Using Bass Gear ?

[T Dot]

I recommend buying the titanium leader from Bass Pro Shops and making your own. Pike and musky absolutely hammer swimbaits and I personally don't trust the flouro leader enough to use it. The cheap pre made leaders from Berkley are cheap garbage and will kink every time you catch a fish or get hung up.

sorry i was quiet clear, i was looking for wire leaders that are premade. i too dont trust leaders that arent wire. though i will look into the titanium leaders from basspro, the only thing is i dont trust myself ha.

[2000subaru]

I have seen the Fluoro leaders that are sold on e-bay by charlier2753 and they look great. Fair priced, large variety of strengths, ball bearing swivels. Dilbert purchased some at the sportsman show from the Muskies Inc folks. His ebay link is http://myworld.ebay.com/charlier2753/.

[Deadeyemark]

Swimbait rods are designed for just that: Swimbaits. They'll catch muskies but so will any rod given the right situation. Most swimbait rods have got a very parabolic action to them. Almost like long heavy action crankbait rods. The most popular hook set technique when using swimbaits for bass is to reel down as hard as you can loading the rod as much as possible with the reel, while continuing to reel. As the bass opens it's mouth to let go of the fake meal, the loaded rod sling shots the lure and the hooks catch in the bass' mouth. This is doen without setting the hook.
Bass also usually engulf the entire lure where as a musky will often T-bone a minnow bait, hoding it in it's strong toothy grip. You can set the hook all you want with a swimbait rod and not move the lure one bit in that muskies mouth. Especially if it's a soft plastic swimbait or a wood bait. Even some plastic bodied baits.
Musky fishermen use heavy equipment because certain situations require it, not because we like to cast with heavy rods.
Spinnerbaits and bucktails can, to a certain extent, hook up on muskies pretty easily since there's no 'body' for the fish to hold onto.
A bass action rod rating is different than a musky rod rating is different than a salmon rod rating.
A heavy action salmon rod rated for up to 3-4oz lures is very different than a musky rod rated for 3-4 oz lures. Try casting a 4 oz lure all day with a whippy salmon rod. They're not designed for that.
A good all around musky rod action is comparable to a bass rod action only heavier and they're designed for casting.
Also, as stated above: You want to bring the fish in quickly so as not to exhaust it. Salmon are red muscle and designed for long term exercise. Muskies, and most warmwater fish are white muscle and designed for short quick bursts of speed, not duration.
The quicker yoiu bring the fish in, the less lactic acid that builds up in the muscle and the greater chance of survival when released.
Even with C&R, the fish can die from post release mortality simply from being 'played out'. Sure, it swims off when you let it go but it's hard to argue with facts gathered over the years.
I hope this helps. Good luck this summer.

[bpm2000]

Great read Mark - thats the stuff! Although I would argue against that most bass swimbait rods are parabolic.

[Deadeyemark]

BPM2000, most are very parabolic compared to musky rods. That's mainly what I meant.
Catching a 6,8 or 10lb bass on a swimbait and swimbait rod doesn't require near as much back bone as catching a 20 or 25lb musky on a swimbait or glider.
It's really hard to compare apples to apples and I don't want to take away from any form of fishing. They're all fun especially when you match your tackle to the intended species.

[PDXFisher]

I recommend buying the titanium leader from Bass Pro Shops and making your own. Pike and musky absolutely hammer swimbaits and I personally don't trust the flouro leader enough to use it. The cheap pre made leaders from Berkley are cheap garbage and will kink every time you catch a fish or get hung up.

sorry i was quiet clear, i was looking for wire leaders that are premade. i too dont trust leaders that arent wire. though i will look into the titanium leaders from basspro, the only thing is i dont trust myself ha.

The problem with Titanium is when it is about to go, you don't have a clue, it just snaps. Multi-strand steel leaders start to fray, so they're obvious and you can change them out quickly. Bucher makes good wire leaders, you can find them online.

Personally, I no longer use wire (except rarely with jerkbaits). I use 130lb Fluoro from Stealth tackle, or make my own with 130lb Seaguar and SPRO/String Ease components. I have never had a problem with it breaking, you can tell when it's notched and time to change out. You really should trust 130lb fluoro, I've even caught some nice bass on it with topwaters in MN ]muskytackleonline.com[/url] has all that you would need and ship very quickly.

[muskyhunter]

Hey guys,
Try charlier2753 on Ebay. This guys makes the best Flourocarbon and Mono and wire leaders in the land!!Go to musky fishing and you'll find them reasonably priced and very well made from a guy in Wisconsin!! Todd

[T Dot]

i saw some premade ones @ cablelas. they were coated with some black material, im thinking it was a plastic or nylon.

my buddy says there are available @ walmart too.

what lbs should i look into? i already use 50+ braid

[muskyhunter]

T Dot...I am tellin you Charlie makes the BEST in the land!! PERIOD!! I fish with nothing less than 80lb...Come to a Chapter meeting Mark sells them...I think 4 bucks a piece..Or go on Ebay you'll get 3 for about 9 bucks plus shipping...I guarantee you'll be very happy. Stay away from MalFart if you can for leaders.I reccomend flourocarbon or mono will be good. Your 50 lb braid will work fine. I use 65 lb or as high as 80 for big jerk baits. Hope this helps, Todd

[T Dot]

T Dot...I am tellin you Charlie makes the BEST in the land!! PERIOD!! I fish with nothing less than 80lb...Come to a Chapter meeting Mark sells them...I think 4 bucks a piece..Or go on Ebay you'll get 3 for about 9 bucks plus shipping...I guarantee you'll be very happy. Stay away from MalFart if you can for leaders.I reccomend flourocarbon or mono will be good. Your 50 lb braid will work fine. I use 65 lb or as high as 80 for big jerk baits. Hope this helps, Todd

we would love to attend a chapter meeting, but we cannot attend anything during the week, it must only be weekends.



i selected 50lbs, mainly due to the diameter size.

do you have any weekend gatherings coming up?

thank you

[Deadeyemark]

T Dot,
We've got quite a few weekend gatherings coming up this summer. Check out our website under upcoming events. You do have to be a member to participate. Love to have ya and your buddies.

[T Dot]

T Dot,
We've got quite a few weekend gatherings coming up this summer. Check out our website under upcoming events. You do have to be a member to participate. Love to have ya and your buddies.

gotcha

ill add those gatherings to my calendar.

:king:

ill speak to my fellow anglers about memberships.

EDIT

i spoke too soon, i took a look @ your schedule and it conflicts with our bass fishing schedule. hopefully we can work something out though

[Deadeyemark]

Hope you guys can work something out. Good luck with the bass. I do plenty of that myself. Potholes Open next.