike, how do you freespool a fish 10-12 times during a fight? Wouldn't they have more of a chance at coming off with that long of a fight?
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| as noted we may all do things differently but if you are getting good results than keep doing it, I err on the side of putting pressure on fish to get them to the boat when I can... do I overpressure them? i don't know, my results are pretty good for number of big fish so I'd say I don't.... I never use free spool, I use my drag system and simply get them to the net as quick as I can, that may mean a monster fish gets boated in 5 seconds..or 30..set the drag where it best suits your fighting style |
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Posts: 1937
Location: Black Creek, WI | Seems to me there is some confusion amongst the crowd for just what exactly does "freespool" mean.
For me, freespool means every time I release/disengage the spool and hold with my thumb. I do this whenever I stop cranking. Most times, NO LINE IS PAID OUT.... but its more of a safety measure against that unexpected power run. IF... the fish needs line, I'll pay it out with reduced thumb pressure. Could a properly set drag do that? Of course... but the key thing there is "properly set". I prefer the instant and infinite drag adjustment that my thumb on the spool provides over a mechanical drag. Again... that is a preference and not a requirement for landing fish. |
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| Why the need to make this a personal vendetta against one or a few people? How bout just giving your opinion of what you like to do, and maybe why you do it, and move on? I think this is a personal preference type of thing anyway isn't it? maybe im the stupid one here. I'm sure alot of people catch fish with the drag locked down, and alot of people catch fish by letting the drag work for them. i dunno??? stupid is stupid does. |
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Posts: 3864
| "Gump, turn that stupid $hit off!" There are few personal jabs in this very useful thread. But you did a nice job of summarizing the 2 main themes that rose to the surface.....
1) some people, especially those that have the most experience and success, use their thumb as part of, or in lieu of, the reel's drag system.
2) some people, especially those that have limited experience and success, rely on the drag system and don't ever use their thumbs on freespool. Of this camp, some of the folks, like me, ensure peak and consistent performance in the drag system by replacing all the drag washers with upgrade kits.
"And that's all have to say about that." |
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