# Erie walleye gear for west branch muskies



## shanewilliamson (Apr 7, 2010)

I have medium 7' taloras with daiwa sg-27 and 30 lb power pro. Is this setup any good for muskies. Or will they just tear it up?

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## MikeC (Jun 26, 2005)

I use gear close to that, but you'll need to go to a higher test Power Pro. I'd go 70, not for the fish, for the snags and invasive mussels chewing on it.


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## Legend killer (Apr 20, 2011)

MikeC said:


> I use gear close to that, but you'll need to go to a higher test Power Pro. I'd go 70, not for the fish, for the snags and invasive mussels chewing on it.


70lb? You can't make this crap up.


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## Fishballz (Aug 15, 2015)

I have used my Erie dipsy gear to land muskies on St. Clair... As to the previous post, all of my casting gear has 80 or 100 power pro on it. I have casted a bulldawg with 80lb power pro, got a rats nest and the line snapped.. that's a 30 dollar bait, flouro leader and expensive swivel gone so 70lb is not out of the question. If your just tossing smaller baits then fine. Ultimately, go fish for some muskies and upgrade as soon as you catch the bug (terminal tackle must be upgraded)! 

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## Earthworms (Dec 15, 2014)

Legend killer said:


> 70lb? You can't make this crap up.


Are you ever nice and not sarcastic?


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## shanewilliamson (Apr 7, 2010)

Fishballz said:


> I have used my Erie dipsy gear to land muskies on St. Clair... As to the previous post, all of my casting gear has 80 or 100 power pro on it. I have casted a bulldawg with 80lb power pro, got a rats nest and the line snapped.. that's a 30 dollar bait, flouro leader and expensive swivel gone so 70lb is not out of the question. If your just tossing smaller baits then fine. Ultimately, go fish for some muskies and upgrade as soon as you catch the bug (terminal tackle must be upgraded)!
> 
> Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk


This might be a loaded question but what types of small baits should I be looking at? I am hoping to not jump head first into this. I would like to take my mom out a few times a year and catch a fish a trip, size wont matter. My grandfather used to take her musky trolling when she was young. 

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## shanewilliamson (Apr 7, 2010)

Just read the top 3 thread. Looks like I might already have a decent start in the HJ department. 

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## Rocknut (Apr 17, 2015)

For musky on WB I use 30lb braid on one bass rod for small stuff but mainly 50 and 80 lb braid on all my dedicated musky rods


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## Legend killer (Apr 20, 2011)

Earthworms said:


> Are you ever nice and not sarcastic?


They don't even make 70lb braid. Get tired of finding muskies with lures in their mouths where they have bitten through inferior line/leaders.


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## K gonefishin (May 4, 2004)

shanewilliamson said:


> I have medium 7' taloras with daiwa sg-27 and 30 lb power pro. Is this setup any good for muskies. Or will they just tear it up?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


I tried using my 8 ft medium talora diver rods and they did okay on small baits big baits with a lot of pull at faster speeds they sucked. 30lb would get you by if u are using good quality leaders and use the drags. Not ideal but it’ll get you fishing


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## Whitefin (Sep 4, 2008)

I've used 10' dipsy rods with 40# braid and 60# wire leaders with good results. It probably is a bit light but its what I had. Largest was 42".


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## meisty66 (Jul 14, 2015)

Most important thing you can buy are long nose pliers, snips, and a capable net. 80 lbs power pro braid and 120 lbs leaders are standard equipment. These are fragile fish, especially when the water warms up. Having appropriate equipment allows you to land the fish without playing it out to the point of killing it. Leave them in the water while unhooking and dont be afraid to snip your hooks if you cant remove them in a short amount of time. If you dont have much experience, please take the time to learn how to properly release muskies. It's an addiction so start saving your money! Gear up and go get em! Good luck.

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## Legend killer (Apr 20, 2011)

meisty66 said:


> Most important thing you can buy are long nose pliers, snips, and a capable net. 80 lbs power pro braid and 120 lbs leaders are standard equipment. These are fragile fish, especially when the water warms up. Having appropriate equipment allows you to land the fish without playing it out to the point of killing it. Leave them in the water while unhooking and dont be afraid to snip your hooks if you cant remove them in a short amount of time. If you dont have much experience, please take the time to learn how to properly release muskies. It's an addiction so start saving your money! Gear up and go get em! Good luck.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


I am sure the op will take this advice when he/she is skimping on everything else IMO.


