Fishing Equipment
musky reel
3/6/15 @ 9:52 AM
Displaying 1 to 12 of 12 posts
I echo the last post. The OP was asking recommendations for a basic starter reel, not recommendations for reels that tend to serve a singular purpose. With that being the case, a standard Abu 6500 or 6501 C3 is the Model T of muskie reels. They are simple to maintain, relatively inexpensive, widely accessible, and you can use them for a considerable range of applications.
Saltists and 7000s are specialty reels that are great after you have a couple musky combos already, they are not the reel to get as your first or only musky reel. The Abu C4's are to high speed for a general purpose reel. It's hard to beat the good old C3 for musky. If you want a thumb bar which I would suggest look at BPS, Cabelas or one of the other bigger stores that will have a special make up of C3's with thumb bars on them.
I like the Diawa Saltist reels. They are heavy duty and can crank in the biggest lures with ease.
If you are looking at a reel in the price range of the ABU C3 & C4 5000/6000 size, I would also take a good look at the Shimano Cardiff in the 300 or 400 size. I have both ABUs and Cardiffs. In my opinion the the Cardiff is smoother and overall a step up from the C3/C4.
If you are looking to throw the big stuff, then the ABU 7000 is probably the most economical reel out there that can handle this. ABU 7000s are nice reels, but they are big. Some find them uncomfortable to fish with. I use one and it doesn't bother me.
I have a few buck tails in 7 and 8 but I don't throw them much after the opener. I would agree that those would work with a C4. Most of my single blade buck tails are 10's and those were a chore with the C4's. I only kept one for my glide bait rod and the rest were sold on EBay to buy C3's. My rig that I chuck double cowgirls with has a 7000C3 on it. The gear ratio is less then a 6500C3 and it works great with cowgirls up to 13's.
I'm getting "cranked" talking about open water fishing. Yeah, I know. Cheesey!
C4
You are very correct. The C4 will not work well for Double Cowgirls, but I don't know of any beginning reels that do. I have tried all the reels out there and some are better than other but after I finally tried a Tranx, I bought one on E-bay for $350 new which is a chunk of money but less than $500 at most places. The Tranx brings in 10s like butter all day.
Back to the C4, it will bring in single 7s & 8s well, all surface well, and is a good jerk bait reel. It also has a clicker if you sucker fish. I looked on E-bay and saw several for <$100 with free shipping.
I do have a pile of them (that got wrecked by trying to throw 10s) Ha.
Have a good weekend. 
The C4's gear ratio is great for glide baits like Suicks where you rip the bait and then quickly reel up the slack. They will retrieve faster. I agree with that but just like gears in a car's tranny, the higher the gear ratio, the harder the engine has to work. Your arm is that engine. It'll be pretty tired at the end of a day if pitching bucktails or double cowgirls. Just my $0.02.
IMO the garcia 5500 series is a great starting reel. Some like the 6500 but it is larger, and if you don't troll you don't need the extra size. I have owned XX number 5500 series and have never had a line capacity issue but they are smaller so they are easier to handle/palm. I have since upgraded to the low profile reels however they are more money.
For a beginner I would strongly encourage getting the Garcia C4-5600. It is the same frame and bearings as the 5500 but it has a thumb bar and is much more comfortable/user friendly than the 5500. They also have higher speed bearings than the 5500 so your bait speed will be faster which is a positive when the water temp is higher. It is about $20 more but it is worth it. This reel normally cost about $130 to $140. But if you watch E-bay or Amazon you can normally get them for less.
I hope this helps and have a good day. If you need more information feel free to send me a PM.
Displaying 1 to 12 of 12 posts
