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Posts: 11
Location: IOWA | My wife caught a 40" muskie last summer while trolling for walleyes. Well, her and I would like to start doing some muskie fishing. We are not baitcaster people, so can anyone help us with what would be good muskie spinning rods and reels? Would like to keep it low end of the $$$$ since we will be starting from fresh and buying muskie combos, lures, net, etc.
Any advice will be very appreciated. |
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Posts: 17
Location: Waconia, MN | If you plan on muskie fishing then I would strongly suggest getting baitcaster reels. Muskie baits put a lot of stress on reels and the gears will wear out fast, especially if you are throwing big bucktails and such. Shimano has a few inexpensive reels like the Cardiff and the Corvalus, or you could go with Abu Garcia's. |
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Posts: 1425
Location: St. Lawrence River | Would be worthwhile to learn a baitcasting setup. Youll never look back! just my 0.02 |
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Posts: 582
| i wouldn't fish for them with spinning equip. But as mentioned, the cardiff is a good reel for $100. But again its a baitcaster. Spinning equip will break down quickly in my opinion. Cardiff with a gander rod is good starter equip. |
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Posts: 1184
Location: Iowa Great Lakes | I agree on getting a baitcaster, I even use baitcasters for walleye as much as spinning gear anymore. Get your net/ release tools in order then start searching for combos and baits. |
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Posts: 11
Location: IOWA | Thanx for the info.
What are some good beginner baitcasters? |
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Posts: 582
| as mentioned the Shimano Cardiff is pretty good for a $109. I have a few of them and they have held up. Pflueger Trion 66 is also decent for about $80. Personally i stay away from Abu but they do work. My opinion on the Abu reels is others like the cardiff are almost the same price by last longer if taken care of. I started with Abu's and went thru a number of them in my time. For a beginner, they will work however and cost about $90. |
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Posts: 547
Location: Oshkosh | Ill second the Pfluger Trion 66.
Peter |
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| I am not an expert but will give whatever insight I can.
Baitcasting gear is superior for fishing for muskies--it is just stronger and handles heavy lines and lures better. But you can fish for muskies effectively using spinning tackle. The legendary Len Hartman used spinning tackle all the time on the St. Lawrence during his heyday. My first outfit for muskies was spinning gear; and inexpensive. Rod: Shakespeare Ugly Stick, 7', for lines 15 to 25 pounds. Does the job and is not stressed by a normal muskie. Reel: Okuma TI 40 (titanium). Big and powerful enough to reel them in. Line: Trilene Extra-Tough 17 pound test. But you have to be careful and change the line every year. In my limited experience this is true of any mono used for muskie. It becomes brittle and will break off with your lure sailing away. Always use a steel or flurorcarbon (?) leader. It is crazy not to.
Again, it is better to go to baitcasting gear. Gander Mountain Muskie rods are not expensive and will do the job. Find one that is right for you. You can get a muskie reel for under $100, Abu Garcia 6500C3 and Shimano Corvalus are ones that immediately come to mind. You can move up and get an Okuma Induron or a Abu Garica Record for more money. Generally, you get what you pay for. Heck, you can spend $499 for a reel.
Good luck. |
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Location: Northern Wisconsin | I second the Gander Mountain musky rods.
For reels I would go with abu garcia's 5500 or 6500 c3. The only problem I had with one of my c3's is the clutch arm began to wear out but that was completely my fault. I was starting to reel the lure in before the spool was stopped spinning which puts a lot of stress on the reel. Just make sure you stop the spool with your thumb or wait for the lure to hit the water before you begin reeling. Its the same fore all reels. I have 3 c3's and they are on there 7th season.
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | I think you can get a Maina Bass Pro Combo for $200. I haven't heard rave reviews but I know they're not junk. |
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Posts: 32935
Location: Rhinelander, Wisconsin | I use spinning tackle all the time for certain presentations. I buy heavy action Bass rods, 7', designed for 17# to 30# line. The reel I have used the most last couple years is a Mitchell Avocet 2. Okuma makes some pretty impressive heavy action spinning rods; I had a couple in my hands at the Madison Fishing Expo. My favorite spinning rod is a pre-production Okuma prototype I wish I could talk Okuma into building. |
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Posts: 4343
Location: Smith Creek | St. Croix has plenty of options in their Tidemaster series, or even boat rods or surf rods. The reels just can't handle the abuse.