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## shanewilliamson (Apr 7, 2010)

Thanks for the info meisty . Special c&r precautions will be taken. I already have a large net that came with the boat (previous owner was a chautauqua musky angler), but it is not coated. Is that a necessity? I am positive the flex seal is not a good solution. Everything else is already on the boat. 

Thanks for all the replies, this should really shorten the learning curve.

As for legends skimping comment and the assumption that I am out to destroy HIS resource... let's just suffice to say that I spend good money on things I enjoy and I believe myself to be more respectful to our natural resources than most. Every one starts out somewhere. 

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## meisty66 (Jul 14, 2015)

shanewilliamson said:


> Thanks for the info meisty . Special c&r precautions will be taken. I already have a large net that came with the boat (previous owner was a chautauqua musky angler), but it is not coated. Is that a necessity? I am positive the flex seal is not a good solution. Everything else is already on the boat.
> 
> Thanks for all the replies, this should really shorten the learning curve.
> 
> ...


The rubber coated nets are safer on the fish and are knot resistant but if you follow the proper procedures (i.e. leaving the fish in the water upright while unhooking etc) I would say as long as the net is plenty big so you arent folding the fish up, it will work for this season. You'll want to make sure the bag is deep enough to keep the fish submerged while the hoop is hanging over the side of the boat. Maybe upgrade it next year if you are able. Proper release tools are most important. 

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## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

shanewilliamson said:


> I have medium 7' taloras with daiwa sg-27 and 30 lb power pro. Is this setup any good for muskies. Or will they just tear it up?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


30 lb line is a bit light. Most musky hunters use 80 lb. I use 60 lb. for casting and 80 lb. for trolling. 6" Steel leaders for jerk baits and Bondi's. 130 lb florocarbon leaders for almost everything else 12" for bucktails and 30"+- for trolling. I can't speak about your reel because I've never used a sg27 Does your Daiwa sg-27 have a line counter? I'm assuming you are using it for trolling or jigging and appears to be your saugeye set up. I prefer Penn Squall reels for trolling, they have loud clickers you can hear over the motor noise and Diawa Lexa 400 for casting. To answer your question, yeah, that set up is a bit light duty for a big ski. But what the heck, you can catch a musky without all the expense, my first musky was on a cane pole and I got paid for catching it. Please beef up your line and leaders so the ski can't break it off easily. I get tired of removing lures from muskies with 10 lb monofilament line attached.


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## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

I don't like power pro lines. They make a mess of my boat dripping green all over the place that if left to dry is a b---h to get off. I'm testing some new cheaper brands and will let you know how they perform.


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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

I get so tired of people saying these are fragile fish. NO THEY AREN"T! They're no more fragile than a crappie or a bass. It just that people don't fool with a crappie for 6 minutes before releasing it! Musky have a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. It makes people nervous, cautious and usually slow to deal with them. In the excitement of it all, they don't realize the fish was out of water for 4 minutes. It didn't seem very long to them. They are always shocked when it goes belly up!! 

Any fish released within 30 seconds of being caught will be fine including musky. However, most novices aren't prepared with the right tools. Good long handle pliers that are heavy duty, serious hook cutters, and a fin saver net all help!!


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## meisty66 (Jul 14, 2015)

Ol'Bassman said:


> I don't like power pro lines. They make a mess of my boat dripping green all over the place that if left to dry is a b---h to get off. I'm testing some new cheaper brands and will let you know how they perform.


That's interesting. I've never had a problem with that but my boat interior is gray so maybe it just doesnt show? Have you noticed that with different spools or did that happen with line that all came off one spool? Just wondering if you got a bad batch. BTW, I've heard that diawa line is pretty decent stuff. I think it's called "J Line" or something like that.

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## meisty66 (Jul 14, 2015)

crittergitter said:


> I get so tired of people saying these are fragile fish. NO THEY AREN"T! They're no more fragile than a crappie or a bass. It just that people don't fool with a crappie for 6 minutes before releasing it! Musky have a mouth full of razor sharp teeth. It makes people nervous, cautious and usually slow to deal with them. In the excitement of it all, they don't realize the fish was out of water for 4 minutes. It didn't seem very long to them. They are always shocked when it goes belly up!!
> 
> Any fish released within 10 minutes of being caught will be fine including musky. However, most novices aren't prepared with the right tools. Good long handle pliers that are heavy duty, serious hook cutters, and a fin saver net all help!!


