Michigan Muskie Alliance

Esoxonthefly wrote:[quote="The best bang for the buck rod bar none, is a St. Croix PM80MHF. I personaly would not buy an Abu reel. I would consifer Pflueger Trion 66 or Gander Equiv, Okuma induron 400, or the priceier Daiwa Luna.

That suprises me that you like the Gander reels more than Abu. All I use is Abu reels and I've had no problems whatsoever. I have had 2 Gander reels that broke and since Gander was phasing out the GS66, they replaced my reels with Abu 6600 C3's.[/quote]

At the abu price point, I think there are other options. I used to be an Abu fan. Have probably owned 10 in the last 8-9 years. Did all my own repairs, had all the extra parts, easy to fix, but they broke a lot... I have never thrown the Trions, but Will went through a phase where he was bragging them up, so i figured they must be good. I have an induron right now, and it is OK too, but not what Ithought it would be based on all the hype on Muskie First.

Just trying to give a new guy some options...

Personally, I think the extra coin for a Luna, Calcutta, or a Curado is worth it. I have had less trouble with the higher end reels. I really like the Calcutta 400 TE's of which I have owned 3, but they are not worth the extra money over a Luna. The Luna is the best high quality reel without getting silly expensive IMOHO.

The Abu record i have has been holding up pretty good, so that may be worth looking at too.

I had a Record that didn't last a month. I took it back and got a Trion 66 and haven't regretted it.

i have abu records and they work pretty flawlessly for me so far, most of these posts are hard to get anywhere cause everyone has their own preferences when it comes to reels etc..

Chasin50 wrote: I have an induron right now, and it is OK too, but not what I thought it would be based on all the hype on Muskie First.

Dollar for dollar, I think the Induron is a great reel. My main reel is the Calcutta 400b. Smooth as silk. Costs double what the Induron is, but no complaints so far. I've only used it 1/2 a season, so I can't say exactly how the long term quality of it is. As far as rods go, I love my Gander Extreme Tournament Muskie rod. Think I'll try the Okuma EVX next.

Rule #1 - All reels break doesn't matter if you spend $80 or $400.

I have no association with any reel company and my honest opinion is that the Pflueger Trion is the best built reel I have ever fished with. For two years I only had one problem with five reels and I'm putting in about 500 hours a year. Can they break? Refer to rule #1.

I now have Okuma Indurons and have been happy with them to this point but I don't have many hours on them. At the end of the year I'll have a better idea what they can handle.

Muskie fishing is just hard on reels and if you want reels that aren't going to have problems then you need to take up bass fishing. Everything about muskie fishing is hard on reels.

yea its like ive heard before, no company makes reels that are meant only for muskie fishing. Things can always go wrong.

Also, those are some sweet markings on that muskie will.

Is salmon style rod okay. Because I have a st croix wild river 8 ft, heavy, fast action rod.