East coasters have been chucking big stuff on spinning gear for decades... the reels they use start at around $150 for low end up to $1000 for a good one.
Edited by Flambeauski 3/22/2010 3:53 PM
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| Long term, the baitcaster is the way to go.
Borrow a baitcaster from a friend and practice casting in the back yard/open field. It is a lot easier to learn off the water, when you are not trying to catch a fish. When you first try a baitcaster on the water, use a floating lure until you gain confidence.
It's a little awkward at first, but you will get the hang of it sooner than you think.
You can do it!
Brian
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Posts: 1425
Location: St. Lawrence River | shaley - 3/21/2010 7:08 PM
I agree on getting a baitcaster, I even use baitcasters for walleye as much as spinning gear anymore. Get your net/ release tools in order then start searching for combos and baits.
Exactly |
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Posts: 5874
| walleyes4*u - 3/21/2010 1:57 PM
My wife caught a 40" muskie last summer while trolling for walleyes. Well, her and I would like to start doing some muskie fishing. We are not baitcaster people, so can anyone help us with what would be good muskie spinning rods and reels? Would like to keep it low end of the $$$$ since we will be starting from fresh and buying muskie combos, lures, net, etc.
Any advice will be very appreciated.
Did she catch that muskie with one of the Diawa trolling rods you bought from me a couple years ago? I agree on learning to use a baitcaster. Not that hard. She'll have the hang of quicker than you, I bet.
Edited by Shep 3/24/2010 3:14 PM
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Posts: 11
Location: IOWA | Shep, no she didn't. She was longlining with a St Croix Avid MLF with 10# diameter Spiderwire Stealth with no leader. It didn't fight at first, it stayed down. She thought she had a huge walleye. Then it surfaced so we could see it and went back down and made a run and the fight was on. I have a huge walleye net and managed to get it landed on the pass up to the boat. Kept her in the water until we was ready to take pics, took quick pics and got her release. |
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Posts: 94
| If you do go to casting equipment use left hand reels it will make the change to casting easier.
Chris
Edited by hotlanta 3/25/2010 2:26 PM
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Posts: 86
| Like most say, learn to use a baitcaster.
I have tought many folks baitcaster 101, and young and old pick it up quick.
A larger diamiter line, like 80# braid makes learning easier.
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Posts: 613
Location: big cove tannery pa | walleyes4*u - 3/20/2010 2:57 PM
My wife caught a 40" muskie last summer while trolling for walleyes. Well, her and I would like to start doing some muskie fishing. We are not baitcaster people, so can anyone help us with what would be good muskie spinning rods and reels? Would like to keep it low end of the $$$$ since we will be starting from fresh and buying muskie combos, lures, net, etc.
Any advice will be very appreciated.
I too was looking for a spinning combination to fish for muskies,looked all over the internet,didn't find anything.So i picked up a used abu carcia 6500c3 off here and taught myself to use one.Tore it up pretty good i guess,Pikemaster had to fix it for me. Buy a cheap used one or borrow from a friend to get used too one. There not that hard to use,like riding a bike once u get used to it. |
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Posts: 1030
Location: APPLETON, WI | I've alays used spinning gear my whole life. That's what I was taught with and that's what I leaned on. Once I got into musky fishing, I did originally buy a very heavy spinning rod and paired it up with a massive saltwater spinning reel. I used it a handful of times last year... but the weight was ungodly. The reel alone by itself weighed nearly 29oz! (almost 2 pounds)
I saved up some cash during winter and bought a Revo Toro baitcaster. Peter (WI Skis) showed me the ropes on using a baitcaster for the very first time... and even though it was awkward at first, I'm glad I made the switch. My new rod/reel combo weighs nearly three times LESS than a spinning combo. I'm still practicing with it but I have a lot more confidence than I did in the beginning.
Bottom line: Make the switch. Your arms, shoulders and back will thank you for it.  |
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Posts: 582
| Geeeez, we make is sound like using a baitcaster is hard or something. It's not, its easy and as natural as an open bail reel. IN fact, teaching someone to use an open bail reel is probably harder IMO. When casting a baitcaster, just let your thumb ride on the spool. Its as easy as that. If you take your thumb off, you will get a birds nest half the time. And you will just need to adjust your tension to the bait. No big deal here. Hold your rod up, let the bait slowly sink down to about half the rod length and you know your good to go by adjusting the knob on the handle side of the reel. |
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