I have to disagree.......strongly. How many bass have you caught and had out of the water for 2 minutes or less that required you to hold them upright in the water for minutes as they recover??? I'll answer that, none. It's a common thing with musky when the water gets warmer. Regardless of how clean a release you get. I have had fish that throw the hook in the net, not be big enough to even worry about measuring or taking a picture of and still require recovery time before they swim off.

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## crittergitter (Jun 9, 2005)

meisty66 said:


> I have to disagree.......strongly. How many bass have you caught and had out of the water for 2 minutes or less that required you to hold them upright in the water for minutes as they recover??? I'll answer that, none. It's a common thing with musky when the water gets warmer. Regardless of how clean a release you get. I have had fish that throw the hook in the net, not be big enough to even worry about measuring or taking a picture of and still require recovery time before they swim off.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


Ha! Yeah, I have no idea how I typed in 10 minutes. I meant to say 30 seconds! lol I went back and edited it! lol


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## meisty66 (Jul 14, 2015)

crittergitter said:


> Ha! Yeah, I have no idea how I typed in 10 minutes. I meant to say 30 seconds! lol I went back and edited it! lol


That's much more agreeable.

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## Snakecharmer (Apr 9, 2008)

shanewilliamson said:


> I have medium 7' taloras with daiwa sg-27 and 30 lb power pro. Is this setup any good for muskies. Or will they just tear it up?
> 
> Sent from my SM-G930V using Tapatalk


If you're looking for some musky casting rods and reels send me a PM. I'm clearing out some plus some lures..


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## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

meisty66 said:


> That's interesting. I've never had a problem with that but my boat interior is gray so maybe it just doesnt show? Have you noticed that with different spools or did that happen with line that all came off one spool? Just wondering if you got a bad batch. BTW, I've heard that diawa line is pretty decent stuff. I think it's called "J Line" or something like that.
> 
> Sent from my SM-G950U using Tapatalk


I've had it happen with different spools of Power Pro. I haven't had it happen with Cortland, Suffix 834 or Visious. I'm testing a cheap Braid called Extreme Braid. 80lb and black. I think I paid $6.00 for 3000 ft. I've been wanting a black super braid for a long time. I have a theory that a fishes eye doesn't read black because it fades into the background.


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## meisty66 (Jul 14, 2015)

Ol'Bassman said:


> I've had it happen with different spools of Power Pro. I haven't had it happen with Cortland, Suffix 834 or Visious. I'm testing a cheap Braid called Extreme Braid. 80lb and black. I think I paid $6.00 for 3000 ft. I've been wanting a black super braid for a long time. I have a theory that a fishes eye doesn't read black because it fades into the background.


Let us know how it works please.

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## Legend killer (Apr 20, 2011)

Ol'Bassman said:


> I've had it happen with different spools of Power Pro. I haven't had it happen with Cortland, Suffix 834 or Visious. I'm testing a cheap Braid called Extreme Braid. 80lb and black. I think I paid $6.00 for 3000 ft. I've been wanting a black super braid for a long time. I have a theory that a fishes eye doesn't read black because it fades into the background.


How do people catch fish with blue, yellow, red, white, etc?


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## bobk (Apr 30, 2004)

Earthworms said:


> Are you ever nice and not sarcastic?


NOPE, condescending 24-7


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## Ol'Bassman (Sep 9, 2008)

bobk said:


> NOPE, condescending 24-7


I've found the best way to deal with people who do not contribute to the conversation in any meaningful way is to ignore them. Don't let them bait you into an argument that might benefit them.


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## joebertin (Mar 26, 2010)

20lb main line, 20 inch 50lb leader, many 45" plus fish, never broke off or bit off. 

Just saying...


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## Legend killer (Apr 20, 2011)

joebertin said:


> 20lb main line, 20 inch 50lb leader, many 45" plus fish, never broke off or bit off.
> 
> Just saying...


Mono?


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## joebertin (Mar 26, 2010)

Legend killer said:


> Mono?


Yes.


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